As I write, the streets of D.C. are piled with snow, Federal government offices in the area are closed, and the city has come to a slip-sliding standstill.  Throughout the storm, my colleagues from USDA’s Economic Research Service have been working to get Your Food Environment Atlas up and running for the launch of First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity.  Working on this mapping tool, which measures a community’s food-choice landscape, has been particularly interesting as the piles of record snowfall continue to obscure our own food landscape.

I have always known that my food environment plays an important role in the types of foods I feed myself and my family. Never has this been more true: my family’s home is without power, the neighborhood streets are undrivable, and our food environment has been whittled down to the restaurants and ready-to-eat food establishments we can walk to and that still have food.  These few days have given me a taste for what many experience daily: limited cooking options and limited access to healthy foods.

For children in low-income families living in neighborhoods with few healthy food options, unhealthy diets may be an unavoidable reality of everyday life, not just snow-storm life.  For the thousands of children who are obese or overweight, this reality has serious health consequences.  In recognition of the toll the obesity epidemic is having on the health and well-being of our children, the First Lady has challenged the nation to move to end childhood obesity in a generation.  In recognition of the influences that the food environment has on diet quality, she has challenged researchers across government to examine the interaction of factors influencing food and lifestyle choices.

USDA’s Your Food Environment Atlas is an online mapping tool that compares the food environment of U.S. counties—the mix of factors that together influence food choices, diet quality, and general fitness among residents.  The Atlas contains 90 food environment indicators—most at the county level—allowing Atlas users to visualize and compare on a map how counties fare on each of the indicators. This new online tool is designed to stimulate research and inform policymakers as they address the nexus between diet and public health.

What can the Atlas tell us? Think about what the First Lady has said about the obstacles people often face in taking responsibility for adopting healthy habits of diet and fitness. Access, affordability, and convenience affect the ability to provide healthy meals for children and other household members. Proximity to full-service grocery stores affects both access and affordability, and it’s one of the many indicators the Atlas measures, including proximity among low-income residents. The Atlas shows the concentration of convenience food stores, fast-food establishments, full-service restaurants, and farmers’ markets in a county.

A variety of indicators measured in the Atlas specifically affect affordability. Examples are the price ratios of selected healthy foods to snack foods and even the price of low-fat milk. The food and financial needs among a county’s population are also part of the picture: data on these include median household income, poverty rates, and eligibility of residents for food programs like school lunches and SNAP (formerly the Food Stamp Program).

We can find information in the Atlas on per capita consumption of foods from both the healthy and not-so-healthy side of the diet ledger, including fruit and vegetables, soft drinks, and fats. And the Atlas measures some key health outcomes like diabetes and obesity rates.

Michelle Obama and others have emphasized the importance of exercise as well as healthy diets in curbing childhood obesity and promoting general fitness. Parks, playgrounds, and after-school sports can be sidelined if a community lacks funds. This is another area Your Food Environment Atlas addresses, with data that include counties’ recreation and fitness facilities, and natural amenities.

All of these components of a community’s food environment are just a sample of the 90 indicators the Atlas contains, covering demographic, health, and food access characteristics. While particularly useful to researchers, the Atlas is available to the general public on the ERS website. Anyone using this tool can, for example, create a map and compare counties by prevalence of adult diabetes, and then see how they compare in geographic access to grocery stores. And for each county, users can view all the county-level indicators that contribute to its food environment profile.

The data in Your Food Environment Atlas document the situations of real people in real communities. We hope this web tool will contribute to a national conversation on food choices and diet quality, and on some of the social and economic conditions to consider when searching for solutions to diet-related public health issues.

The Atlas is available on the web at http://www.ers.usda.gov/foodatlas/

Elise Golan, USDA’s Economic Research Service egolan@ers.usda.gov

We wrapped up the final of four USDA-led jobs forums Monday in Anchorage.  As in Fairbanks, Kotzebue and Juneau, area leaders joined with Alaskans from all walks to life to provide input on what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to job creation and retention, especially in rural Alaska.

As a former lawmaker, and a current member of an electric cooperative board, I was impressed to hear how so many state residents feel that reliable, affordable electricity is one of the most important keys to establishing the economic stability necessary to promote job growth.  It’s no wonder when some communities have to pay as much s $10 per gallon for fuel oil to heat their homes and generate electricity. Additionally, rural Alaskans want what many in urban areas take for granted: broadband  Internet access, and the ability to fully participate in commercial and educational activities on the world wide web.  Alaskans produce a wide range of products, from art to food items, that buyers in the “lower 48” and around the world want, but in order to get them to market, the seller needs access to broadband.  USDA is working on that, having just announced a package of loans and grant to extend broadband to communities in the Bethel and Dillingham region.  Natural resource development is the life blood of Alaska’s economy and each of the forums stressed the importance skill training for the jobs of the future.   Alaskans want Alaskans to get the jobs that may come from a gas pipeline or other large development project.

In Juneau, surrounded by the nation’s largest national forest, we talked about the need for a new forest economy, one that moves beyond the old growth harvesting of the past, and into a new era of renewable energy production. My staff is working with officials in Washington, D.C., both in Rural Development and in the Forest Service, to make this new economy a reality.   Rich and pristine ocean waters which currently provide fishing industry jobs can also host of an emerging mariculture industry, particularly oyster farming.   Mining gave birth to Juneau’s economy and there is still strong support for a responsible mining industry.

In Fairbanks, I was joined by Senator Mark Begich in announcing $49 million in water and sewer projects for rural Alaska.  These projects will improve health conditions in many rural communities, stretching all the way from Saxman and Kodiak Island to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and from Kotzebue to Fort Yukon.  Those projects will create local construction jobs and improve the infrastructure in many rural communities.   Local food systems were also a big topic of discussion in Fairbanks.  Contrary to popular stereotypes it is possible produce healthy foods grown in soil over permafrost.

In Kotzebue, it was minus 32 degrees outside, but we had a warm reception inside the local Tech Center.  This forum, the only one in the United States held above the Arctic Circle, was broadcast region-wide by KOTZ radio and was moderated by National Native News pioneer Nellie Moore.   Kotzebue is a coastal community and on the leading edge of the effects of climate change.  While melting arctic sea ice is a major concern, the community see opportunities as global shipping lanes open before their eyes.

The Obama Administration is serious about creating an environment that supports job creation and the four forums we held across this state lay a groundwork for regional coordination, with the Forest Service, the Farm Service Agency, the Denali Commission, the State of Alaska, Native corporations and local governments, along with many others.  Over the next year, working with our partners, we intend to support micro-lending activities in rural areas, fund needed community facilities and encourage the expansion of renewable energy development through our Rural Energy for America program.  There’s a lot to accomplish, and we’re just getting started.

FSA Executive Director Danny Consenstein and I will hand deliver our report on these four meetings to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Washington, D.C. later this month.  We know that they will set the framework for job development later this year, and for years to come.

Alaska Rural Development State Director Jim Nordlund addresses the Jobs Forum in Anchorage on February 1. Head table, Seated, (L to R) Brynn Keith, Alaska Department of Labor; Greg Cashen, Alaska Workforce Investment Board; Mark Allred, Denali Commission; Danny Consenstein, FSA State Executive Director; Vince Beltrami, President, Alaska AFL-CIO; Chris Rose, Renewable Energy for Alaska Program (REAP); Arthur Keyes, Glacier Valley Farms; Wes Lannen, USDA Rural Development Telecommunications General Field Representative

Pictured at the Alaska USDA Jobs Forum in Kotzebue, Alaska are (L to R): Dean Westlake, Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly Member; Danny Consenstein, Executive Director, Alaska Farm Service Agency;
Jim Nordlund, State Director, USDA Rural Development; and radio host Nellie Moore

A large crowd came out in temperatures of -35 to discuss job creation ideas during a USDA-sponsored Jobs Forum in Kotzebue, Alaska, located above the Arctic Circle.

Jim Nordlund, State Director, USDA Rural Development-Alaska

Bend, Oregon – Panels of economic experts, elected officials, community leaders and state agencies once again presented information in conjunction with Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Rural Development (RD) for a jointly hosted USDA Forum on Jobs & Economic Growth on January 28. The forum was held at Central Oregon Community College in Bend, a Central Oregon community with a 15% unemployment rate.  A similar forum was held the previous week in Albany.  Both forums were facilitated by Rural Development Initiatives, Inc.

Roger Lee, Executive Director of Economic Development for Central Oregon, kicked off the first panel with a discussion about which business sectors are thriving and which ones are not in this community that saw a 3.5% unemployment rate jump to 15% in just three years.   Bend was hit hard by the housing bust where roughly half of the job losses were in manufacturing and construction.

Deschutes County Commissioner Alan Unger agreed that while “industry knows how to build a widget, they don’t know how to go through the land-use process.”  He encouraged greater collaboration among citizens, businesses and interest groups as a method of building support for their ideas and projects.  And he praised the work of The Oregon Consortium and Oregon Workforce Alliance (TOC/OWA), a public-private partnership that provides guidance and strategies for workforce training in 24 rural Oregon counties.

Oregon State University economist Bruce Sorte believed that counties who let their public officials take risks will succeed, and that federal agencies needed to be the backstop in the event those risks are not successful.  He noted that we’re not in any particular economic cycle, but rather we are seeing a “fundamental restructuring of the whole economy.

The second half of the forum focused on green jobs/renewable energy, farming and agricultural exports. Bob Repine, Assistant Director for Energy Incentives at the Oregon Department of Energy saw many opportunities for Central Oregon in the growing green energy market.  He spoke about a business that is turning water bottles into reusable products instead of shipping them off to India to be burned for energy.  Mr. Repine mentioned that horizontal wind turbines are being developed for use in less windy areas, and that Oregon is looking at upgrading the grid system to transmit the electricity created from these new technologies.  He cautioned, however, that we will need a quicker response from Oregon’s education system to keep up with worker training.

Phil Chang, program administrator for the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council was excited about the “new forest economy,” and our ability to take liabilities and turn them into assets.  Mill residuals, hog fuel and smaller diameter trees can be used in biomass plants, the up-and-coming wood pellet industry, and other wood products.  He praised the many programs offered by Rural Development, but would like to see changes made so the programs could be used on federal lands.  Over 50% of Oregon’s land is owned by the federal government.

Forum participants extolled the many virtues of Rural Development programs, noting the staff was always there to answer the phone and provide guidance on projects and ideas.  While residents were encouraged by the growth of the renewable energy industry, there were expressions of anxiety over the uncertainty of the financial markets, the lack of access to capital, and the continued decline of the housing industry.  Some were concerned that green jobs were more trendy than sustainable, and that while government programs help at first, they might not over the long haul.  Changes in land-use laws would help farmers who are focused on agri-tourism and developing internship possibilities to slow the out-migration of our young people.  As one participant noted, “Our children are our biggest export.”

The smaller community of Sisters, Oregon, and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs both expressed concerns about short timelines, the numerous regulations and their inability to be shovel-ready with projects under ARRA.  However, Sisters was grateful for the sewer project funded with USDA Community Facilities program dollars.  The city of Madras echoed similar concerns and also noted that over 20% of their workforce is uninsured, leading to rising costs for charitable care.

The congressional offices of U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley were ably represented at the forum, both eager to share the many ideas and suggestions with Oregon’s Senators.  There was general agreement among the 75+ participants that these kinds of forums needed to happen more often, and that rural Oregon needs greater partnerships between federal, state and nonprofit agencies to pool and leverage their limited resources.

If you would like to continue the conversation by making written comments, you may do so on this blog, or by posting to AskFSA@usda.gov and inserting “Oregon Jobs and Economic Growth Forum” in the subject line.

Written by: Vicki L. Walker, State Director, USDA Rural Development-Oregon

Oregon State Director Vicki Walker addresses the audience at the Bend, Oregon jobs forum.

To learn more, go to the Rural Development and FSA Job Roundtables Schedule, and the News Release, “USDA to Host Roundtables on Jobs, Economic Growth”

Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan visited with the  students, faculty and administrators at the University of New Hampshire as part of USDA’s ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ college tour.

Deputy Secretary Merrigan had the opportunity to learn about current research efforts from staff at UNH’s College of Life Sciences and Agriculture including research on strawberry genomics conducted by Thomas M. Davis, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences.

The strawberry genomics research program at UNH is engaged in basic and applied research aimed at understanding the structure, evolution, and expression of the strawberry genome, and at the development of novel strawberry germplasm. Their goal is to provide the knowledge and tools needed to serve the coming era of marker-assisted breeding of strawberry and other specialty crops. Marker assisted breeding is a technology that relies upon DNA fingerprinting techniques to identify plants with superior genetic constitutions, yet involves no “genetic modification” of the plant itself except that achievable via the conventional breeding techniques of cross pollination and variety selection.

Over the past year, an international consortium of researchers has self-assembled around the goal of generating the first strawberry genome sequence. The effort is formally led by the laboratories of Vladimir Shulaev (Virginia Bioinformatics Institute) and Kevin Folta (University of Florida), but involves intensive efforts by many laboratories both within and outside the U.S, including the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station.

The subject of this sequencing effort is the yellow-fruited variety, ‘Hawaii 4’, of the Alpine strawberry, Fragaria vesca f. semperflorens. ‘Hawaii 4’ differs from the commonly cultivated strawberry in two important ways. One is its distinctive yellow fruit.

By Aaron Lavallee, USDA Communications Coordinator

Over 250 attended the Broadband Workshop on Ground Hog Day (Feb. 2, 2010) in Eureka, Missouri to learn more about  two key American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) broadband programs as part of President Obama’s job creation agenda.  The workshop was the fifth of ten public workshops open to the public sponsored by the USDA Rural Development Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and Dept. of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

The excitement over this broadband initiative was evident in the discussions, networking and partnerships that took place during the day.  We had excellent feedback about the outstanding training that was provided by the national office staff on the application process and many questions were answered.  The concept and benefits of regionalization in providing these services was emphasized and we left the meeting with a positive, optimistic attitude that we would see good results from the presentations and USDA, Rural Development programs.

We appreciated the presence of Jessica Zufolo, Deputy Administrator for Utilities who inspired the audience with the following comment:  “It’s hard for businesses to locate or thrive in areas that do not have access to broadband, and that’s why the Obama Administration believes that providing new broadband infrastructure is one of the most important ways to create jobs and rebuild and revitalize rural America. Broadband infrastructure projects lay the foundation for job creation and economic growth.  Broadband makes commerce possible, and it also opens the way for improved access to health care, educational opportunities for children and adults, along with greater access to information in public venues including libraries.”

We heard positive comments about the USDA’s partnership with the Department of Commerce on this initiative.  “By funding projects to increase broadband access and digital literacy in communities across the country, we can help more Americans compete in the 21st century economy and improve our country’s global competitiveness,” said Angela Simpson, NTIA Senior Advisor on Broadband, at the workshop.

U. S. Senator Claire McCaskill was represented by Llona Weiss, Regional Director, and Bob Burns, Field Representative.   Missouri Governor Jay Nixon was represented by Robert Donnelly with the Department of Economic Development.  Many other stakeholders including: organizations, commissions, local/regional/state government, infrastructure providers, universities, libraries, community groups, nonprofits, and etc. were in attendance to learn about the programs, how to apply, learn about the scoring and learn what is required.

A highlight of the opening session was a presentation by Dan Strode, Manager of Ralls County Electric Cooperative.  The member-owned, non-profit cooperative was one of the recipient’s in the $310 million ARRA Rural Broadband Projects announced by Secretary Vilsack on Jan. 25, 2010.  They received a $9,548,908 grant and $9,548,909 loan to help fund a fiber optic network to 4,594 households, 311 businesses and 58 anchor institutions, public safety entities, and critical community organizations in rural northeast Missouri.  This is also a Missouri demonstration project with leveraged funds provided by Governor Nixon and the State of Missouri.  Mr. Strode pointed out that the fiber optic network along their electric distribution right-of-way will bring advanced broadband services to unserved and undeserved residents.  The fiber network will enable “Smart Grid” technologies, to revitalize local economic development and create sustainable jobs for their members and communities. Stobe pointed out the Coop would dedicate 10% of free cash flow from broadband operations for local economic development loans and grants to further job retention and creation.

This provided an excellent example of a successful applicant/recipient utilizing the ARRA funds to support sustainable investments in broadband to create jobs, spur long-term economic growth, and ensure rural communities can compete in the 21^st century.

As my final comment, I would add that I commend the national office for the “lessons learned” from the Round 1 of the Notice of Funding Availability and making positive changes for improvement for the second round.  Individuals attending were complimentary and appreciative that their comments had been heard and adjustments made.

For information on more workshops, archived webcasts,  visit http://www.broadbandusa.gov.  Additional forums will be held over the next two weeks at the following locations: February 4, Sioux Falls, SD; February 5, Detroit, MI; February 9, Blacksburg, VA; February 11, Fayetteville, NC; and February 12, Atlanta, GA.

Submitted by Janie Dunning, Missouri State Director for Rural Development and by George Thomas, Public Information Coordinator

Angela Simpson, NTIA Senior Advisor on Broadband, Jessica Zufolo, Deputy Administrator, Utilities, USDA Rural Development, Janie Dunning, Missouri Rural Development State Director

Bob Burns, Field Representative of U. S. Senator Claire McCaskill, participating in the comment period.

On a Friday filled with forecasts of freezing rain and snow advisories, more than 170 attendees became an overflow crowd at John A. Logan Community College in Carterville, Illinois.  The informational meeting was a regional presentation on how American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding can help grow local economies and build communities in Southern Illinois.  Rural Development collaborated with five other organizations as part of its Rural Development Road Show, Round Two.  Participants drove as far as 100 miles for a single purpose: to learn how we can help improve their rural communities.

The audience was a diverse as I’ve ever seen…engineers, lenders, city officials, representatives of the construction trades, planning commissions and numerous not-for-profits participated.  We visited with people from libraries, water companies, healthcare facilities and cooperatives.  Staff from US Senator Durbin’s office, Congressman’s Costello office and State Representative John Bradley, himself, (still showing the effects of a bout with pneumonia) joined us, too!

With such an overwhelming turnout, we ran out of handouts.  But we focused on the need to incorporate these “C’s”:  Communicate, Connect, Collaborate, Common Sense and accept Change as we work toward rebuilding and improving our rural communities. Attendees were looking for ways to fund their projects, and we are fortunate to have unprecedented resources to help them achieve their goals, thanks to the ARRA funding!

We have another Recovery Act meeting tomorrow, Thursday, in Oregon, Ill. and wrap things up on February 23^rd in Springfield, Ill.  For more information on date, time and location, go to: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/il/.

A full house of people from all over Southern Illinois joined Rural Development and other organizations to learn about the opportunities provided by ARRA.

Submitted by Illinois State Director Colleen Callahan