food and nutrition

We would like to give thanks this holiday season to America’s farmers and ranchers who help bring delicious food to tables across the nation this holiday season. And just where in the United States are traditional holiday foods produced?

At first blush, a five-star hotel and a local community food kitchen would seem to have little in common. An innovative program funded by USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City, Va., and the DC Central Kitchen (DCCK) in Washington, D.C., have created a partnership that takes hard-working SNAP participants and helps them grow into professional chefs at the Ritz-Carlton.

It takes the right amount of water and sunlight for seeds to grow into a thriving garden. So too, it takes the right mix of factors to integrate local foods into communities. Some of these factors include committed stakeholders, planning, collaboration, and financial resources.

The UN recently released a report stating that world hunger is once again on the rise, with 815 million people now hungry. That is roughly two and a half times the population of the United States. To this end, the UN lists “zero hunger” near the top of its list of Sustainable Development Goals, only behind “no poverty” at number one.

It’s the time of year when many of us start thinking about holiday baking and cooking.

Whether it’s roasting a turkey with all the trimmings for Thanksgiving dinner or batches of cookies and other baked goods to share with loved ones, butter is often a key ingredient in our favorite recipes.

“Trick-or-treating” or more recently “Trunk-or-Treating” is a Halloween custom for many American families. According to the US Census Bureau 2015 Population Estimates, there are an estimated 41.1 million potential trick-or-treaters – children ages 5 to 14 – across the United States. Of course, children younger than 5 years old and older than 14 (adults included) enjoy celebrating Halloween.

Nourishing food is fundamental to a healthy future for America’s children. Earlier this month, we celebrated the important role of school lunches, and the professionals that serve them in schools throughout the nation. The President proclaimed October 8-14 as National School Lunch Week in recognition of “the benefits that school lunch programs offer to our communities and to our Nation's future.” Over the course of the week, USDA leaders headed out to local schools to join children for lunch, and learned more about those schools’ “Recipes for Success” – the theme of the week.

It’s graduation day, a time when young men and women proudly walk past family and friends to accept diplomas from their high school or college. The event marks the beginning of their new life, joining the American workforce. And perhaps, for some, marriage, starting a family and living in a house with a white picket fence.

This story, however, is about a different kind of graduating class. Unlike typical high school and college grads, these students have already tackled the struggles of unemployment, poverty, addiction and even years of incarceration. This graduating class is filled with students who are now restarting their journey toward economic self-sufficiency and attaining the American dream.

Child Nutrition Directors are generating buzz by incorporating winning dishes from high school junior chef competitions (JCC) into school menus. And the idea of providing students an opportunity to impact school meals is spreading!

October is a busy month for both our nation’s farms and our nation’s schools. Farmers are harvesting everything from apples to pumpkins, while schools are celebrating Farm to School Month by raising awareness of the connection with fresh, healthy food and local food producers.