What is summer in New York without a visit to the Empire Farm Days? For USDA New York employees, it is an annual tradition. This year we raved about the department’s 150th Anniversary, talked about all the great things we are doing for New York and (maybe) our team of volunteers had one too many corn on the cobs.
This event is a BIG deal – spread out across 300 acres of farmland on the Rodman Lott & Sons Farm; it has more than 500 vendors, producers and other agri-business specialists. It is the largest outdoor agriculture trade show in the Northeast and showcases THE latest and greatest in agricultural equipment and technology.
The three day event hosted everything from farm equipment sales and auctions to demonstrations of harvesting, processing equipment and other related machinery as well as educational and interactive exhibitions. Staff from our eight service centers kept farmers, families and friends busy with a myriad of activities that included the Wind Energy Center, community power generation and this year’s USDA 150th Anniversary exhibit that had information sharing, we answered questions about USDA history and current programs, we had face painting for the children and even (3 foot tall) sunflower giveaways throughout the day. Read more »
(left to right top) Mike Hurwitz, Director of the Greenmarkets Programs, GrowNYC; Anthony Jordan, Community Liaison for Congressman Serrano; Joel Berg, Executive Director, New York City Coalition Against Hunger; Kim Kessler, Food Policy Coordinator, NYC Mayor’s Office; Cathy Nonas, Senior Advisor, DOHMH. (left to right bottom) Alyson Abrami, Manager Farmers’ Market Program, DOHMH; Culinary Nutritionists, Stellar Farmers’ Market Program; Audrey Rowe, Administrator for the USDA Food and Nutrition Service; Linda La Violette, Director of Farmers’ Markets, Empire State Development
During a recent visit to the “Big Apple”, Audrey Rowe, Administrator, USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) visited Poe Park Greenmarket in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. She entered to find farmers showing off their fresh, locally-grown produce, herbs and specialty products, which community members regularly use their SNAP and WIC benefits to buy. Read more »
Elmer Moje sells German Stiffneck garlic at his stand in the Tonawanda, New York farmers market. For decades, Moje has been bringing his crops to the same market. Photo by Sharif Hamdy
It was 1918 when Elmer Moje first took crops to market with his father on a horse and wagon in North Tonawanda, New York. Moje, who turns 99 later this month, still takes his crops to the market once or twice a week.
“I don’t have the wagon or the horse anymore,” he says with a laugh. “Back then it was all done by hand. My father never owned a tractor, he only had horses. Now everything is done by tractor.” Read more »
Northeast Regional Administrator, James Arena-DeRosa serves a meal from the NYC food truck at Orchard Beach in the Bronx.
For most children, summertime means school vacation, family trips and beach days, but for many, it also means losing the two free or reduced-price meals provided at school. Read more »
Forest Products Lab engineer John Hunt (left) and Jubliee Flooring owner Joe Triglia inspect flooring milled from discarded wine barrel staves.
Joe Triglia, owner of Jubilee Flooring in Long Island, N.Y., has spent years working out a way to turn discarded wine barrels into wood flooring. Now, with help from the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Products Laboratory , his vision is turning into a promising business venture. Read more »
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 USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.
Fresh corn and homegrown tomatoes are as much a part of the traditional American scene as apple pie. Scientists with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have applied cutting-edge technology to learn more about these longtime favorites and, in the long run, make them even better.
As part of an international consortium of 300 researchers, ARS scientists recently sequenced the genome of the domesticated tomato. This achievement is expected to lower production costs and speed up efforts to improve the United States’ $2 billion tomato crop, making the plant better equipped to combat the pests, pathogens, drought and diseases that now plague growers. That’s good news for tomato fans, because since 2000, Americans have been consuming an average of 19 pounds of tomatoes per person every year. Read more »
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