Blog

It was a great start to National Small Business Month at the Southeast States “Path to Prosperity" event in Albany, Georgia on May 2. Path to Prosperity is a regional business and economic development workshop series that features experts from the financial industry, federal government, community partners, and stakeholders.

Emergency responders are an interesting lot. As a culture we recognize and value those who rush toward an emergency while others flee to safety. They work or volunteer as firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical workers, dispatchers and in a variety of support positions. Chances are good that you know an emergency responder. You might even serve in that capacity yourself.

One of my favorite activities is to see FNS programs in action. Therefore, as often as I can, I try to visit schools that know how to have fun while feeding kids healthy meals. Recently, I had the chance to visit Rialto Unified School District (RUSD) and learn about their success in doing just that. They just earned USDA’s 2022 Turnip the Beet Gold Award, two years in a row!

Americans love their shrimp. No matter how you eat them, by pounds consumed, the popularity of these delectable little morsels ranks well ahead of salmon and more than doubles that of canned tuna.

Water has always shaped where we plant our communities and how they grow. If you farm, fish, or live in rural America, you know that healthy waterways are vital to ensuring that communities, large or small, can continue to thrive.

Most Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants who can work already do. SNAP’s food assistance benefits are critical to helping these workers put food on the table as the jobs they hold often pay low wages, offer unreliable hours, and don’t provide benefits like paid sick leave. Reliable, high-quality work is a powerful way out of poverty, and USDA’s SNAP Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) helps gain professional skills and connections to better employment opportunities.

Members of the United States Armed Forces sacrifice so much to keep us safe and protect our country. Every May Americans recognize their efforts and express gratitude during Military Appreciation Month. At USDA, we also celebrate the contributions that our Military members have made to agriculture and farming.

Can you imagine a day when healthcare is mostly proactive as opposed to reactive? Imagine if everyone has access to the vital conditions for health and wellbeing: the factors that people depend on to reach their full potential. What does that future look like?

Invasive fruit flies, such as the Oriental, Mexican, Mediterranean, and European cherry fruit fly, pose threats to many U.S. commercial and homegrown crops. If established, these flies could cause significant economic losses, requiring costly treatments to protect fruits and vegetables and reducing the marketability of infested fruit both locally and abroad. What’s at stake? The market value of invasive fruit fly-host commodities totaled approximately $11.7 billion in the United States in 2022. Approximately $8.3 billion of that was from California and $2.9 billion from Florida.

WIC is one of the most powerful, evidence-based public health programs, setting moms, babies, and young kids up to be healthy and thrive. The program is associated with incredible outcomes like improved diet quality, birth weights, and cognitive development, and reduced infant deaths, premature births, and health care costs. It’s no wonder more than six million women, infants, and children across America participate in the program.