When Dina Brewster’s grandparents bought their place in Ridgefield, Connecticut, in 1936, the town was dominated by small farms. Many of those farms eventually disappeared to development, or were leased or abandoned. But now some are being revitalized—sometimes, as in Brewster’s case, by the grandchildren of the original owners.

Brewster is the first family member to farm the homestead since her grandmother ran it as a sheep farm. After her grandparents stopped farming, the land lay fallow for years and then was leased to another farmer. Brewster took over the farm in 2006 and set about converting it to a certified organic operation. Read more »

The December 2010 issue of USDA's Amber Waves describes recent research on local food supply chains. Researchers sponsored by ERS studied several food supply chains around the country, looking at how the size, structure, and performance of local supply chains compare to mainstream supply chains.

Most people who are interested in local food know that farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) are great ways to buy products from local farms and vendors. But are there other ways that local food moves from producers to consumers? It turns out that a great variety of food supply chains are capable of delivering locally produced foods to consumers. Studying these supply chains offers an interesting peek into the future of local foods in the United States. Read more »

Farm owner Andy Dunham (wearing cap) explains his crop production system to John Whitaker, FSA Iowa State Executive Director

Recent estimates indicate only nine percent of family farm income comes from farming and fewer than half of our nation’s farmers and ranchers list farming as their primary occupation. Read more »

This summer, after being motivated by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Lets Move! campaign, Chef Raquel Rivera-Pablo began teaming with schools throughout the New York City area.  Ever since she attended a White House South Lawn event for chefs like her, Pablo was inspired to chart her own Chefs Move to Schools experience. Read more »

Krissy Young, NASS employee, picks organic blueberries with her family at a nearby farm in Ashton, Md.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA’s rich science and research portfolio Read more »

A local farmer explains how his hoop houses allow him to maintain his crops through a tough Minnesota winter.

In September, I was one of 28 Junior Professionals and two advisors from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) who traveled to the Midwest for an annual agricultural training trip. This training opportunity exposed members of FAS’s Junior Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC) to a broad range of U.S. agriculture in Minnesota and Iowa. The trip also helped maintain and build direct relationships with the U.S. agricultural industry, reinforcing the Agency’s connection to its primary constituents. Read more »