One month to the day after USDA’s 56^th Annual Honor Awards Ceremony, Secretary Ann M. Veneman took time out to honor USDA’s summer interns and talk about the diverse opportunities for employment at USDA. Nationally, USDA employs about 9,500 student interns each year.

At the August 8 ceremony held in the Jefferson Auditorium at USDA’s South Building in Washington, DC, Veneman heard from three Washington, DC-based interns and one former intern who is now a full-time employee.

Melinda Collier, who began as an intern in 1994, now works for the Rural Housing Service. A former USDA 1890 National Scholar, Collier, who now holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Syracuse University, said, “I’ve had other job offers. But I stay because I’m part of a great team that makes a difference in the lives of rural Americans across this nation every day.”

Estavan Ramirez, a third year political science major at the University of California-Berkeley, said of his experience working with the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, “I can definitely see myself having a career in agriculture--it’s just so broad and so huge--from when you eat a grape to the whole forest.” Ramirez came to USDA through the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) Internship Program.

Secretary Ann M. Veneman (center) speaks to USDA interns in Washington, DC at a recent ceremony. Four participants in USDA’s intern program who are standing behind her are (L to R) Estavan Ramirez, Jasper Sage, Melinda Collier, and Katy Poth. --Photo by Ken Hammond

Washington Internship for Native Students (WINS) Program intern, Jasper Sage, is a senior at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan. He worked with the Farm Service Agency this year and said he was impressed with FSA’s emphasis on culture. “They look at the law and see how can we introduce these programs without disturbing [the tribal government’s] heritage, their culture, their spiritual values, and all the sacred places,” he said. “Right now they’re using local people to implement these programs, and that’s what I liked about it.”

Office of Communications intern Katy Poth, a senior at Ohio State University, is a former national officer of the FFA. “When I came I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but I soon found out that the Office of Communications is an extremely wide arena. I’ve been able to sit in on the morning meetings and listen to the same issues be discussed around this conference table that I was used to being discussed around the dinner table back on my farm. To see the care and concern is something that makes me very proud to call back home and tell my dad about what’s happening at the USDA.”

Veneman expanded on the interns’ theme about the diverse missions of USDA. “Many people don’t recognize it, but this is one of the most diverse Departments in all of the U.S. government,” she said.

“I know that when I go around the country, people think we just deal with farmers, or they might just know that we stamp meat packages because they see that USDA label in their grocery store. But the fact of the matter is, in addition to all the farm programs and the conservation programs, we’re responsible for food safety in the area of meat and poultry inspection. We run the Food Stamp Program, the School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and the Women, Infants, and Children Program. We have rural development programs, helping rural communities all around the country with infrastructure. We run the Forest Service, and we have a tremendous number of programs in education, research, and economics,” Veneman said.

“What you have from all of this diversity in our Department is a diversity of opportunity for employment.” Veneman urged the interns “to not only consider a career that may be related to agriculture or the environmental issues that we deal with, or the nutrition education and nutrition opportunities, but to look very, very carefully at the possibility of a career in public service.” •