USDA Foods Hatches New Chicken Product for Schools

From USDA:

Posted by Lindsay Walle, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Food Distribution Division, on January 21, 2015 at 10:00 AM

USDA’s new unseasoned chicken strip provides school chefs with versatile and healthy options.

School lunches have evolved since many of our childhood days to keep pace with new dietary guidelines and school meal patterns, but one food has been an enduring component: chicken.  The popular protein graces the center of the plate in a variety of forms and flavors, and the new USDA Foods unseasoned chicken strip provides school nutrition professionals with a versatile and healthy option to add to their recipes.  USDA develops new products for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) based on feedback from states and school districts.  Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how chicken flies the coop from farms to a pilot program to cafeterias across the country.

Did you know that on any given day, USDA Foods comprise 15 to 20 percent of the value of food served on the lunch line, or that the School Year 2015 Foods Available List contains more than 200 options?  For more than 70 years, USDA has provided states with 100 percent American grown food for school lunches to support the dual mission of strengthening our nutrition safety net and supporting American agriculture.  The unseasoned, non-breaded chicken strip is just the latest contribution to a long history of providing nutritious foods for school meals.

The idea for the new product hatched when USDA staff heard from many states and school districts interested in a more versatile, lower sodium chicken option for their meal programs.  USDA Foods already offered the popular fajita chicken strips with seasoning, but schools expressed interest in a chicken strip without seasoning so school chefs could adapt it for multiple recipes.  The new product is perfect in salads, wraps, burritos, and stir fries, among other dishes.  While the lower sodium content and the easy-to-use “strips” assist schools in meeting new meal pattern requirements.

USDA asked states to volunteer for a pilot program to test out the new chicken strip.  Nine states representing all seven Food and Nutrition Service regions were selected to order the product and try it out during the fall of 2014.  USDA staff then surveyed participants to get their feedback on the chicken strip’s taste, texture, and ease of use in the kitchen.  Their input was overwhelmingly positive, and with a few tweaks, all states are able to order the product for schools to serve in spring 2015.

Are you a school nutrition or food service professional with ideas for new USDA Foods for the NSLP?  If so, USDA would love to hear from you!  You can send your comments to USDAFoods@fns.usda.gov.

To learn more about FNS nutrition assistance efforts, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usdanutrition.

USDA Rebuilds Levee, Resident's Peace of Mind

From USDA:

Posted by Creston Shrum, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Arkansas, on December 10, 2014 at 11:00 AM

Damage was extensive in Scott County, Ark., after a flood tore through the area in May 2013. NRCS photo by Todd Stringer.

When flood waters tore through the levee along Mill Creek in western Arkansas in May 2013, the small unincorporated community of Y City in Scott County sustained massive damage. Mill Creek rose more than 19 feet destroying lives, homes, businesses and a levee.

Flood damage covered a five-mile area and killed five people. A month later, northwestern Arkansas was hit with record rainfall and subsequent flooding again threatened Y City since a 900-foot section of the previously damaged levee was still in need of repair.

Thanks to the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Poteau River Conservation District and Scott County leadership, residents in the Y City community can now rest a little easier when storm clouds threaten.

After attempts to receive financial assistance through some federal agencies weren’t successful, Scott County representatives turned to NRCS and the Poteau River Conservation District for help. This need for assistance turned out to be a true testament to the strong relationship forged over years between NRCS and the local conservation district.

The levee break occurred on private property so permission to repair the area had to be obtained from the landowner first. Once that was secured, NRCS was able to team up with the conservation district through the agency’s Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP), to begin repairs. The district was the official sponsor of the project.

The “new” levee was completed Aug. 24, 2014, protecting residents, buildings and other infrastructure. NRCS photo by Todd Stringer.

Scott County is considered by NRCS to be a limited resource county because of a number of factors, such as low income levels and high unemployment rates. This designation allowed 90 percent of the costs of reconstructing the levee to be granted to the Poteau River Conservation District through the EWP. As the sponsor, the district provided the dirt for the levee and 10 percent of the construction costs.

NRCS engineers were the boots on the ground. They surveyed the damage, designed the project and oversaw construction. The project entailed removing flood debris from the damaged portion of the levee and rebuilding it with what is referred to as earth fill. More than 25,000 cubic yards of earth fill was hauled from a location two miles away. The rebuilt area was then compacted down by a machine operated roller and then reseeded and mulched for coverage.

The final cost of the project was nearly $300,000 and was completed within two months this past summer.

Because of these partnerships forged by adversity, hundreds of residents and 12 homes with multiple shops, barns and outbuildings are now protected. A local truck stop, restaurant, roads and utilities have also benefited from the new levee.

“Safety for the residents was a primary concern of mine and those I’ve spoken with since the project was completed said they feel a lot safer,” Scott County Judge James Forbes. “The levee repair looks outstanding.”

A 900-foot section of the levee along Mill Creek in Scott County, Ark., was destroyed by flooding in May 2013. NRCS photo by Todd Stringer.

After September 11th, A U.S. Forester in Afghanistan

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Alberto Moreno, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, on September 11, 2013 at 10:30 AM

Alberto Moreno, a U.S. Forest Service supervisory forester, stands in the Spin Ghar Mountain range at the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan by the Khyber Pass. (Photo courtesy Alberto Moreno)

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, sitting in a small Cessna about to go airborne, the pilot suddenly slowed the plane and aborted the takeoff. He said he had received orders that all flights had been grounded and that any airplanes that did not comply would be shot down by the Air Force.

The United States was under attack.

At the time, my job had been with the Arkansas Forest Inventory and Analysis survey program monitoring plots on the Mississippi Delta. I spent the rest of that day tracking my crews working in the field, and like the rest of the world, tried to comprehend the events as they unfolded.

A few years later, after seeing so many young soldiers lose their lives in Iraq, I had the urge to help in the fight against terrorism. That led me to join the U.S. Army Reserves and train as a military police officer. After receiving my commission as a second lieutenant, I joined a civil affairs battalion because I knew they were going to Afghanistan.

I studied the culture and natural resources in the area of the Paktya province in eastern Afghanistan [under Taliban control] prior to my deployment there in 2009. Access to this rugged, mountainous region is extremely difficult. As the only forester in my unit, I needed to understand what I could bring to the people of the province to help improve their lives. Forests in this mountainous region are very important to the local economies. Villagers had natural resources available to them, but those resources were depleting from heavy localized use and the impacts from more than 30 years of war. The possibility of bringing projects to the villages that the locals could take control of and use to supplement their low income became a popular idea.

An Army unit makes their way to Dangdang village in Pakistan, a 2,000-foot climb to more than 8,000 feet above sea level. U.S. Forest Service supervisory forester Alberto Moreno, part of that unit, served two tours in Afghanistan working with locals to help develop projects that will enhance their natural surroundings and boost the local economy. (Photo courtesy Alberto Moreno)

But before I could help, I knew I needed to gain the trust of the local villagers, meaning I had to make the first move in good faith. I sought out the village elders and local leaders in each of my six assigned districts. My team and I set up weekly meetings with district sub-governors and, as time passed more and more elders came hoping to voice their villages’ needs. As I learned how the locals used the surrounding forests, the civil affairs teams began to introduce projects, including technical training in mechanics and masonry for young men, nursing training for young women, and instruction for tree plantings.

As a forester, I worked with local villagers to improve their lives and become self-sufficient. As a soldier in a war zone I was hit by improvised explosive devices – IEDs – rocketed, ambushed and sniped. I learned what it felt like to lose soldiers who were standing next to me to an enemy ambush. If I hadn’t trusted my gut instincts and completed my final mission in 2010 as scheduled, I would have been in the barracks at the time a suicide bomber attacked. Still, I decided on a second tour, from 2011 to 2012.

Why go back? Afghanistan needs help recuperating, and much of the expertise needed to manage the natural resources in that country has been lost. Like other countries, there is a need to focus on sustainability for the long term and provide the greatest benefit for the Afghan people.

Alberto Moreno is now a supervisory forester with the Rocky Mountain Research Station and is based in Ogden, Utah.

The view of Afghanistan for Albert Moreno focused on natural resources, such as this comfier-junior stand in the Jaji District of that country. Moreno, now a U.S. Forest Service supervisory forester, served two tours in Afghanistan and worked with locals to show them how their forests can work for them. (Photo courtesy Alberto Moreno)

Thanks to USDA, Rural Arkansas Residents and Businesses Have Safer Water

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USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Denise Scott, USDA Rural Development, on September 5, 2013 at 12:50 PM

Administrator Padalino speaking at the Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority Treatment Plant in Arkansas. The opening marked completion of the 500th water and environmental project completed by USDA through the Recovery Act. USDA photo.

USDA Rural Utilities Service Administrator John Padalino recently visited the 500th water and wastewater project funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. “The Recovery Act has brought improved water and wastewater services to nearly 1.7 million rural residents,” said the Administrator.

Administrator Padalino made his remarks at the Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority Treatment Plant in Arkansas.

Most people in the U.S. take for granted the fact that safe drinking water is readily available for use by simply turning on a tap, or pushing a button on a fountain.  However, many rural communities within the U.S. must deal with negative impacts associated with contaminated water sources at their homes and schools.

In fact, since the 1980’s there have been efforts to bring safe drinking water to Boone, Newton, and Searcy counties in Arkansas.  Groundwater in this region is often contaminated with naturally occurring random, radium, and fluoride, which water systems must address.   Contaminated ground water is unsafe and unfit for humans to use USDA funding for the Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority system is used to provide clean, safe water for over 20,000 residents and businesses.

In addition to the USDA funding, the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission provided nearly $10 million for the project. Programs like the one which funded the Treatment Plant would not be available without a Food, Farm and Jobs Bill.

Rural areas need safe and reliable water for the health of their communities and sustainable economic growth. Since the start of the Obama Administration, USDA has invested more than $218 million, in over 100 water and wastewater programs in rural Arkansas alone.

To find out more about how USDA water and environmental programs can assist your community click here.