When I learned this week of one of our folks being named a candidate finalist for the White House Savings Award, I couldn’t have been more pleased with her idea and effort to improve the way in which we try to achieve a higher standard of how we do things every day. Marjorie Cook, an FSIS inspector from Gobles, Mich., was among four finalists this year for the Obama administration’s White House Save Award, a contest that seeks cost-cutting ideas from rank-and-file federal employees. Through dedication and creative thinking, Marjorie’s idea stood out from 18,000 submissions on how to be more cost-effective in the federal government, which will result in saving taxpayer dollars. President Obama plans on including the winning idea in his proposed fiscal year 2012 budget. Read more »

As the population of the United States has transitioned from a predominantly agrarian society to an increasingly more urban one, our youth have become detached from a fundamental understanding of agriculture.  Nonetheless, we benefit from the innovations and efficiencies of our food supply on a daily basis.

USDA’s Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) Program promotes agricultural literacy among the nation’s K-12 students.  This is accomplished by a network of AITC programs located across the country that serve nearly 5 million students and 60,000 teachers through workshops and other teaching activities each year.  AITC provides resources that incorporate other subjects, such as mathematics, language arts, history, and chemistry, into learning experiences that correspond to state academic standards.  Agricultural literacy is fundamental to the development of the next generation of scientists, teachers, and policy-makers to ensure a sufficient food supply for the world’s inhabitants. Read more »

Today, USDA’s Economic Research Service released the report “Household Food Security in the United States 2009,” and reported that 17.4 million households had difficulty providing enough food due to a lack of resources, about the same as in 2008. In more than a third of those households, at least one member did not get enough to eat at some time during the year and normal eating patterns were disrupted due to limited resources. Read more »

I was thrilled to stand in the Civic Center in Pelham, Ala., on October 29^th to celebrate the State of Alabama’s great accomplishment of 52 Alabama Public Schools meeting USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge.  Alabama has received 39, more than half of HealthierUS School Challenge Gold Awards of Distinction that have been awarded in the nation.  Two schools received HealthierUS School Challenge Gold Awards, seven silver and four bronze. Read more »