It was a rainy morning here at the USDA headquarters in Washington DC, but that did not stop the local farm vendors from setting up shop at the weekly USDA Farmer’s Market. Read more »

Hundreds of bell peppers in shades of green, red, orange and yellow were on the chopping block today at the DC Central Kitchen. The peppers, personally delivered by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack from the USDA Farmer’s Market, were on their way into quesadillas as part of the lunch menu at the DC Central Kitchen. Read more »

We are so excited that six National Forests are going to be featured in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. You can start your National Forest quarter-dollar collection in 2010, when the U.S. Mint begins issuing America the Beautiful quarters. The first National Forest commemorative coin will honor Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon. Read more »

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Amqui Elementary School in Madison, TN yesterday as part of the Obama Administration’s ‘My Education, My Future’ events. Read more »

The last week of August was proclaimed Community Gardening Week by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and the new People’s Garden project outside the USDA headquarters fronting on the National Mall was a perfect place to discuss community garden in the greater DC-area and take a long at its future. On September 4, I joined a local farmer and USDA staff to talk about growing tomatoes, maximizing your harvest, and community gardening. Read more »

Family farmers from throughout the country descended into St. Louis over the weekend for the 24th annual Farm Aid Conference. Stars including Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, and Dave Mathews were on hand to shine a spotlight on the struggles that small- and mid-sized farmers face. Read more »