News and reports from the Department of Agriculture.

Action for Healthy Kids awarded $30 million to school districts across the U.S. to boost school nutrition, according to a press release.

On July 25, the Senate voted to prohibit foreign adversaries from making future purchases of American agricultural land, prompting US Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) to call China the primary threat to the US. Ernst tweeted on July 26 that China continues to buy farmland and encircle US military bases.

More than five million people living in rural communities in 39 states and Puerto Rico are receiving better access to quality healthcare, thanks to a sizeable federal grant.

The U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party held an "Iowa Roundtable on Chinese Communist Party Agricultural Technology Theft" and of U.S. lands, according to a press advisory. Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, and members Raja Krishnamoorthi and Ashley Hinson led the discussion with farmers and stakeholders on the issue’s impacts on American farming.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced the USDA's Forest Service is accepting applications for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Plant Sciences Building at Washington State University (WSU), a collaboration with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) criticized the Biden Administration for removing free school lunches at Church of Compassion Dayspring Learning Center in California because they protested against the USDA’s SOGI Title IX rule. On July 27, Banks told the Federal Newswire that Republicans in the House need to undo this act by using the Farm Bill.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on July 24 announced an investment of more than $33 million to support capacity-building efforts at 1890 Land-grant Universities. The investment will support 82 research, Extension, and education projects across the nation’s 19 Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola has co-sponsored the Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites from Foreign Adversaries Act, saying she sees the need to increase security around sensitive U.S. sites such as military bases, such as those in Alaska.

The Biden-Harris administration plans to invest $300 million through President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda to improve climate-smart agriculture and forestry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $7.4 million in 25 urban agriculture and innovative production grants to support community gardens and nonprofit farms.. The selected projects are part of USDA's Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production and represent various states and territories across the United States.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced its plan to invest $300 million through President Joe Biden's Investing in America agenda to improve the measurement and monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration in agriculture and forestry.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the opening of the financial assistance application process for landowners who faced discrimination in USDA farm lending programs before January 2021.

U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) have introduced a bill that would broaden the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' (CFIUS) jurisdiction over land purchases by foreign investors.

The U.S. Senate recently confirmed the first Latino to be Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Xochitl Torres Small was confirmed by the Senate on July 11 in an 84-8 vote.