Washington, D.C. – Today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway (TX-11) issued the following statement after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its intention to delay the compliance dates for agricultural water requirements in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA) produce safety rule: “Producers need additional time to come into compliance with FSMA’s ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. – Today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway (TX-11) welcomed newly-confirmed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Sec. Sonny Perdue to Capitol Hill to testify on the “State of the Rural Economy.” Following the hearing, Chairman Conaway made the below statement: “Against the backdrop of a four-year, 50-percent decline in net farm income, Sec. Perdue’s comments... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the grocery industry announced a nationwide effort to clear up consumer confusion regarding date labels on food packaging as part of an overarching effort to combat food waste. The initiative will streamline the phrasing used on food date labels by replacing over ten existing forms with two standard phrases. Most products will bear a “BEST If Used By” label that connotes ... Read more »
Roll Call By: Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-TX), Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) Have you ever gotten into an argument about whether a carton of eggs are still good even though the date on the label has passed? It's happened in our households and we bet it's happened in yours. Although it seems like a harmless domestic disagreement, the truth is when you throw away perfectly ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing to understand the sources and impacts of food waste. Members heard from a variety of witnesses from industry, academia and the private sector who shared their efforts and initiatives in place to address the issue of food waste across the food chain. “An estimated forty percent of the food grown in this country is wasted, endi... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research gathered to hear a presentation by the National 4-H Conference participants concerning the future of agriculture in the United States. The National 4-H Organization is the nation’s largest youth development organization that serves to help its six million student members better understand the ... Read more »
Good afternoon and thank you all for joining us. For the past several years, youth participants in the National 4-H Conference have met with members of Congress and made presentations to federal agencies and House Agriculture Committee members and staff. Last year I had the privilege to chair a hearing where we heard from 17 distinguished 4-H delegates whose presentation highlighted the importance... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee completed its two-day examination of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organization and program administration. Over the past two days, members of the committee heard from 25 undersecretaries, administrators, and other department officials across USDA’s seven mission areas, on a variety of topics, which included an accounting for ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Committee on Agriculture began Part I of a two-day hearing series examining U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organization and program administration. USDA officials from the Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services (FNCS), Food Safety (FS), and Rural Development (RD) mission areas served as witnesses. This hearing series follows a similar series the committee held w... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Today and tomorrow, we have before us most of the undersecretaries of the Department of Agriculture. Each of these witnesses is responsible for an important mission area within USDA. Accompanying our witnesses are administrators who manage agencies and programs within these larger mission areas. These folks lead the network of nearly 100,000 USDA employees who carry out the la... Read more »
