NIFA Update, Dec. 21

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture sent this bulletin at 12/21/2016 04:09 PM EST

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                              Dec. 21, 2016

Holidays

 

  



Happy Holidays from NIFA

 

 

 

 
Salute and Assist Veterans

Success Story

NIFA Programs Salute and Assist Veterans and their Families

Whether protecting our nation and its highest ideals with military service or ensuring a safe, abundant, and nutritious food supply as veterans, we are grateful for their willingness to serve.

For more than 35 years, NIFA and the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veteran Affairs have collaborated to support those who support America – the U.S. military Veterans and their families. These collaborations have helped thousands of military families gain access to the high-quality educational programs in early childhood education, youth development, community capacity and related fields that Land-Grant University Cooperative Extension Services provide. Visit the NIFA Website to read more about NIFA's military programs. 

News from NIFA

Organic

Food for Thought -- Sink Your Teeth into Organic Foods This Holiday Season

NIFA supports organic agriculture through its Organic Transitions Program (ORG) and the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI). Since 2008, NIFA has invested more than $22 million into these programs.

Both programs promote development of practices like cover cropping, crop diversification that enhance the sustainability of all production systems. Visit the NIFA Website for the list of NIFA-funded organic agriculture research programs.

food & ag

Let's Talk About Jobs in Food & Agriculture

Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA Director, was recently interviewed by Forbes.com for The Mixing Bowl to “Let's Talk About Jobs in Food & Agriculture.”  The article was published Dec. 20. He discussed labor challenges and workforce needs for food and agriculture.

The Mixing Bowl connects the food and agriculture industries with IT innovation. It also has a global perspective connecting food and ag hubs around the world.


Blueprint

Making USDA Work Better for You

#USDAResults Chapter 12

“When I launched Blueprint, I asked the workforce of USDA to step up as they always have, and as they always will. True to form, their endless creativity, innovation and dedication to the American people has not only allowed us to cut costs and save taxpayer dollars, but also to strengthen our service and modernize our operations for the people we serve.
It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve the good people of the United States as Agriculture Secretary and to have been entrusted with the incredible privilege of leading the best federal workforce there is. Thank you.”

~Secretary Vilsack

USDA’s Blueprint for Stronger Service mirrored the incredible ingenuity of the American farmer by challenging our team to use creativity and innovation to find ways to do a better job with the resources we had available. This effort brought us to look for ways to proactively improve and modernize the way we do business while avoiding unnecessary layoffs and disruption in the services that millions of Americans rely on. For more information.


ILSI

ILSI North America 2017 Summer Fellowship Program

The ILSI North America Technical Committee on Food and Chemical Safety is sponsoring a summer Fellow to work on a project entitled, "application of read across approaches for food related chemicals to understand their potential use in food safety assessment." Application deadline is Feb. 10, 2017. This fact sheet provides more information about the fellowship program.

New Members Announced to NAREEE Advisory Board

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the USDA announced the appointment of members made by the Secretary of Agriculture to fill 7 vacancies on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board (NAREEE).The appointments are for 2, or 3 years terms effective Oct. 1, 2016. Each member is appointed to a specific category on the Board. New members include:

  • Category F. National Food Animal Science Society: Govind Kannan (Re-appointment), Dean and Director, College of Agriculture, Family Sciences and Technology, Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, Ga.;
  • Category G. National Crop, Soil, Agronomy, Horticulture, or Weed Science Society: Roch Gaussoin, Professor and Department Head, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb.;
  • Category L. 1890 Land-Grant Colleges and Universities: Kenrett Jefferson-Moore, Professor, North Carolina A&T, Greensboro, N.C.;
  • Category M. 1994 Equity in Education Land-Grant Institutions: Michael Oltrogge, President, Nebraska Indian Community College, Macy, Neb.;
  • Category P. American Colleges of Veterinary Medicine: Mark Lawrence, Professor and Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Mississippi, Miss.;
  • Category T. Rural Economic Development: Robin Beck, Owner, Rockin' Sheep Products LLC, Livermore Falls, Maine;
  • Category U. National Consumer Interest Group: Richard De Los Santos, Coordinator for Horticulture, Produce, and Forestry Marketing, Austin, Texas.