Portal:Department of Agriculture/Section 1
The USDA is divided into eight distinct mission areas, each of which have at least one agency dedicated to the theme of the mission area:
Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC)
- FPAC Business Center
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
- Risk Management Agency (RMA)
- Farm Service Agency (FSA)
Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services (FNCS)
Food Safety (FS)
Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP)
Natural Resources and the Environment (NRE)
- Forest Service (FS)
Research, Education, and Economics (REE)
- National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
- Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
- Economic Research Service (ERS)
Rural Development (RD)
- Rural Utilities Service (RUS)
- Rural Housing Service (RHS)
- Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS)
Trade and Foreign Agriculture Affairs (TFAA)
Many of the programs concerned with the distribution of food and nutrition to people of the United States and providing nourishment as well as nutrition education to those in need are run by the Food and Nutrition Service. Activities in this program include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides healthy food to over 40 million low-income and homeless people each month.[2] USDA is a member of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness,[3] where it is committed to working with other agencies to ensure these mainstream benefits have been accessed by those experiencing homelessness.
The USDA also is concerned with assisting farmers and food producers with the sale of crops and food on both the domestic and world markets. It plays a role in overseas aid programs by providing surplus foods to developing countries. This aid can go through USAID, foreign governments, international bodies such as World Food Program, or approved nonprofits. The Agricultural Act of 1949, section 416 (b) and Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, also known as Food for Peace, provides the legal basis of such actions. The USDA is a partner of the World Cocoa Foundation.
