kathleen merrigan

On a recent December day, Earl and Clarisse Snell, of Skipperville, Alabama, proudly showed off the summer squash and tomatoes they were still growing at the start of winter thanks to the seasonal high tunnel they built earlier in the year. Also called hoop houses, seasonal high tunnels look a lot like greenhouses but require no artificial energy source—all they need is natural sunlight to grow vegetables, fruits, and other crops.

Earlier today, I joined Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and other top USDA officials here at the Agriculture Department for the Second USDA Tribal Leaders Listening Session.  The leaders are in Washington for tomorrow’s White House Conference, called by President Obama because he is very serious about the need for the federal government to honor and respect our trust responsibilities to Native communities.

During an invocation at the start of today’s event, Dr. Ted Mala, physician and director of tribal relations at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage said that the USDA “takes care of our weakest people, rural people, who cannot be here today…give them strength.”

Another impeccable line-up of speakers, led by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, has been announced for the 2011 Agricultural Outlook Forum. Titled “Today’s Strategies & Tomorrow’s Opportunities,” the Forum will be held February 24-25, 2011, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.  The Plenary Panel speakers include:

Moderator—Christine Cochran, President, Commodity Markets Council; Nariman Behravesh, Chief Economist, IHS Global Insight on Critical Issues Shaping the Global Economic Outlook; Charles Whitman, Founder and CEO, Infinium Capital Management on Electronic Trading and the Globalization of Grain Markets; Pete Nessler, President, FCStone, LLC on A Brokerage Firm’s Approach to Risk Management; Michael Copps, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission on Opening the Internet to the Rural Community.

It has been more than a year since Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative to encourage conversations about local food systems.  In that time, the initiative has strengthened the local foods movement that was already sweeping across the country.

Last week, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan and a delegation of senior officials traveled to Abingdon, Virginia, to announce the Appalachian Regional Development Initiative, an Interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) designed to build a stronger and more diversified economy in Appalachia.  The delegation included Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Federal Co-Chair Earl Gohl.

As Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan wrapped up a multi-state visit last week, she stopped in Kentucky where she announced the recipients for the Rural Microentreprenuer Assistance Program (RMAP) on Oct. 28.

Yesterday I accompanied Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, State Director for Michigan Rural Development James Turner and Congressman Mark Schauer on a visit to the Center for Family Health (CFH) in Jackson, a city about 30 miles south of Lansing.

“The Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA) are myth-busters, plain and simple,” said Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan at a recent funding announcement held at JABA’s main office and Adult Daycare Center in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In April of 2009, First Lady Michelle Obama visited a small school located in the Anacostia section of the District of Columbia, and challenged that school to meet the HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC).

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog.

An integral part of the Let’s Move! initiative is gaining a critical boost when it comes to solving the challenge of childhood obesity and improving the health and nutrition of all Americans.  Today, USDA is proud to announce new investments that will help connect farms with families at the local level by providing grants to local farmers markets, producers, and farmers. Farmers markets across the country help families make the right choice when it comes to fresh produce and foods by bringing their harvest right to our communities.