1. Department of Agriculture “Caring for the land and serving people.”

2. Secretaries  Tom Vilsack is currently the secretary of the department of agriculture, and the deputy secretary is Kathleen Merrigan.  Their job is to strengthen the agricultural economy of the United States, by supporting farmers and ranchers.

3. Historical Highlights of the Dep.  Founded in 1862 by Abraham Lincoln  1865-70 The Sharecropping Act replaced slave labor  1946 National School Lunch Act  1964 Food Stamp Act and War on Poverty

4. Agencies of the Dep. of Agriculture  Food and Nutrition Service  Food Safety and Inspection Service  Forrest Service  National Agricultural Library  Rural Development  (these are just a few)

5. News  Yesterday, the USDA announced a request for applications for FY 2014 farm to school grants.  On the 1 st of this month, the USDA proposed a new standard in school lunches.

6. Strengths and Weaknesses  The FSIS is having problems enforcing the HMSA (Humane Methods of Slaughter Act).  There has recently been a beef recall, which has people questioning the USDA’s oversight of the meat industry.  In the past 4 years, the exports of the USDA have exceeded $478 billion.  The USDA supports over 1 million jobs, like farmers and ranchers.

7. Work Cited  http://www.fs.fed.us/aboutus/mission.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/aboutus/mission.shtml  http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdah ome? http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdah ome  http://www.usda.gov/documents/Results- Trade.pdf http://www.usda.gov/documents/Results- Trade.pdf  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-487T http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-487T  http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/title/late st-meat-recall-highlights-usda-weaknesses http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/title/late st-meat-recall-highlights-usda-weaknesses