Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.
![the beet - nifa's employee newsletter](https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/fancy_images/USDANIFA/2016/08/975430/1000625/the-beet-banner-revised-design-11aug2016_crop.jpg) Editors: Kelly Sprute and Judy Rude March 15, 2017
|
|
NIFA’s Strategic Plan Updates and Activities
To keep you current on the developments, activities, and updates
with NIFA’s Strategic Plan. The Beet will be highlighting one goal each
week.
This week covers:
Goal 4. Advance
America’s Global Preeminence in Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Published a newly designed and expanded Annual
Report. The new report triples the number of NIFA impacts from previous
years and focuses on NIFA’s science emphasis areas. Feedback from leadership
and stakeholders have been very positive.
GovDelivery: Continuing to expand the use of GovDelivery
with NIFA.
In addition to the Communication Staff’s use, 4-H, IFSN,
IYFC use it frequently. The top three subscription categories are funding
opportunities, press releases and announcements, and legislative news, farm
bill updates, federal register announcements, and policy changes. In Jan. 2016,
there were 1,705 subscribers to NIFA’s GovDelivery service; in Jan. 2017, there
are 36,424 with some 149,151 topics topic subscriptions. This is up from 2016
of 5,095. This averages to 4.1 topics selected for each user.
Employed a new web tool, “Site Improve” to find and fix broken links, and correct
misspelling found on NIFA’s public web.
Within two weeks of its employment, the web team had all 613 broken
links fixed and all 884 misspellings were corrected.
Implemented “Google Translate”
on NIFA’s public website to ensure that limited English proficient speaking
public could comprehend web content. More than 25 languages are now available.
“NIFA Update”:
The new and improved NIFA Update debuted late last year to include news and
information desired by NIFA partners and stakeholders. The weekly Update
includes a significant NIFA-funded impacts, current RFAs, personnel
information, and NIFA news.
“Fresh from the
Field”: Revamped NIFA’s former “Impacts Spotlight,” a weekly one-topic
impacts electronic message to partners and stakeholders, to a new format named
“Fresh from the Field,” which is now a multimedia, weekly impacts compendium of
video, fact sheets, news clips, partner tweets, and press releases.
Champion: Ginny
Bueno
|
|
News
![Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson](https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/fancy_images/USDANIFA/2017/03/1261829/1258295/peggy-whitson_crop.jpg) Texas 4-H Youth Speak to 4-H Alumni and NASA Astronaut on
International Space Station
4-H youth from the Hartsfield Elementary School 4-H Club
in Texas spoke with a NASA astronaut currently living and working aboard the
International Space Station (ISS) last week. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call
aired live on NASA
Television. The recording of that conversation can be found on you-tube.
Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson, a
former 4-H member, answered questions from current 4-H youth about living on
the ISS, her 4-H experiences, and the research she is conducting in space. This
4-H club is part of the Texas 4-H Program through Prairie View A&M University
Cooperative Extension in cooperation with USDA-NIFA.
Learn about the curriculum created by 4-H and NASA
call Expeditionary Skills for Life.
Check out the blog written about Commander Whitson’s 4-H
experiences.
|
![NIFA Annual Report slide](https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/fancy_images/USDANIFA/2017/03/1261994/1258296/nifa-annual-report-slide-sm_crop.jpg) NIFA’s 2016 Annual Report Published
NIFA’s 2016 Annual Report: “Today’s
Science, Tomorrow’s Solutions,” has been published. This year’s report
highlights the transformative and exciting work undertaken by NIFA-funded
grantees in the areas of research, education, and extension.
As our director, Sonny Ramaswamy,
notes in his introduction, the report showcases numerous examples of how NIFA
funding is delivering “user-inspired discoveries” to classrooms across the
nation, and directly to farmers, producers, counties, community organizations,
families, and countries where the need is greatest.
All NIFA employees should take
pride to have supported and enabled the significant progress being made by our
grantees toward solving critical challenges in the areas of food safety and
security, nutrition and public health, natural resource stewardship, the
bioeconomy, job growth, and economic health.
The 2016 annual report is available online. Printed copies of the annual report will
be available soon for all employees. The Communication Staff will inform you
when the reports are ready for pick up.
|
Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy reads "Sleep Tight Farm"
Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy reads "Sleep Tight Farm" to
Patrick Henry Elementary School 2nd grade students, March 7,
in honor of Ag Literacy Week (March 20-24) and part of Ag in the Classroom education.
![Five Second Rule](https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/fancy_images/USDANIFA/2017/03/1261953/1258298/01-five-second-rule-food-sm_crop.jpg) The Truth about the
'Five-Second' Rule
Rutgers University researchers have disproven the widely accepted notion that it’s
okay to pick up food and eat it within a “safe” five second window. Donald
Schaffner, professor and extension specialist in food science at Rutgers
University, found that moisture, type of surface, and contact time all
contribute to cross-contamination. In some instances, the transfer begins in
less than one second.
“The five-second rule is a
significant oversimplification of what actually happens when bacteria transfer
from a surface to food,” Schaffner said. “Bacteria can contaminate
instantaneously.”
Read about this NIFA-funded study at Rutgers Today.
|
![Grocery Story produce](https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/fancy_images/USDANIFA/2017/03/1261963/1258299/bowen-grocery-header-992x558_crop.jpg) Money, Not Access, Key to Resident Food Choices in
‘Food Deserts’
A new NIFA-funded
study from North Carolina State University and Campbell University finds that,
while access to healthy foods is a significant challenge, the biggest variable
limiting diet choices in so-called “food deserts” is limited financial
resources. Food deserts are areas that are far from supermarkets, which
typically have a greater variety of nutritious foods at lower prices than those
found in the corner stores more common in food deserts. Read the full NC State
University article.
|
![competitive grants image](https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/fancy_images/USDANIFA/2017/03/1261922/1258300/competitive-grants-program-v2_crop.jpg) Office of Grants and Financial Management Hosts a Lunch
and Learn
Lunch and learn about a recently released Grants Police
and Procedures Transmittal (GPPT): Classification of Federal assistance competitive
grant programs as Capacity and Infrastructure programs.
The purpose of this GPPT is to outline the policy and
procedures that NIFA uses to classify a competitive grant program as a
“Capacity and Infrastructure program” under the Reorganization Act, thereby
exempting the program’s eligible entities from requirement under the
Agricultural Act of 2104 to provide 100% matching funds under their
awards. This GPPT is not applicable to capacity awards, only
competitive. This process is only used when a new competitive grant
programs is added. This is the process NIFA-OGFM has followed previously, and
this GPPT merely documents that process. All NIFA staff are invited to learn.
Tuesday, March 21, from 12 to 1 p.m. in room 4103.
|
![Calendar graphic](https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/fancy_images/USDANIFA/2017/03/1261889/1258301/calendar-high-quality-png_crop.png) March Events
March is Women’s
History Month
Learning links:
March 14, National Pi Day
March 17, St. Patrick’s Day
March 19-25, National Poison Prevention Week
March 20, International Earth Day
March 21, OGFM Lunch and Learn, 12 to 1 p.m., room
4103
March 22, World Water Day
March 23, USDA
Women’s History Month Observance, 10 to 11 a.m., Jefferson Auditorium, South
Building
March 23, USDA
Women’s Flash Mentoring Program, 1 to 3 p.m., Whitten Patio, Whitten Building
March 28, NIFA
Women’s History Month Observance, 10 to 11:30 a.m., room 1410, register in AgLearn
March 29, Partnership Pays: Building a Relationship
to Enhance USDA-SBIR Proposal, webinar from 2
to 4:30 p.m.
|
If You Want to Be
Happy at Work, Have a Life Outside of It
By Ran Zilca
We spend most of our adult waking hours
working. Half of Americans continue to work when they reach their
mid-sixties, and, according to a 2015 Gallup survey, full-time American
employees work an average of 47 hours a week. If you’re keeping track
at home, that’s six days’ worth of hours packed into five. Moreover, many of us
today expand the role of work beyond just earning a living and expect our
careers to provide opportunities for personal growth and fulfillment. Read full
Harvard Business Review article.
He Swapped Email
Signatures with a Female Co-Worker, and Learned a Valuable Lesson
By Danielle DeCourcey
A man's Twitter thread about an email experiment is
going viral for revealing sexism women often face in the workplace. Read
full Attn: article.
The Unfortunate Middle
By The Good Life Project
We are taught, from a young age, to exist in the middle. Everything
in moderation. Don’t be a tall poppy, nor a shrinking violet. Good enough is
good enough. The middle way, middle-class, mid-tier. That’s where we want to be.
Not so big that we get cut down, and not so small that we can’t stand up. Just,
kind of, well, average. That’s the goal. Listen to the full podcast online.
![What seven food look like video](https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/fancy_images/USDANIFA/2017/03/1259630/1258302/7-foods-video-title-page_crop.png) What Foods Look
Like Before They're Harvested May Shock You
By Darren Weaver
Having the modern conveniences of just running out to the
store and picking up whatever you could possibly want to eat has very few
drawbacks. However, you never really get to see what goes into making your food
or how it's harvested. Many foods look very different before they are
harvested — you probably wouldn't even recognize these foods if you walked
past them in the forest. Watch the full video.
|
|
|
Women’s History
Month
Dr. Alma Hobbs
Dr. Alma Hobbs, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration, USDA
Dr. Hobbs was inducted in the National 4-H Hall of Fame in 2015
due to notable accomplishments including her work on integrating Bertie County
4-H, after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, by taking the first Black 4-H
team to state competitions. Her efforts opened doors for equal access to
opportunities for all youth.
“Throughout my career I had a keen interest in 4-H and I
channeled my endeavors toward making a difference in the lives of youth and
families. My mission in life is to approach everyone with love, dignity and
respect, making that which I touch better than I found it. It does not matter
what degrees, honors or accomplishments I achieve, all that matters is that I
made a positive difference in the lives of youth and families thus, changing
hearts and minds to reach their full potential. I have been truly blessed by
all the magnificent individuals that touched my life, said Dr. Hobbs.
In her career Hobbs, held the position of Cooperative
State Research, Education, and Extension Service Deputy Administrator for
Families, 4-H, and Nutrition.
|
|
To submit material for a future edition of The Beet, email thebeet@nifa.usda.gov. Submissions are due by noon on Thursday for publication the following Tuesday.
|
|
|
|