United States Department of Agriculture
- Saddling Posterity with Debt
“We believe–or we act as if we believed–that although an individual father cannot alienate the labor of his son, the aggregate body of fathers may alienate the labor of all their sons, of their posterity, in the aggregate, and oblige them to pay for all the enterprises, just or unjust, profitable or ruinous, into which our vices, our passions or our personal interests may lead us. But I trust that this proposition needs only to be looked at by an American to be seen in its true point of view, and that we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life of the majority.”
~Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813
US Debt Clock
United States Department of Agriculture
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome
United States Department of Agriculture
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/agr.pdf
United States Department Of Agriculture
FY 2010
BUDGET SUMMARY AND ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN
http://www.obpa.usda.gov/budsum/FY10budsum.pdf
Department of Agriculture – $26billion + $6.9billion from Recovery Act
The $26billion budgeted for the Department of Agriculture is aimed at helping family farmers and rural Americans. Some of the more notable plans are expanding broadband to rural areas, development of renewable energy and to provide strong support for childhood nutrition.
Major Expenditures
Rural and Farm Economic Growth
- Five Rural Development Programs - $61,000,000
- Increase rural broadband – $1,300,000,000
- Increase national supply of home-grown renewable fuels – $250,000,000
- Rural teaching incentives and lands grants for minority-serving institutions - 70,000,000
US Natural Resources
- Forest Protection – $50,000,000
- Wildfire Protection – $1,382,000,000
- Land conservation – $119,000,000
Food Safety and Nutrition Assistance
- Child Nutrition Reauthorization – $1,000,000,000
http://www.onlineforextrading.com/blog/federal-budget-broken-down/
US Department of Agriculture
“…Department of AgricultureThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) develops and executes policy on farming, agriculture, and food. Its aims include meeting the needs of farmers and ranchers, promoting agricultural trade and production, assuring food safety, protecting natural resources, fostering rural communities, and ending hunger in America and abroad.
The USDA employs more than 100,000 employees and has an annual budget of approximately $95 billion. It consists of 17 agencies, including the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Food and Nutrition Service, and the Forest Service. The bulk of the department’s budget goes towards mandatory programs that provide services required by law, such as programs designed to provide nutrition assistance, promote agricultural exports, and conserve our environment. The USDA also plays an important role in overseas aid programs by providing surplus foods to developing countries.
The United States Secretary of Agriculture administers the USDA. …”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch
United States Department of Agriculture
“…The United States Department of Agriculture (informally the Agriculture Department or USDA) is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food. It aims to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers, promote agricultural trade and production, work to assure food safety, protect natural resources, foster rural communities and end hunger in the United States and abroad.
The head of the department is the Secretary of Agriculture, who is a member of the Cabinet. The current Secretary is Tom Vilsack. …”
“…Origins
Early in its history, the economy of the United States was largely agrarian. Officials in the federal government had long sought new and improved varieties of seeds, plants, and animals for importation to the United States. In 1836 Henry Leavitt Ellsworth, a Yale-educated attorney interested in improving agriculture, became Commissioner of Patents, a position within the Department of State. He soon began collecting and distributing new varieties of seeds and plants through members of the Congress and agricultural societies. In 1839 Congress established the Agricultural Division within the Patent Office and allotted $1,000 for “the collection of agricultural statistics and other agricultural purposes.”
Ellsworth’s interest in aiding agriculture was evident in his annual reports that called for a public depository to preserve and distribute the various new seeds and plants, a clerk to collect agricultural statistics, the preparation of statewide reports about crops in different regions, and the application of chemistry to agriculture. Ellsworth’s agricultural focus earned him the sobriquet of “The Father of the Department of Agriculture.”
In 1849 the Patent Office was transferred to the newly created Department of the Interior. In the ensuing years, agitation for a separate bureau of agriculture within the department or a separate department devoted to agriculture kept recurring.
Formation and subsequent history
On May 15, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln established the independent Department of Agriculture to be headed by a Commissioner without Cabinet status.[1] Lincoln called it the “people’s department.” In the 1880s, varied interest groups were lobbying for Cabinet representation. Business interests sought a Department of Commerce and Industry, and farmers tried to raise the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet rank. In 1887, the House of Representatives and Senate passed bills giving Cabinet status to the Department of Agriculture and Labor, but the bill was killed in conference committee after farm interests objected to the addition of labor. Finally, on February 9, 1889, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill into law elevating the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet level.
In 1887, the Hatch Act provided for the federal funding of agricultural experiment stations in each state. The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 then funded cooperative extension services in each state to teach agriculture, home economics and related subjects to the public. With these and similar provisions, the USDA reached out to every county of every state.
During the Great Depression, farming remained a common way of life for millions of Americans. The Department of Agriculture was crucial to providing concerned persons with the assistance that they needed to make it through this difficult period, helping to ensure that food continued to be produced and distributed to those who needed it, assisting with loans for small landowners, and contributing to the education of the rural youth.
Allegations have been made that throughout the agency’s history it discriminated against African-American farmers, denying them loans and access to other programs well into the 1990s.[2] The effect of this discrimination was the near total elimination of African-American farmers in the United States.[3] In 1999, the USDA settled a class action lawsuit (Pigford v. Glickman) alleging discrimination against African-American farmers.
Today, many of the programs concerned with the distribution of food and nutrition to people of America and providing nourishment as well as nutrition education to those in need are run and operated under the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. It also regulates the amount of methane produced by cows. The USDA also concerns itself with assisting farmers and food producers with the sale of crops and food on both a domestic and on the world market. 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 non profit organizations. The Agricultural Act of 1949, section 416 (b) and Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, also known as Public Law 480 or Food for Peace, provides the legal basis of such actions. …”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Cabinet
