Sustainability at the Department of Agriculture

Food is one of our most basic needs. For much of America's history, farming was one of the main forms of livelihood. Today food and agriculture is seen in the context of a global food crisis, questions of food safety, a shrinking population of small family farms, concerns with the health impacts of pesticides, the impact of fertilizer run-off into our rivers, lakes and coastal waters, the cost of organic vs. processed foods, genetically engineered produce, biofuels, labeling and many other issues. These are all issues addressed by the US Department of Agriculture.

Some of these questions are examined in this website in our section on Food and Agriculture. This section, however, examines the role of USDA within the National Sustainability Strategy.

We pose the same question: What are the prospects for sustainability in the Department of Agriculture?

Background

Also during the PCSD period, the Administration established another institution to integrate sustainability values within the Department of Agriculture, in the Director of Sustainable Development within the Office of the Chief Economist.

This effort, established "to facilitate interagency work on the economic, environmental and social sustainability of food, fiber, agricultural, forest and range systems" is in operation, coordinates with other Departments and US agencies,
and is linked with the USDA Council on Sustainable Agriculture.