4-H student presenters check out the White House following their meeting.

As part of their 2012 annual 4-H National Conference approximately 300 high school student leaders from across the United States, U.S. territories, and Canada gathered in the greater Washington, DC area.  4-H seeks to promote positive youth development, facilitate learning, and engage young people in the efforts of the USDA to produce “real results for real people.”  The conference aims to empower and mobilize the 4-H students to create positive, meaningful change in their communities. Read more »

Forest Service and American Forest Foundation officials help students plant a garden at Barnard Elementary School in Washington, DC.

Mark Haskell has perfected the school garden recipe: a green thumb, a passion for home-grown food, culinary expertise and partnerships with GreenSchools! and the U.S. Forest Service to whip up the excitement of urban school children connecting their garden to the food they eat. Read more »

Cross posted from the White House blog:

Three years ago, I was asked to participate in the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity, out of which grew the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative. In May 2010, we submitted a report to the President that made a series of recommendations for addressing the challenges of obesity and hunger, both of which stem from a lack of access to good, healthy food.  The report identified local food systems as a strategy to combat food access problems, and specifically called upon the USDA “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” Initiative to provide technical and financial assistance to help communities grow and process their own food, and create jobs at the same time.

I’m pleased to report that we’ve made a lot of progress since 2009 – and we have two new tools to help communities learn about what we’ve done and tap into USDA resources to develop their own solutions. The new Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Compass is a document packed with photos, video and case studies of communities building strong local food systems. Farmers’ markets, mobile produce vendors, farm to school initiatives, and food hubs are just a few of many examples highlighted by the Compass. The Healthy Food Access section shows how communities are using USDA resources to promote health and the local economy. Read more »

¿Cómo está celebrando usted el mes nacional de la nutrición?  Una manera fácil de incorporar la nutrición sana en su vida es hacer de MiPlato su plato.  Usted puede hacerlo en su propia mesa, y también puede ayudar a otros a hacerlo.  Comunidades a través del país están utilizando el plato hace tiempo para educar a los niños sobre cómo crear platos saludables y divertidos, que celebran las diversas culturas de las comunidades en los Estados Unidos.

Por ejemplo, Salsa, Sabor y Salud se ha  utilizado desde el año 2002 para enseñarle a estudiantes de escuelas primarias en qué consiste un plato saludable. Este es un programa bilingüe de nutrición creado por el Instituto Nacional para Niños Latinos (NLCI, por sus siglas en inglés), una  organización sin fines de lucro.  NLCI creó El Plato Saludable utilizando en ese entonces el modelo de MiPirámide para enseñar a los niños sobre los grupos básicos de alimentos.  Como resultado,  este programa innovador ha educado a más de 35,000 Latinos en 28 estados y Puerto Rico en los últimos diez años.  El año pasado, NLCI colaboró con el YMCA para desarrollar clases de nutrición en más de 90 YMCAs alrededor del país.  Este ao, tienen planes de expander el programa a otros 40 YMCAs. Read more »

How are you celebrating National Nutrition Month? An easy way to incorporate great nutrition every day is to make MyPlate your plate. You can do that at your own dining table, and you can also help others do so, as well. People across the country have been doing that for a long time by using the plate method to educate kids about building healthy, fun plates that celebrate America’s many cultures and communities.

For example, Salsa, Sabor y Salud has been teaching elementary students about healthy plates since 2002. It is a bilingual nutrition education program created by the non-profit National Latino Children’s Institute (NLCI).  Using USDA’s “My Pyramid,” the program created “El Plato Saludable” (“The Healthy Plate”) to teach students each food group. Through this innovative program, more than 35,000 Latinos in 28 states and Puerto Rico participated in nutrition education classes over the past decade.  Last year, NLCI partnered with the YMCA in order to expand nutrition education classes to 90 YMCAs across the country. This year, NCLI plans to expand their nutrition education classes into 40 more YMCAs. Read more »

It was fitting that the afternoon session of this month’s National Congress of American Indians meeting in Washington, DC, featured, as the lead speaker, former North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today joined tribal leaders from across the nation at the National Congress of American Indians Tribal Nations Legislative Summit in Washington, D. C. on Wednesday March 7, 2012, where he announced investments of $900,000 for positive nutrition education and physical activity habits that can lead to healthier lifestyles. USDA photo by Lance Cheung.

After leaving office, Senator Dorgan created a center for Native American Youth and remains an advocate for improving living conditions on reservations. At the event, Senator Dorgan urged attendees to continue to “fight on behalf of people living in third-world conditions to get them adequate housing, health care and an education system that gives Native kids opportunity.” Read more »