Initiatives

March 31 marks César Chávez Day and serves as a reminder to all Americans of the importance of service, community, education, and commitment to advocating for farmworkers and their families. Chávez was a champion of farmworkers’ rights, calling for fairer wages and improved working conditions and helping open the door for better opportunities for farmworkers across the country.

As a Latina woman, raised in a black community by a single white mother, Poppy Sias-Hernandez understands how access to equitable support and resources can have a life changing impact.

After Michelle Hughes graduated from Haverford College, she took a job on a hog farm at the University of Pennsylvania in preparation for veterinary school. While working on the farm, Hughes’ career interests shifted towards production agriculture and advocacy.

Gary Matteson is a farmer with a passion for helping beginning farmers from all backgrounds and walks of life. During his 30-year farming career, he built a successful operation raising greenhouse wholesale cut flowers and beef cattle for local sales in Epsom, New Hampshire.

The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP, Reach and Resiliency – Round 1 grants are making an impact in communities across the nation. At the Food Bank of Lincoln, we have been able to leverage Reach and Resiliency sub-grant funding awarded by our Nebraska TEFAP agency to identify underserved areas and to implement strategies to increase TEFAP access in those areas. In some cases, the strategies were as simple as increasing the frequency of deliveries to specific communities to ensure that existing TEFAP resources were being equitably distributed.

Last month, 350 SNAP Employment and Training, or E&T, state agencies and other partners from across the country gathered for the 2022 SNAP E&T National Forum in Alexandria, VA. Deputy Under Secretary for USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, Stacy Dean, opened the conference with an important reminder, sharing:

We recently observed the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. I feel that USDA’s Risk Management Agency helps to advance the dream of Dr. King in our support of the 1890 National Scholars Program, and the Risk Management Education Program, among other initiatives.

USDA’s Office of Tribal Relations is excited about the Department’s new investments through Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. We’re investing a total of $3.1 billion in 141 projects. More than 20 tribes and tribal groups across the nation are partnering in many of these projects.

In the field and at organic organizations across the U.S., students grew new career skills in summer 2022.

Roland Begaye, 28, believes in family, friends, colleagues, and the power of powwow dancing. As a member of the Navajo Nation, in Arizona, he has had many opportunities to watch and participate as a skilled powwow dancer himself.