iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app

Department of Agriculture

Small Farms Fight Back: Food and Community Self-Governance

Beverly Bell | Posted 04.15.2013 | Green
Read More: Food Safety, Environment, Farms, Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Foodborne Illness, Fda, Maine, Green News
Beverly Bell

Blue Hill is one of a handful of small Maine towns that have been taking bold steps to protect their local food system. In 2011, they passed an ordinance exempting their local farmers and food producers from federal and state licensure requirements when these farmers sell directly to customers.

Read Whole Story

Rogue Agency's Agent Investigated in Wolf Killing

Kieran Suckling | Posted 04.09.2013 | Green
Read More: Endangered Species, Wolves, Department of Agriculture, Mexican Gray Wolves, Wildlife Services, US Department of Agriculture, Green News
Kieran Suckling

The Southwest's endangered Mexican gray wolves -- with just three breeding pairs left in the wild -- are hanging on by a thread. The last thing they need is one of their own gunned down by an employee of the government that's supposed to be nursing this wild population back to health.

Read Whole Story

Egypt's Looming Famine and America's Grain Bounty

Raymond J. Learsy | Posted 04.07.2013 | Business
Read More: Louis Dreyfus Commodities, World, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Eygpt, United Nations, World Bank, Commodities Trading, United States, State Department, Department of Agriculture, Switzerland, Wheat, Muslim Brotherhood, Food, New York Times, Imf, Ex-Im Bank, Petroleum, Business News
Raymond J. Learsy

Along with this new focus and responsibility, it is also high time that the nation establishes a Strategic Grain Reserve much in keeping with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Read Whole Story

Why We Must Put Nature Back to Work, Part 1

William S. Becker | Posted 03.20.2013 | Green
Read More: Department of Agriculture, Epa, Usgs, Infrastructure, Ecosystem Services, Coastal Storms, Flood Control, Ecosystems, American Society of Civil Engineers, US Forest Service, Green News
William S. Becker

Ecosystems perform a wide variety of important services for free. But many of these ecosystems have been degraded or destroyed by human development. Now, communities need to put nature back to work.

Read Whole Story

Spending Cuts Could Wreak Havoc On Milk Prices

AP | TODD RICHMOND | Posted 05.13.2013 | Business
Read More: Department of Agriculture, Dairy Farmers, Department of Agriculture Reports, Milk, Milk Farmers, Usda, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Milk Prices, Business News

MADISON, Wis. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture's statistical arm said it won't issue some agricultural reports this year because of automati...

Read Whole Story

Meat Shortage Coming?

Reuters | Posted 05.13.2013 | Business
Read More: Department of Agriculture, Spending Cuts, Sequester Cuts, President Obama, Reuters, Goverment Furloughs, Elizabeth Hagen, Usda, Meat Industry, Business News

* Furloughs expected to begin in mid-July, total 11 days * Furlough days will be sporadic, none in succession WASHINGTON...

Read Whole Story

WATCH: U.S. Farm Worker Speaks About Slave-Like Conditions

The Huffington Post | Lindsay Wilkes-Edrington | Posted 02.01.2013 | HuffPost Live 321
Read More: HuffPost Live, Department of Agriculture, Farm Workers, United Farm Workers, Farm Worker Conditions, Farm Labor Conditions, Farm Labor, Live Video, Farm, Migrant Workers, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Undocumented Immigrant, Center for Progressive Reform, Farmworkers, HuffPost Live 321 News

For every 32 pounds of tomatoes Leonel Perez picks on Florida farmlands, he says he receives a piece rate of 50 cents. "That's a piece rate that ha...

Read Whole Story

19 TONS Of Beef Recalled

AP | Posted 10.02.2012 | Home
Read More: Department of Agriculture, Beef Recall, Food, Usda, Cheeseburgers, Ap, Kenosha Beef International, Sam's Choice, Home News

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Kenosha Beef International Ltd. is recalling nearly 19 tons of frozen bacon-cheeseburger patties because they may contain piece...

Read Whole Story

GOP Senators Celebrate 'Meat Monday' After USDA's 'Meatless Monday' Mishap

Posted 07.30.2012 | Home
Read More: John Cornyn, Department of Agriculture, Meat Monday, Usda, PETA Meatless Monday, Peta, Senator Chuck Grassley, Meatless Monday, USDA Meatless Monday, Home News

The hubbub over the U.S. Department of Agriculture's retracted tweet supporting "Meatless Mondays" continues. Last week, Republican Iowa senator C...

Read Whole Story

PETA Takes 'Bets' On Senator's Death As 'Meatless Mondays' Controversy Continues

The Huffington Post | Meredith Bennett-Smith | Posted 07.27.2012 | Home
Read More: Department of Agriculture, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Senator Grassley PETA, Senator Grassley, Usda, Senator Harkin, Peta, Meatless Monday, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Home News

PETA upped the ante Thursday, jumping headfirst into a feud involving the Department of Agriculture, the meat lobby and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. ...

Read Whole Story

The Seen and Unseen Consequences of This Summer's Weather Assault

Pearl Korn | Posted 09.24.2012 | Politics
Read More: Severe Weather, Congress, Social Security, John Steinbeck, Public Housing, Income Inequality, Barbara Ehrenreich, Colorado Springs, Democrats, Barack Obama, New York City, Department of Agriculture, Drought, Hunger, Minimum Wage, Senior Citizens, Homelessness, Wall Street, Gop, Food, Climate Change, Food Prices, Economic Inequality, Global Warming, Republicans, Politics News
Pearl Korn

Each year in the United States, 3.5 million people are homeless, with 100,000 homeless vets. If you are homeless, you are also hungry, and you likely don't know where your next meal will come from. Is this really America?

Read Whole Story

John Celock

After Economic Boom, What Will Be North Dakota's Next Move?

HuffingtonPost.com | John Celock | Posted 07.11.2012 | Politics
Read More: North Dakota Politics, Department of Agriculture, Infrastructure, Video, North Dakota Oil Rush, USDA-Rural Development, Jack Dalrymple, Jasper Schneider, North Dakota 2.0, North Dakota Oil, Rural Development, North Dakota Oil Boom, Politics News

The federal government's rural development agency released a report Wednesday outlining a series of recommendations for North Dakota in the wake of th...

Read Whole Story

SNAP: Cutting What Works?

Marian Wright Edelman | Posted 06.20.2012 | Politics
Read More: Agriculture Department, Agricultural, Supplemental Food and Nutrition Assistance Program, Food Stamps, Snap, Ryan Budget, Infant Malnutrition, Department of Agriculture, Hunger, Farms, Nutrition, Food, Farm Subsidies, Reduced Lunches, Families, House of Representatives Agriculture Committee, Free Lunches, Hungry, Cbo, Congressional Budget Office, Catholic Bishops, Child Hunger, Politics News
Marian Wright Edelman

The impact of more cuts on children and families who now receive a nutritionally adequate diet from SNAP would be devastating. Where is the justice in a vote to protect wealthy farmers over hungry children?

Read Whole Story

Dave Jamieson

Workers Fear Plan To Speed Up Chicken Processing Lines

HuffingtonPost.com | Dave Jamieson | Posted 04.20.2012 | Politics
Read More: Department of Agriculture, Chicken, Labor, Video, Usda Poultry Inspections, Workers, Labor Department, Cass Sunstein, Barack Obama, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- When he was working on a poultry processing line in northern Alabama last year, Jorge Polanco-Mercado watched new workers come and go al...

Read Whole Story

This Investment Is Like 'Gold With A Coupon'

Reuters | Posted 05.19.2012 | Home
Read More: Corn Belt, Department of Agriculture, Soybean Crop, Farmland, Investing in Farmland, Crops, Reuters, Home News

By Kathleen Kingsbury BOSTON, March 19 (Reuters) - As a teenager in Wisconsin, Perry Vieth spent his summers baling ha...

Read Whole Story

Obama Task Force Aims To Ensure China Plays By Trade Rules

Reuters | Posted 04.29.2012 | Business
Read More: White House, U.S. Trade Deficit, Treasury Department, Congress, Wto, President Barack Obama, Homeland Security, State of the Union Speech, Mitt Romney, Justice Department, State Department, Department of Agriculture, Video, Reuters, Interagency Trade Enforcement Unit, China, Business News

* USTR Kirk to select director of new interagency team * Unit will draw on resources from across government * Reports ra...

Read Whole Story

Who Grows Our Food: Theresa Podoll, Prairie Road Organic Farm

Ellen Kanner | Posted 04.21.2012 | Green
Read More: Department of Agriculture, Genetic Modification, Usda, Organic Farming Research Foundation, Family Farmer Seed Cooperative, Turkish, Green Revolution, Theresa Podoll, Millet, Prairie Road Organic Seed, Green News
Ellen Kanner

Seeds are where it all begins. They promise the start of things. They're "the very basis of our food and agriculture," says Theresa Podoll of Prairie Road Organic Farm.

Read Whole Story

Documenting Old Barns

AP | By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH | Posted 02.20.2012 | Arts
Read More: Missouri, Documenting Barns, Department of Agriculture, Photography, Barns, Historical Preservation, The Midwest, Arts News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Thousands of precariously leaning, rotting barns with peeling paint and missing boards dot America's rural landscape. The aging r...

Read Whole Story

Dinner At School: More Public Schools Dish Up 3 Meals A Day

AP | By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH | Posted 02.18.2012 | Home
Read More: School Dinners, Oakland Unified School District, Department of Agriculture, School Meals, Kansas City Schools, Missouri Schools, Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, Garfield Elementary School, School Lunches, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, Usda, Barack Obama, Home News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Too often it is after the fact that teachers discover their students are worrying less about math and reading and more about where...

Read Whole Story

After Year Of Natural Disasters, States To Net Hundreds Of Millions In Aid

AP | BILL DRAPER | Posted 03.19.2012 | Business
Read More: Department of Agriculture, Emergency Assistance, Natural Disasters, Video, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, Emergency Conservation Program, Disaster Aid, Flooding, Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, Business News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is adding more than $300 million to the massive amount of financial assistance federal age...

Read Whole Story

Gingrich Distorts Food Stamp Facts

Peter Dreier | Posted 03.07.2012 | Politics
Read More: Department of Agriculture, Working Poverty, Food Stamps, Newt Gingrich, Naacp, Government Accountability Office, New Hampshire, Politics News
Peter Dreier

Before Gingrich starts ranting about illegal immigrants ripping off and bankrupting the food stamp program, he might want to check his facts.

Read Whole Story

We're Not Laughing

Elaine Weiss | Posted 02.05.2012 | Home
Read More: National Academy of Sciences, Department of Agriculture, Fruits, House Appropriations Committee, School Lunch Policies, Healthy School Lunches, Kids Healthy Eating, School Lunches, Vegetables, Agriculture Appropriations Bill, Pizza-as-a-Vegetable, Healthy Eatings, Home News
Elaine Weiss

If they weren't so damaging to children, congressional leaders' explanations for their policy decisions that cater to big money interests at those children's expense would be downright funny.

Read Whole Story

How The Food Industry Controls School Meals

Posted 02.04.2012 | Home
Read More: Food Companies, Video, Student Meals, Childhood Obesity, Reduced Price Lunches, Food Manufacturers, Student Food, Child Nutrition, School Lunch, National School Lunch Program, School Meals, Department of Agriculture, Jamie Oliver, Pizza as Vegetable, Nutrition, American Frozen Food Institute, Student Health, Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, Food Producers, School Lunches, Student Nutrition, Free Lunches, Home News

In a biting piece in The New York Times Sunday, investigative reporter Lucy Komisar offers an in-depth look at how the food industry -- and its comple...

Read Whole Story

Let The Horse Slaughtering Recommence

Posted 11.30.2011 | Green
Read More: Department of Agriculture, Congress, Video, Horse Slaughter, Horse Slaughter Ban Lifted, Horse Slaughter Ban, Horses, Obama Administration, Food, Usda, Animals, Green News

Horse slaughter policy in America has entered a new era. Back in 2006, Congress instituted a ban on the use of federal money toward the inspection ...

Read Whole Story

Support the Traditional Definition of Vegetables!

Rep. Earl Blumenauer | Posted 01.18.2012 | Politics
Read More: Department of Agriculture, Diet and Nutrition, Pizza, Industrial Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, Nutrition, Earl Blumenauer, Video, Politics News
Rep. Earl Blumenauer

Forget the "dangers" of same-sex marriage. There is a much greater threat to traditional American values: the creeping danger posed by re-defining pizza and french fries as "vegetables" in our school lunch program.

Read Whole Story