Yesterday, members of Puerto Rico’s 4-H club learned about the importance of safe food handling at a hands-on, entertaining food safety camp. The Food Safety and Inspection Service’s Food Safety Education Staff collaborated with the Puerto Rico Food Safety Educational Consortium to host 60 kids at the University of Puerto Rico’s Botanical Gardens in an effort to instill lifelong good habits that will reduce their risk of foodborne illness.

During the event, called “Exploring the World of Food Safety through Science,” the 4-H club toured 6 interactive learning stations that taught them how to prevent food poisoning by featuring the four food safety behaviors from the Food Safe Families campaign: Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill. Read more »

In 2010, the U.S. Mint began issuing a series of quarters, such as this one from El Yunque National Forest, featuring national forests along with other sites highlighting ’America the Beautiful.’ Photo courtesy of the U.S. Mint

Imagine going to the grocery store and getting a national forest quarter as your change and holding onto it as a collector’s item.  That can happen now because of the recent release of the El Yunque National Forest coin.  The coin features the endangered Puerto Rican parrot and the coqui tree frog amongst tropical vegetation. Read more »

Three children enjoy lunch freshly prepared and served on-site by a food service management company at the Inter Metro Summer Recreation Program in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

At Universidad Interamericana in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Inter Metro Summer Recreation Program is a vital part of the social, physical and nutritional well-being of area children.  For six years the university has sponsored the recreation and open food service site for kids  ranging in age from 5 to 16 years old. Read more »

In early August, USDA Rural Development Puerto Rico held a stakeholder meeting to discuss Rural Development priorities for President Obama’s 2013 budget and 2012 Farm Bill.

The main objective the meeting was to obtain valuable input to develop and improve our mission area priorities for the upcoming fiscal year.  Leaders of local businesses & NGO’s shared their ideas and discussed on how Rural Development can enhance their programs and serve better our rural communities. Read more »

Puerto Rican Parrot, one of the 10 most endangered birds in the world.

Deep amid the dense greenery of a rain forest, U.S. Forest Service scientists are nursing a special patient back to health.

The patient is on pain medication, but lucid enough to ruffle his emerald green feathers and fill the room with angry squawks when a biologist removes him from an incubator. It is a Puerto Rican parrot with a broken leg, a serious injury for one of the world’s most endangered bird species. Read more »

Puerto Rico’s agriculture has been steadily declining and imports total 85 percent of the food consumed on the island. Additionally, almost all of the $11 million per year that USDA purchases for use in Puerto Rico’s school meals are purchased from companies in the continental United States.  What’s more, each year the island’s School Food Authority purchases about $80 million in food to be served in school.  We saw these as opportunities for local farmers and decided to do something about it.

The Market Expansion Conference, held June 23-24 in San Juan, teamed seven U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agencies and other Commonwealth and federal partners to show over 250 farmers how to sell food to local schools, expand their businesses and increase their participation in USDA programs.  Puerto Rico’s milk farmers, cattle ranchers, pineapple growers and many others eagerly listened to USDA experts explain grading and licensing, and provide information in the areas of funding and procurement. Read more »