Department of Agriculture: Difference between revisions

| budget          = [[United States dollar|US$]]213 billion (2024)<ref name='budget'/>

The '''United States Department of Agriculture''' ('''USDA''') is an [[United States federal executive departments|executive department]] of the [[Federal government of the United States|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 of the United States|Cabinet]]. The current secretary is [[Tom Vilsack]], who has served since February 24, 2021.<ref>{{cite web|last=Good|first=Keith|date=2021-02-24|title=Senate Confirms Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture {{*}} Farm Policy News|url=https://origin.farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2021/02/senate-confirms-tom-vilsack-as-secretary-of-agriculture/|access-date=2021-10-01|website=Farm Policy News|language=en-US|archive-date=February 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219144302/https://origin.farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2021/02/senate-confirms-tom-vilsack-as-secretary-of-agriculture/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Approximately 71% of the USDA's $213&nbsp;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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/HISTORY%20OF%20FNS.pdf |title=History of FNS |website=usda.gov |access-date=July 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912141202/http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/HISTORY%20OF%20FNS.pdf |archive-date=2016-09-12 }}</ref> The [[United States Forest Service]] is the largest agency within the department, which administers [[List of national forests of the United States|national forests]] and [[national grassland]]s that together comprise about 25% of [[federal lands]].

On May 15, 1862, [[Abraham Lincoln]] established the independent Department of Agriculture through the [[Morrill Land-Grant Acts|Morrill Act]] to be headed by a commissioner without [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet]] status. Staffed by only eight employees, the department was charged with conducting research and development related to "agriculture, [[rural development]], [[aquaculture]] and human nutrition in the most general and comprehensive sense of those terms".<ref>{{Cite web |title=7 U.S. Code § 2201 – Establishment of Department |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/7/2201 |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en}}</ref> Agriculturalist [[Isaac Newton (agriculturalist)|Isaac Newton]] was appointed to be the first commissioner.<ref>12 Stat. 387, now codified at [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/07/2201- 7 U.S.C. § 2201].</ref> Lincoln called it the "people's department", since over half of the nation, at the time, was directly or indirectly involved in [[agriculture]] or [[agribusiness]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Salvador |first1=Ricardo |last2=Bittman |first2=Mark |title=Opinion: Goodbye, U.S.D.A., Hello, Department of Food and Well-Being |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/opinion/usda-agriculture-secretary-biden.html |access-date=10 December 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=4 December 2020}}</ref>

In October 2022, the USDA announced a $1.3 billion debt relief program for about 36,000 farmers who had fallen behind on loan payments or facing foreclosures. The provisions in the [[Inflation Reduction Act of 2022]] set aside $3.1 billion to help such farmers with high-risk operations caused by USDA-backed loans.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pitt |first=David |date=2022-10-18 |title=USDA announces $1 billion debt relief for 36,000 farmers |url=https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-covid-iowa-us-department-of-agriculture-a520df60c52a704ec98098d56cf2ea18 |work=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

Renamed Division of Vegetable Pathology (1890–95)<ref name="BPISAE" />

Allegations have been made that throughout the agency's history its personnel have discriminated against farmers of various backgrounds, denying them loans and access to other programs well into the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=General Accounting Office |url=http://www.gao.gov/archive/1999/rc99038.pdf |title=USDA – Problems Continue to Hinder the Timely Processing of Discrimination Complaints |date=January 1999 |access-date=October 16, 2007 |archive-date=February 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224210610/http://www.gao.gov/archive/1999/rc99038.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The effect of this discrimination caused a reduction in the number of African American farmers in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brooks |first=Roy L. |title=Atonement and Forgiveness: A New Model for Black Reparations |year=2004 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=0-520-24813-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/atonementforgive0000broo/page/7 7–8] |url=https://archive.org/details/atonementforgive0000broo/page/7 }}</ref> Though African American farmers have been the most hit by discriminatory actions by the USDA, women, [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], Hispanics, and other minorities have experienced discrimination in a variety of forms at the hands of the USDA. The majority of these discriminatory actions have occurred through the [[Farm Service Agency]], which oversees loan and assistance programs to farmers.<ref name="heinonline" />

In their 2012 [[environmental justice]] strategy, the [[U.S. Department of Agriculture]] (USDA) stated an ongoing desire to integrate environmental justice into its core mission and operations. In 2011, [[United States Secretary of Agriculture|Secretary of Agriculture]] Tom Vilsack emphasized the USDA's focus on EJ in rural communities around the United States, as well as connecting with [[Native Americans in the United States|Indigenous Tribes]] and ensuring they understand and receive their environmental rights. USDA does fund programs with social and environmental equity goals; however, it has no staff dedicated solely to EJ.

On February 16, 1994, [[Bill Clinton|President Clinton]] issued [[Executive Order 12898]], "Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations."<!-- AutoEd: rm unicode ctrl char w/no win-1252 mapping, intent unknown --> [[Executive Order 12898]] requires that achieving EJ must be part of each federal agency's mission. Under [[Executive Order 12898]] federal agencies must:

# ensure [[public participation]];

# identify differential patterns of [[Resource consumption|consumption of natural resources]] among minority and low-income populations.

On February 7, 2012, the USDA released a final Environmental Justice Strategic Plan identifying new and updated goals and performance measures beyond what USDA identified in a 1995 EJ strategy that was adopted in response to E.O. 12898.<ref name="ftn10">USDA, Strategic Plan, http://www.dm.usda.gov/hmmd/FinalUSDAEJSTRATScan_1.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226184928/http://www.dm.usda.gov/hmmd/FinalUSDAEJSTRATScan_1.pdf|date=2012-02-26}}</ref> Generally, USDA believes its existing technical and financial assistance programs provide solutions to environmental inequity, such as its initiatives on education, [[Food Deserts in the United States|food deserts]], and economic development in impacted communities.

*integrating electric [[Smart grid|smart-grid]] technologies<ref>{{cite web|title=Collaborating for Prosperity With American Indians and Alaska Natives|url=https://permanent.fdlp.gov/gpo129049/508_RD_TribalReport_2019.pdf |website=Federal Depository Library Program}}</ref>