October 2010

Yesterday I visited with FSIS personnel and 9 other federal agencies in Dulles, Virginia to focus on a critical element of food safety: protecting the public from unsafe imports.

A Revamped Education Campaign from the Food Safety Inspection Service

Come see the USDA Food Safety Discovery Zone on October 23-24 at the Inaugural USA Science and Engineering Festival. The Zone program incorporates the Be Food Safe campaign with a 40 foot interactive vehicle where consumers can enter and learn about food safety in fun and engaging way. It will be located on the National Mall near the corner of Pennsylvania and 12^th Street in Washington, DC.

Cross-posted from the White House blog.

Our country needs a strong, vibrant rural economy.  Advanced biofuel production will help create it. Not only will biofuel production from non-food sources create new jobs and new streams of farm income, it will improve environmental quality and reduce our dependence on fossil fuel imported from foreign countries.

I went to an exciting open house earlier this month at the Chaput Family Farms in North Troy, Vermont showcasing how dairy farmers can convert manure into operating capital. The event featured the newly installed (August 2010) anaerobic digester, manufactured by a California firm.  Approximately 150 people from the dairy industry, power companies, and the businesses that manufactured and installed the digester system joined Judith Canales the Administrator of Business and Cooperative Programs for USDA Rural Development and other government officials on a blustery, wet day to learn how the digester works and how it can invigorate cash flow for dairy operations.

The USDA Forest Service Conservation Education staff is participating in the first annual National Green Schools Conference in Minneapolis, Minn., Oct. 24-26.  The conference is being sponsored by the Green Schools National Network. Conservation Education and partner, American Forest Foundation’s Project Learning Tree, will be highlighting our national “GreenSchools!” program through offering a workshop during the conference.

USDA Rural Development and the Farm Service Agency held a Forum on Expanding the U.S. Biofuels Market on October 15 at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. I participated in this important Forum, which sought input from local biofuels producers and stakeholders on the USDA’s interim plan on how to develop a successful biofuels market. The plan outlines the development of a successful biofuels market capable of achieving the U.S. Renewable Fuels Standards mandate of producing and using 36 billion gallons or renewable transportation fuel per year by 2022.

People all over the country are raising backyard poultry these days.  Some raise birds to have a steady supply of fresh eggs, some as part of their commitment to eating locally, some to sell eggs to their friends and neighbors at the local farmers market.

At USDA Food and Nutrition Service, partnerships are critical to our success in reducing hunger in America. From school lunch to food banks, FNS programs operate more effectively with strong partnerships.

Jefferson County in Mississippi, a rural county with a population of almost 10,000, was the site of an event last week commemorating a USDA Rural Development Community Facilities grant and loan combination that will bring a modern, state-of-the-art library to that county.

Every summer since I was four years old, I’ve been returning to a small glacial lake in Northern Wisconsin where my family had summer cottages. As a child, I’d spend all day swimming in the lake that was darkened by the tannins secreted by the surrounding hemlock trees. The lake was often so cold that my lips turned purple, but not enough to break a determined child’s spirit.