Tag: USDA

In These 8 States, Students Are Going to Be Served Healthier School Lunches

Posted on by robbie

A new pilot program aimed at encouraging states to purchase locally-sourced food will bring more fresh produce to school meals across eight states.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced California, Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin will be able to use some of their USDA Foods allocation toward unprocessed fruits and vegetables from local farms rather than going through the USDA Foods program.

The Pilot Project for Procurement of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables, which falls under the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill), was created to not only promote farm-to-table meals, but also help schools strengthen relationships with vendors, growers, wholesalers and distributors, according to the USDA.

USDA Foods comprises about 20 percent of foods served in schools, with schools using their allocation from a list of 180 items including fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, rice, low fat cheese, beans, pasta, flour and other whole grain products. Under the new program, schools will be able to substitute those allocations for fresher, local options.

“Providing pilot states with more flexibility in the use of their USDA Foods’ dollars offers states another opportunity to provide schoolchildren with additional fruits and vegetables from within their own communities,” says Kevin Concannon, USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services.  “When schools invest food dollars into local communities, all of agriculture benefits, including local farmers, ranchers, fishermen, food processors and manufacturers.”

States were selected on criteria including a commitment to farm-to-school efforts, previous promotion initiatives, the variety and abundance of fruit and vegetable growers in the state on a per capita basis, as well as how diverse the state’s educational agencies are in size and geography.

For states like Connecticut, the program not only promotes the local economy, but also helps children form more nutritional habits of buying fresh, local produce.

“Connecticut’s participation in this federal pilot is great news for our farmers, our economy and our children,” says Governor Dannel P. Malloy. “Our state is home to thousands of farming operations responsible for billions in economic activity. By increasing the amount locally-sourced healthy food options for our students, we help lay a foundation for lifelong successful habits.”

MORE: The District Where Healthy School Lunches Are Actually Succeeding

When the Shovels and Pitchforks Weren’t Quite Right, These Savvy Female Farmers Designed New Versions

Posted on by robbie

Ladies, does using your shovel leave you with an aching back and quivering biceps?
No, you’re not weak, as some might claim. Instead, the problem is probably that not all garden and farm tools are created equal and just about all of them are created by — and for — men.
If you’re tired of this inequality, you’re not alone.
That’s where Ann Adams and Liz Brensinger come in. Twenty-year veteran farmers, they started their company, Green Heron Tools, back in 2008 after talking to several of their female farming counterparts. Adams says, “At the farmers markets, we got together with other women producers or couples farming, and the topic of tools constantly came up.”
“Some of the tools didn’t work because they were designed for men,” Adams explained to Modern Farmer. “We saw a need for a place where women could go for tools that work for their bodies.”
Using a USDA grant, Adams and Brensinger took this idea to occupational therapy and engineering experts to help design their line of tools (which aren’t pink, by the way), which includes a wide variety of equipment useful for anything from simple gardening to serious farming. Their HERS shovel, for example, has a handle designed for smaller hands, and the tweaked design — including an enlarged blade with tread — helps women take advantage of their lower body muscles.
While not all items sold through Green Heron Tools are designed by the company, all have been tested and recommended by women.
According to Grist, the number of women in agriculture is on the rise, so there’s a growing market for female friendly farm tools. And thanks to some smart thinking, now there are implements just for them.
MORE: This Woman Fought The Tough Chicago Streets and Won

The Surprising Secret to Get Adults Moving

Posted on by robbie

Going down the slides, swinging on the tire swing, and twirling around on the merry-go-round is just child’s play, right? Turns out that frolicking on the playground isn’t just good for kids, but adults, too. But how do you entice grown-ups to be more active?
In a small study, researchers from the USDA found an interesting way to get adults to move: By getting rid playground benches. That’s because it eliminated the temptation to sit, Reuters reports. The study, which was published in Preventive Magazine, was set up by USDA supervisory physiologist James Roemmich who wondered what parents would do after the eight picnic tables at a Grand Forks, North Dakota playground were temporarily removed. According to the report, researchers found that in the single week after the benches were taken away, parents were 23 times more likely to engage in moderate to vigorous activity, such as pushing children on swings, socializing with other parents, and throwing Frisbees and footballs.
MORE: How a Group of Exercising Seniors Hopes to Change a Crime-Plagued Neighborhood
Fortunately, the on-the-go adults did not deter the kids from acting like, well, kids. The study also discovered that removing the benches did not affect how long children stayed at the playground — nor did it stop them from playing like they normally did. “That’s because children are already very active when they’re at the playground, running from swings to slides, climbing and jumping,” Roemmich said. “Increasing their activity level is more challenging.”
While it’s unlikely that your local park will rip up all the playground benches after this study, it certainly does suggest that simple steps like this could help reduce the obesity epidemic that’s afflicting this country.

How the USDA’s New Changes Are Trying to Give Women and Children the Best Start Possible

Posted on by robbie

Hello salads, lean proteins, whole grains, and dairy products!
With recent news of the the decline in obesity in preschool and kindergarten-aged children, and the push for clearer nutritional labels on food packaging, the future looks much healthier for all Americans. And now, the government-funded WIC program (which stands for for Women, Infants and Children) is getting on board, too, by adding healthier options to their food choices.
Recipients now have access to nutritious fare such as fresh, canned and frozen fruits and vegetables; yogurts; whole grain breads and pastas; as well as a tofu option for vegetarians; the USDA announced.
MORE: This Simple Idea Could Decrease Premature Births By a Third. So Why Aren’t We Doing It?
The WIC program was started in 1974 as a way for low-income woman and their children to have access to food — feeding more than half of newborn babies in the United States.  Three decades later, it’s been given a much-needed overhaul. “The updates to the WIC food package make pivotal improvements to the program and better meet the diverse nutritional needs of mothers and their young children,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a USDA news release. “The foods provided by the WIC program, along with education that focuses on the critical role of breastfeeding and proper nutrition, help to ensure that every American child has the opportunity to grow up healthy and strong.”
Sounds like a recipe for healthy living to us.

Can Spending Millions of Dollars on Flowers Help Save the Honeybee?

Posted on by robbie

You’ve probably seen the headlines touting the demise of the honeybee. But if you love smothering an English muffin with honey each and every morning, don’t fret that you’re going to have to kiss that sweet, sticky goo goodbye.
That’s because Uncle Sam is about to spend millions on delicious, nectar-producing flowers to help save the dwindling honeybee population. The USDA recently announced that farmers in Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin will share about $3 million in federal money to reseed their pastures with plants such as alfalfa, clover, and other flowering crops that attract both bees and livestock, the Associated Press reports. Farmers can also use the funds to improve their facilities such as building fences to make sure farm animals don’t wear out the vegetation on their pastures.
Honeybees pollinate approximately $15 billion worth of produce in the country each year, or about a quarter of the food we consume. But to the horror of beekeepers and farmers from coast to coast, honeybees have been disappearing in startling rates.
MORE: Meet the Scientists Who Are Tackling Our Disappearing Bee Problem
But with this money, farmers can grow nutritious bee-friendly plants alongside their commodity crops such as soybeans, cotton and corn which aren’t as appetizing to bees and can contain toxic pesticides—a suggested culprit of Colony Collapse Disorder, which has been plaguing the honeybee population. As the USDA’s David Epstein told the AP, “You can think of it in terms of yourself. If you are studying for exams in college, and you’re not eating properly and you’re existing on coffee, then you make yourself more susceptible to disease and you get sick.”
Basically, the USDA is giving farmers money so they can plant a healthier variety of foods for honeybees to pollinate. “It’s a win for the livestock guys, and it’s a win for the managed honeybee population,” Jason Weller, chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, told AP. “And it’s a win then for orchardists and other specialty crop producers across the nation because then you’re going to have a healthier, more robust bee population that then goes out and helps pollinate important crops.”
Could there finally be hope for the honeybees?

EPA Issues an Innovative Challenge

Posted on by robbie

Who says that government agencies don’t get innovative? The Environmental Protection Agency has partnered with the Agriculture Department to issue a challenge to creative problem solvers and entrepreneurs: Find would-be waste in the food chain, and re-direct it to feed America’s hungry and undernourished people. Food makes up a large portion of the nation’s landfills, and decomposition is a major contributor to climate change. Rather than react with bureaucratic subcommittees and lots of red tape, the Food Waste Challenge invites industrial leaders and universities, and even sports and entertainment businesses, to find ways to solve waste and hunger problems at the same time.