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Food security in the U-S. Fighting algae blooms in a New England lake. And helping disaster
affected ranchers. Those stories and more in U-S-D-A Week In Review. A new study from
U-S-D-A’s Economic Research Service shows that food insecurity in the U-S has declined.
In twenty thirteen, fourteen point three percent of households were food insecure. That’s
down from fourteen point nine percent in twenty eleven. But a large minority of American households
still did not have adequate access to food. Food insecure households were unable at some
time during the year to provide adequate quality or quantity of food for all their household
members due to a lack of resources for food. U-S-D-A’s Food and Nutrition Assistance
Programs increase food security by providing low-income households access to food, a healthful
diet, and nutrition education. Lake Champlain is considered a beautiful fresh water lake
between Vermont and New York. But the lake has been plagued by algae blooms that sometime
become toxic. The blooms are mostly caused by phosphorus that comes from a variety of
places. So U-S-D-A’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is helping area farmers and landowners
limit runoff from their fields. We’re targeting the most vulnerable areas in the basin. The
most vulnerable soils to loss of sediment. High soil erosion potential. But also a loss
of nutrients into the waters that ultimately end up in the Lake Champlain Basin. U-S-D-A
will spend up to forty five million dollars over the next five years to protect and improve
soil and water quality in the Lake Champlain Basin in Vermont.
U-S-D-A employees are working with livestock producers and ranchers to help them recover
from several years of adverse weather and drought. Programs are available now, and Farm
Service Agency employees want to get everyone who is eligible signed up before October first
to receive the maximum program assistance they are entitled to.
We’ve paid over two hundred and forty thousand applications; have issued over two point five
billion dollars in payments. But we’re having to play catch-up for three years of losses
in some areas. So it’s just a matter of workload and we’re working as hard as we
can, but we want those producers to contact the office as soon as possible. And in this
week’s Photo of the Week, students are at work in one of Jackson, Tennessee’s Liberty
Tech High School greenhouses, where much of their cafeteria’s vegetables are grown.
Check out the U-S-D-A blog for more on the school’s healthy eating commitment titled
Jackson-Madison County Schools Demonstrate the Power of Youth Engagement. For more images
visit the U-S-D-A Flickr Photostream. That’s all for U-S-D-A Week In Review. Follow, tweet,
and stay informed at U-S-D-A dot-gov.