United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production, works to assure food safety, protects natural resources, fosters rural communities and works to end hunger in the United States and internationally. It is headed by the secretary of agriculture, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who has served since February 24, 2021.[2]
"USDA" redirects here. For other uses, see USDA (disambiguation).Agency overview
May 15, 1862
Cabinet status: February 15, 1889
- Agricultural Division
105,778 (June 2007)
Approximately 71% of the USDA's $213 billion budget goes towards nutrition assistance programs administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). The largest component of the FNS budget is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the 'Food Stamp' program), which is the cornerstone of USDA's nutrition assistance.[3] The United States Forest Service is the largest agency within the department, which administers national forests and national grasslands that together comprise about 25% of federal lands.
The USDA is divided into eight distinct mission areas, each of which have at least one agency dedicated to the theme of the mission area:
Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC)
Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services (FNCS)
Food Safety (FS)
Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP)
Natural Resources and the Environment (NRE)
Research, Education, and Economics (REE)
Rural Development (RD)
Trade and Foreign Agriculture Affairs (TFAA)
[4]
Many of the programs concerned with the distribution of food and nutrition to people of the United States and providing nourishment as well as nutrition education to those in need are run by the Food and Nutrition Service. Activities in this program include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides healthy food to over 40 million low-income and homeless people each month.[5] USDA is a member of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness,[6] where it is committed to working with other agencies to ensure these mainstream benefits have been accessed by those experiencing homelessness.
The USDA also is concerned with assisting farmers and food producers with the sale of crops and food on both the domestic and world markets. It plays a role in overseas aid programs by providing surplus foods to developing countries. This aid can go through USAID, foreign governments, international bodies such as World Food Program, or approved nonprofits. The Agricultural Act of 1949, section 416 (b) and Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, also known as Food for Peace, provides the legal basis of such actions. The USDA is a partner of the World Cocoa Foundation.
Meat and poultry hotline[edit]
The USDA Meat and Poultry hotline is a toll-free user assistance hotline for consumers to answer inquiries about the safe storage, handling, and preparation of meat, poultry, and egg products that can be reached at: 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854).[72][73] The Hotline also responds to other issues related to the mission of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service(FSIS), which is to ensure that commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.[72] The hotline operates year-round on weekdays excluding federal holidays (except Thanksgiving) from 10am to 6PM PT and is staffed by food safety specialists with backgrounds in home economics, nutrition, and food technology.[74] The hotline began on July 1, 1985, and has answered over 2 million calls to date in 2024.[74] The hotline added Spanish support in 2002, and added two hours in April 2017.[74][75] The hotline can help detect public health threats and has been attributed with increasing American's awareness of foodborne bacteria and how to avoid them.[76][77]
The USDA also offers online text support via "Ask Karen."[75]
Other[edit]
Private sector relationships[edit]
USDA formalized a relationship with the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) in 2018. GFSI is a private organization where members of the Consumer Goods Forum have control over benchmarking requirements in recognition of private standards for food safety. In August 2018, USDA achieved Technical Equivalence against Version 7.1 of the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements for their Harmonized GAP Plus + certification programme,[78] where Technical Equivalence is limited to government-owned food safety certification programmes. This is misaligned with U.S. Government Policy and OMB Circular No. A-119[79] which instructs its agencies to adopt voluntary consensus standards before relying upon industry standards (private standards) or developing government standards.
Harmonized GAP Plus+ Standard (V. 3.0) was published in February 2021[80] with reference to GFSI Guidance Document Version 2020, Part III, ignoring reference to international standards and technical specifications ISO 22000 and ISO T/S 22002-3 Prerequisite Programmes for Farming. The USDA exception to OMB Circular No. A-119 might be attributed to lobbying and influence of Consumer Goods Forum members in Washington, D.C.[81] In November 2021, GFSI announced its Technical Equivalence was under strategic review explaining the assessment has raised concerns across many stakeholders.[82]
COVID-19 relief[edit]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress allocated funding to the USDA to address the disturbances rippling through the agricultural sector. On April 17, 2020, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program:[83]
This provided $16 billion for farmers and ranchers, and $3 billion to purchase surplus produce, dairy, and meat from farmers for distribution to charitable organizations.[84] As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), USDA has up to an additional $873.3 million available in Section 32 funding to purchase a variety of agricultural products for distribution to food banks, $850 million for food bank administrative costs and USDA food purchases.[84]
A 1918 call from the United States Department of Agriculture to feed birds in the winter
A guide to improving farmhouse kitchens, put out by the department's Institute of Home Economics, Agricultural Research Service, in 1952
A guide to making clothes, put out by the Institute of Home Economics in 1959
The Beagle Brigade is part of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. This piece of luggage at Dulles Airport may contain contraband.
This article incorporates from websites or documents of the United States Department of Agriculture.
