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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has declared August 3 through 9, 2014, "National Farmers Market Week". Throughout the week, USDA will celebrate our nation's thousands of farmers markets, farmers who make them possible and the communities that host them.
The declaration was made via an official proclamation signed by Secretary Vilsack. This year marks the 15th Annual National Farmers Market Week recognizing the important role that farmers markets play in the agricultural and food economy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture began declaring National Farmers Market Week in 2000.
"National Farmers Market Week is a great opportunity for farmers markets across the country to host special events to showcase all the tremendous services they provide," said Secretary Vilsack. "Farmers markets play a key role in developing local and regional food systems that support family farms, and help grow rural economies. They bring communities together, connecting cities with the farms that support them and provide Americans across the country with fresh, healthy food."
In honor of National Farmers Market Week, USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Administrator Anne Alonzo will be at the Dane County Farmers Market located on the grounds of the State Capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, August 2. The Madison farmers market is the largest producer-only farmers market in the U.S. On August 8, the USDA Farmers Market, located at USDA headquarters in Washington, DC, will host a Healthy Back-To-School Challenge to show kids and their families how to cook simple, healthy, and delicious snacks with seasonal ingredients. Other USDA officials will be at other farmers market locations across the country throughout the week.
Thousands of farmers markets across the country offer consumers fresh, affordable, convenient, and healthful products sold directly from the farm. They also offer additional market opportunities for local producers, especially smaller or newer operations. Farmers markets increasingly offer electronic benefits transfer technology that can be used by recipients of USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - as well as low-income women, infants, and children and seniors participating in the WIC and Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Programs - to get fresh, seasonal ingredients.
Farmers market development is a cornerstone of the USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative, which coordinates the Department's policy, resources, and outreach efforts related to local and regional food systems. Secretary Vilsack has identified strengthening local food systems as one of the four pillars of USDA's commitment to rural economic development, along with production agriculture (including expanding export markets and improving research), promoting conservation and outdoor recreation opportunities, and growing the biobased economy.
Isaac Brown on the 18th green at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.[/caption]
Ohio County High rising-senior Isaac Brown has just completed a successful summer season on the GO Junior Golf Series. But on June 23 Brown had a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience, competing in the third annual Congressional Pro-Am golf tournament at Congressional Country Club near Bethesda, Maryland.
The opportunity to play in the national pro-am came due to an application Isaac submitted as a participant in The First Tee Foundation.
Brown’s journey began July 22 with a flight, accompanied by his parents — Jarrod and Kristi Brown — from Louisville to Washington’s Dulles Airport. On Monday, Isaac played in the Congressional Pro-Am, teamed with PGA professional Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey, First Tee participant Andrew DeYoung, Special Olympian Tyler Lagasse, and John Nowobilski of Perfect Sense Digital, the event’s primary corporate sponsor.
PGA pro Jordan Spieth, one of the world’s top 10 players, is a major supporter of the Pro-Am and played along with veteran Davis Love III and several younger PGA pros. Pairings for the event included 18 The First Tee players, ten selected Special Olympic athletes, and five wounded veterans through Feherty’s Troops First Foundation.
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Isaac Brown with PGA pro Jordan Spieth who also competed in the third annual Congressional Pro-Am.[/caption]
Following the day’s 18-hole round, the participants retired to Congressional’s dining room for an awards banquet. Isaac’s group tied for third among the groups with a 17-under-par score of 55.
Tuesday’s agenda included a tour of Perfect Sense Digital’s main facility at Reston, Virginia. On Wednesday the golfers played a round at Fairfax(VA) Country Club as guests of Perfect Sense Digital’s CEO.
Thursday’s main activity was returning to Congressional Country Club to watch the opening round of the 2014 Quicken Loans National PGA Tournament. Isaac was able to see participating professionals such a Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, K.J. Choi, Stewart Cink, Stuart Appleby, Angel Cabrera, Retief Goosen, Jordan Spieth, and eventual-winner Justin Rose.
Following the pro tournament’s opening round, the group drove into Washington, D.C. for a whirlwind tour of several sites — the Lincoln Memorial, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, and others — in and around the Capitol Mall. Later that evening, the group enjoyed their final group activity, a round of Putt-Putt golf.
Isaac flew home Friday, ending his Congressional experience. In a Monday night interview, he said of his trip, “It was a blast!” He has already applied for inclusion in another First Tee tournament in Atlanta, Georgia. But even if he doesn’t make that one, he called his First Tee participation “quite a journey” which began ten years ago at Beaver Dam Baptist Church’s Faith Foundation Academy.
