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<H2><EM><FONT size=3>From the USDA Blog - </FONT></EM></H2>
<H2><A
title="Permanent Link to The People s Garden Initiative Celebrates 3 Years of Growth"
href="http://blogs.usda.gov/2012/02/17/the-people%e2%80%99s-garden-initiative-celebrates-3-years-of-growth/"
rel=bookmark>The People’s Garden Initiative Celebrates 3 Years of
Growth</A></H2>
<DIV class=authormetadata><!--New time date format-->Posted by <A
title="Posts by Livia Marqués, Director of The People's Garden Initiative"
href="http://blogs.usda.gov/author/bfrank/">Livia Marqués, Director of The
People's Garden Initiative</A>, on February 17, 2012 at 5:04 PM </DIV>
<DIV class=entry>
<P>Three years ago this week, on February 12, 2009, Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack commemorated President Lincoln’s 200th birthday by creating the
first USDA People’s Garden at the “People’s Department.” This People’s
Garden at Department headquarters in Washington D.C., initially started as an
opportunity to showcase what we do at USDA, and to encourage folks to consider
local production and local consumption. It was USDA’s way of walking its
talk by providing an example to the rest of the country. We’ve grown quite
a bit in that short period of time. Thousands of USDA employees and over 700
local and national organizations are participating in over 1,500 gardens.</P>
<P>Last night, the People’s Garden along with Abraham Lincoln, in honor of our
namesake and <A
href="http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=USDA150">USDA’s
150<SUP>th</SUP> Anniversary</A>, recognized employees, agencies and partners
for their contributions to the Initiative at The People’s Garden ‘Golden Shovel’
Award Ceremony and Reception. And the categories are…<SPAN
id=more-38332></SPAN></P>
<DIV class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="WIDTH: 385px"><A
href="http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=landing&topic=landing"><IMG
class=" " height=500
alt="Golden Garden Gnomes will travel from People's Garden to People's Garden in Iowa and Maryland in honor of their contributions to the Initiative. "
src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7183/6893284157_de374bfd80.jpg"
width=375></A>
<P class=wp-caption-text>Golden Garden Gnomes will travel from People's Garden
to People's Garden in Iowa and Maryland in honor of their contributions to the
Initiative. </P></DIV>
<P>Golden Shovel Awards<A
href="http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=landing&topic=landing"><BR>Farm
Service Agency</A> received a ‘golden shovel’ in honor of their commitment to
volunteerism. FSA employees are creating gardens as ways to connect with
neighbors and local organizations in their communities. They have set the
standard for innovative, collaborative work and volunteered a total of 1,791
hours of service in 2011.</P>
<P><A href="http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/home">Natural
Resources Conservation Service</A> (NRCS) was presented a ‘golden shovel’ for
being the agency with the most number of People’s Gardens. NRCS has created 385
gardens over a three year period. These gardens range in type from growing
healthy, nutritious food to conserving, restoring and protecting our nation’s
natural resources.</P>
<P>Golden Garden Gnome Awards<BR>Golden garden gnomes were presented to two ‘Top
States’ – Iowa and Maryland. More People’s Gardens are growing in Iowa – 73 to
be exact — than any other state. And People’s Gardens in Maryland donated
more produce – over 700,000 lbs – during the 2011 growing season than any other
state. In total, USDA donated 1.1 million pounds of fresh produce to local food
banks and charities across the country through our ‘Share Your Harvest’
effort.</P>
<P>These gnomes will be a fun way for participants to share their passion and
excitement about their projects with each other and the public. Each gnome will
travel from People’s Garden to People’s Garden in Iowa and Maryland. We plan to
track their journey with <A
href="http://blogs.usda.gov/category/peoples-garden/">blog</A> posts, photos <A
href="http://twitter.com/#%21/peoplesgarden">on twitter</A> and on our <A
href="http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=GARDEN_RT7&parentnav=PEOPLES_GARDEN&navtype=RT">interactive
map</A>. Happy traveling!</P>
<DIV class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="WIDTH: 450px"><IMG height=500
alt="People's Garden volunteer and USDA employee Loretta Thomas received an award for volunteering over 100 hours at Headquarters People's Garden. "
src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7192/6893283989_1d83544cd3.jpg" width=440>
<P class=wp-caption-text>People's Garden volunteer and USDA employee Loretta
Thomas received an award for volunteering over 100 hours at Headquarters
People's Garden. </P></DIV>
<P>Special Recognition Awards<BR>Special recognition was given to organizations
that have been supporters and partners of the People’s Garden from the
start.</P>
<UL>
<LI><A href="http://www.dccentralkitchen.org/">DC Central Kitchen</A> (DCCK)
was recognized as the first partner of the People’s Garden and as a
leader in using food as a tool to strengthen the community in the District. <A
href="http://www.dccentralkitchen.org/truckfarm/">DCCK’s Truck Farm</A>, a
traveling, edible exhibit that teaches urban kids about healthy food sponsored
by PG, accepted a certificate of appreciation as well.
<LI><A href="http://communitygarden.org/">American Community Gardening
Association</A> was acknowledged for being a major supporter of community
greening in urban and rural communities.
<LI><A href="http://jmgkids.us/">Junior Master Gardener</A> and <A
href="http://foodcorps.org/">FoodCorps</A> were honored for teaching kids,
building school gardens and igniting a passion for learning, success and
service in youth.
<LI><A href="http://www.kab.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index">Keep America
Beautiful</A> was recognized for their dedication to growing healthy gardens
in the communities of their affiliates.
<LI><A href="http://ampleharvest.org/">AmpleHarvest.org</A> and <A
href="http://www.snapgardens.org/">SNAPGardens</A> were congratulated for
their continued efforts to connect Americans with the resources they need to
feed others and themselves.
<LI>A special thank you went to <A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">Pollinator Partnership</A> for working with
us on our yearly Pollinator Festival and for promoting public awareness about
pollinators – birds, bees, bats, butterflies, beetles, and other pollinating
animals – who are responsible for pollinating one-third of the nation’s food
supply. </LI></UL>
<P>So many individuals and groups play a role in our success and we recognize
that we couldn’t make an impact without this support. From our new and improved
<A
href="http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=PEOPLES_GARDEN">website</A>,
to the <A href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liNs0wDhcKA">Native American
garden</A> planted last spring with the Office of Tribal Relations and Let’s
Move, and many other successes, thank you for <A
href="http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=GARDEN_RT4&parentnav=PEOPLES_GARDEN&navtype=RT">joining
us</A>! Thanks so much for your hard work and contributions.</P>
<DIV style="CLEAR: both"></DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=postmetadata>
<P>Tags: <A href="http://blogs.usda.gov/tag/dc/" rel=tag>DC.</A>, <A
href="http://blogs.usda.gov/tag/fsa/" rel=tag>FSA</A>, <A
href="http://blogs.usda.gov/tag/nrcs/" rel=tag>NRCS</A>, <A
href="http://blogs.usda.gov/tag/peoples-garden/" rel=tag>People's Garden</A>, <A
href="http://blogs.usda.gov/tag/usda150/" rel=tag>usda150</A>, <A
href="http://blogs.usda.gov/tag/washington/" rel=tag>Washington</A></P>
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