USDA talk

It was very interesting to hear the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture speak this evening. While much of the subject matter was review (farmers’ income, obesity/diabetes rates, etc), it was great to learn about the incentives that the USDA are now supporting under the new administration. Deputy Secretary Merrigan spoke about the USDA’s “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” program, which aims to reconnect urban consumers to their food sources and develop local and regional food sheds to strengthen the economies of our states and allow better access to healthy foods.
What really piqued my interest were her mentions of very simple, but wonderful ideas. Namely, “going mobile” with things like animal slaughter/packaging and even grocery stores themselves – bringing those services to farmers who don’t have access to them and bringing healthy food to remote areas that have limited options. What great ideas!
It was really inspiring to see so many different people and leaders in the audience. There were people from the Mayor’s office, the City Council, non-profits, students from the food studies program and environmental studies program, and many more. There seemed to be an agreement that the discussion of food, agriculture and food accessibility is now branching out to take place between many fields (and government agencies) including housing and planning - much more so than has ever been seen in the past. There was a lot of emphasis placed on the difference between this administration and the last, and it will be interesting to see what the USDA can accomplish in the next three years in this new political environment.