Equity

At the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), we understand the essential role that veterans, military spouses, and transitioning service members can play in revitalizing and strengthening our agricultural industry. This is one of the reasons we provide a range of training resources and support. USDA’s Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison, or MVAL, connects veterans to resources within and outside USDA to help them embark on successful careers in agriculture. These efforts also help move USDA closer to its goal of developing a workforce in which 25 percent of all employees are veterans.

Many veterans and military spouses search for careers that can accommodate their health and physical needs. At the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), reasonable accommodations can be arranged to help employees succeed in the workplace.

When Linda Leaks organized tenants in low-income District of Columbia neighborhoods to fight eviction, she helped them gain more than home ownership. In combatting gentrification and the community displacement of the ‘80s and ‘90s, she empowered people to recognize the collective power of the cooperative business model.

Dr. Engil Pereira, Associate Professor of the School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), was selected as a fellow in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 2022 E. Kika de la Garza fellowship program. Dr. Pereira initially learned about the fellowship through her subscription to USDA mailing lists.

The 2023 SNAP E&T State Institute, hosted by the Food and Nutrition Service, brought together 20 state SNAP agencies for a two-day event that aimed to assess and enhance their SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) programs. The theme of the event, "Mind the Gap: Building a Bridge from Vision to Outcomes in Your SNAP E&T Program," emphasized the importance of addressing gaps and challenges in these programs to achieve better outcomes for participants.

Georgia native Topeka Ham found a new calling serving the American public through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) after 26 years in the South Carolina Air National Guard.

In Hawaii, the word ‘āina describes interconnected relationships between people, the environment and spiritual kin.

One year after the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health held on September 28, 2022, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service continues accelerating progress on the conference’s goals to end hunger, improve healthy eating and physical activity, and reduce diet-related diseases and disparities.