The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was founded on 15th May 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. He began it for the sole purpose of improving the economy of the United States of America. It is one is of the federal executive departments in the USA that transformed the lives of the citizens during that time. The Agency made a partnership with communities in order to set research into accomplishment in farming and general food production, wellbeing of the citizens, affordable living, urban and countryside renewal, and improved nutrition (United States Department of Agriculture, 2012). Its main function was to increase food supply and consequently enhance food security in the nation.
It is notable that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is one of the federal executive departments in the USA which is responsible for executing numerous policies that are related to agriculture, farming and food security. Therefore, USDA is one of the government agencies that are used to promote trade, production, food safety, improved agriculture and protection of natural resources. It is imperative to note that the agency has a core responsibility of overseeing and ensuring safety of food supply in United States. Other roles performed by the agency include inspection, research, training and policy formulation on foreign and domestic food safety.
It is apparent that USDA is the second major department in US that is concerned with food safety regulations and policy formulation. The department has numerous agencies that enable it to achieve the overall responsibilities in specific areas of jurisdiction. For instance, it is certain that USDA has about seven agencies with food safety-related responsibilities. For instance, Food Safety and Inspection Services is one of the USDA agencies that deal with supply of food products such as eggs, meat and other animal produce. These products are channeled through the process of distribution into other states.
The USDA has built up a typical set of identifiers that enables it to describe soils in the farms (Holliday, 2004). This is another role of this department. Its modifications in describing surface and buried soils are basically useful to many geoarchaeologists in United States of America. These identifiers help the agency in describing the best soils in the surface. It assists in improving the overall fertility of surface soil in order to boost agricultural production.
Its jurisdiction covers three areas of foodstuff processing namely meat, poultry and egg products.. This jurisdiction relies on the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act and Egg Products Inspection (Marriot & Gravani, 2006). Consequently, its jurisdiction is federal in nature and largely deals with businesses between states in America. However, some products could be misbranded and distribution channels may return them to USAD in order to be disposed.
To recap it all, it is imperative to note that this agency has helped Americans for many years in history. It is through its establishment and growth that United States of America has managed to sustain food security. The food supply in US is still ensured through this agency. Therefore, the nation has enjoyed various benefits through its role by protecting them from food shortage and disposition. The agency had also benefited various states through its extended jurisdiction. The production of farm and animal products are also enhanced through this agency. The increase in both animal and plant products has greatly contributed towards positive growth of Gross Domestic Product.
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References
Holliday, V. (2004). Soils in Archeological Research. New York: Oxford University Press.
Marriot, N & Gravani, R. (2006). Principles of Food Sanitation. New York: Springer.
United States Department of Agriculture (2012). Smithsonian Folklife Festival – The Mall on Jefferson Street Washington DC. Web.