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Dec. 21, 2016
Happy Holidays from NIFA
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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NIFA
invests in and advances agricultural research, education, and extension and
seeks to make transformative discoveries that solve societal challenges.
The NIFA Update is a weekly compendium of news and information that may be of interest to Land-Grant and non-Land-Grant Universities, NIFA stakeholders, and other subscribers. Editor: Judy Rude
Editor's Note: NIFA Update is on hiatus until January 10, 2017.
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