Here’s an update from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack:

Make MyPlate Your Plate
By Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack

For Americans to lead happy, productive, lives it helps to stay healthy, active and fit. It’s really pretty simple. Choose a healthier plate, and balance it with exercise. In the end, it comes down to the choices we make.

That is why I was excited this week to be joined by First Lady Michelle Obama and Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin to introduce USDA’s new food icon – MyPlate – a simple reminder to make healthy food choices.

We all know that what we eat matters, and MyPlate offers a visual reminder to make healthy food choices when you choose your next meal.MyPlate looks just like our plate at mealtime. It can help prioritize food choices and remind us to make fruits and vegetable half of our plates each meal. On the other side of the plate – and beside it – we see the other important food groups for a healthy meal: whole grains, lean proteins, and low fat dairy.

MyPlate will replace the Food Pyramid as the government’s primary food group symbol. Built off of the most-up-to-date science in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, it is an easy-to-understand visual to help folks who want to eat healthy.

And what we eat matters. President Obama has called on us to build a growing economy that is working for all Americans by out-innovating, out-educating and out-building the rest of the world. But our workers and leaders will never out-innovate or out-build competitors if they are unhealthy, dealing with heart disease and diabetes. And our children won’t get a first rate education if they can’t focus in class because they aren’t eating right, or are teased because of their weight.

Today, overweight and obesity rates are at dangerously high levels. And the Obama Administration has worked to support Americans who want to improve their health and nutrition.

If you’d like to take a look at MyPlate and learn more about a healthy diet, you can visit www.ChooseMyPlate.gov to get messages, tools, and how-to materials about healthy eating. This website has information on staying healthy, with tips on balancing calories, foods to increase, and foods to reduce.

I hope you are as excited as I am about MyPlate and the other resources to help Americans make healthy choices at www.ChooseMyPlate.gov

And the next time you sit down for a meal – before you eat – think about what’s on your plate. Because in the months and years ahead, we hope that MyPlate becomes your plate.

Here are three upcoming events for women landowners to learn about resources available dealing with conservation practices and one event for women landowners and beginning farmers to discuss farmstead transition options.  Please see below for details:

Boone County

Women who own or manage farmland in Boone and neighboring counties are invited to participate in a free conservation discussion and field tour on Thursday, April 14, from 8:30 – 3:30 p.m. at the Iowa Arboretum near Madrid. The program is called Women Caring for the Land.

Women own or co-own 47% of Iowa’s farmland, and often express strong conservation values in meetings and surveys. However, many are unsure of exactly how to reach their conservation goals and what resources are available to help them. Women Caring for the Land offers a peer-to-peer, informal discussion format to allow women landowners to talk about their individual land stewardship goals, facilitated by women conservation experts who can share resources available such as USDA cost-share programs, state loans, and other tools.

All interested women are welcome, including owners, operators and inheritors of farmland, regardless of their degree of knowledge about conservation. A free lunch will be provided. In order for us to get an accurate meal count, please RSVP by Wednesday, April 13, by calling Lynn Heuss at 515-201-9405 or emailing her at lheuss@gmail.com.

Van Buren, Davis, Jefferson and neighboring counties

Women who own or manage farmland in Van Buren, Davis, Jefferson and neighboring counties are invited to participate in a free conservation discussion and field tour on Friday, April 29, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Livery Barn, Davis County Historical Complex, 201 S. Dodge St. in Bloomfield (morning) and at the Township Hall, 601 W. North St. in Cantril (afternoon). The program is called Women Caring for the Land and is facilitated by women conservation experts from NRCS, FSA, DNR, and Pathfinders RC&D who can share resources available such as USDA cost-share programs, state loans, and other tools.

All interested women are welcome, including owners, operators and inheritors of farmland, regardless of their degree of knowledge about conservation. A free lunch will be provided. In order for us to get an accurate meal count, please RSVP by Monday, April 25, by calling Lynn Heuss at 515-201-9405 or emailing her at lheuss@gmail.com.

Cherokee

Women who own or manage farmland in Cherokee and neighboring counties are invited to participate in a free conservation discussion and field tour on Thursday, May 12 from 8:30 – 3:30 p.m. at the Cherokee County Conservation Board Headquarters located on the southwest edge of Cherokee on the River Road. The program is called Women Caring for the Land.

Women who own or manage farmland in Carroll and neighboring counties, and new or beginning farmers interested in finding land to farm, are invited to participate in a FREE information discussion on Wednesday, April 27, at St. John Lutheran Church in Carroll, IA.

This gathering will be an informal discussion designed to allow women landowners the opportunity to talk about what they are looking for in a tenant.  It will also be a chance for new and beginning farmers to share their goals and plans with the people who could be their future landlady, or who will have the same values and ideas that their future landlady will hold.  This talk will be facilitated by female experts who can share resources available such as creative conservation-oriented farm leases and other tools.

All interested women are welcome, including owners, operators and inheritors of farmland, and new and beginning farmers, regardless of their degree of knowledge. A free lunch will be provided. In order for us to get an accurate meal count, please RSVP by Friday, April 22, by calling Lynn Heuss at 515-201-9405 or emailing her at lheuss@gmail.com.

Please click this link to learn about Listening Sessions with Bill Menner, the USDA Rural Development Director. The information is in the April 4 news release at the top right side of the page.  And please check back each month to see where Bill will be going next. He plans to visit the entire state, so if he hasn’t been nearby yet – he will be.  Take advantage of this opportunity to share your thoughts and listen to what Bill has to say.

NFU Beginning Farmer Institute

Calling all new farmers for a free program in DC! NFU’s focus for this national program is to develop and encourage agriculture leaders from all backgrounds. Our new nationally focused program provides an opportunity for beginning farmers to acquire leadership and farm management skills. It concentrates on building confidence in beginning farmers and farm couples, and additionally encourages them to learn, and apply leadership abilities to become actively involved in community organizations. Farmers Union employs educational sessions, business tools and professional speakers in a structured setting, yet avoids the simple “classroom” workshop feel to achieve this goal. Our training includes on-farm experiences and tours of cooperatives. Applications are being accepted March 31- April 30. Click here to view the application form.

There is a one-time $25 registration fee per accepted applicant. NFU will cover the remaining costs of the NFU Beginning Farmer Institute including travel, lodging, and meals during the event.

FARM CAMP from the Iowa Farmers Union

Discover the small wonders and big taste of a farm this summer!

$175 per child

$140 with IFU membership ($25/year)

In June, children will explore the ecosystems of a farm – from lettuce plants and apple trees to worms and honeybees. This camp will be taught by experienced and creative educators.  After and before camp child care will be available upon request. Youth entering grades 3 through 6 in the fall are encouraged to sign up for this hands-on day camp. Application is due May 20, 2011.

The April/May 2011 Grassroots Newsletter is here! You will find great articles about the Legislative Supper, on-farm renewable energy projects, and hear updates from young farmers.  Enjoy by following this link.

Many new and old members of the Iowa Farmers Union gathered on a Sunday afternoon for a wine tasting, legislative updates, and a meal.  The IFU Booster Club Annual Legislative Supper was held at  White Oak Vineyards in Cambridge.  The supper is held each year to provide legislative updates to members and to raise money for IFU’s work at the capitol.  Our featured speaker was Dr. Francis Thicke, who spoke about the need for independent family farms to produce their own energy, and to sell into local markets.

Thicke advocated for “Teddy Roosevelt-style trust busting of monopolized markets to restore profitability to agriculture.  And, we should work to expand local food production and on-farm energy production to keep more profits in the pockets of family farmers.”

IFU President Chris Petersen and policy advocate Kent Hartwig talked to the group about upcoming legislation.  One bill that IFU helped to get started and will continue to support is the Iowa Local Food and Farm Plan.

The Local Food and Farm Plan includes recommendations to the legislature to create an Iowa Local Food and Farm Coordinator, increase access to loans for local food businesses, provide more food processing education, and provide training to beginning and minority farmers.

A deep thank you to our sponsors – Marvin Shirley, Cornelia & Jan Flora, Kermit Miskell, Donna & Russell Winburn, John & Beverly Gilbert, Mary & John Krier, Dale Cochran, and Aaron & Nicole Heley-Lehman – who helped make the event happen.

With the help of donations for the dinner from sponsors, attendees, and others we were able to raise money for our legislative work. Thank you for your help in making sure that the IFU continues to represent family farms at the capitol.

Join us on Sunday, February 27th for a great meal and legislative updates from the Iowa Farmers Union lobbyists. At the Legislative Supper our featured speaker will be Dr. Francis Thicke, who ran for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture in 2010. This event is a fundraiser for the IFU’s work at the capitol, please support us!

Tickets are $30 per person; RSVP by February 22nd to sue@iowafarmersunion.org

WHEN: Sunday, February 27th,

Do you appreciate farmers and ranchers? Show them love this February with a call.

This Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday call the White House to show support for the Fair Livestock Competition rule (also called GIPSA) to help independent farmers and ranchers get a fair share.

If we don’t show our support, processors and packers will win and take more than their share. Call 202-456-1111 to tell the White House to let the USDA complete the GIPSA proposed rule now.