Rural Issue

USDA addressing rural poverty in America

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expanding efforts to address persistent poverty in rural America.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says the department’s StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity initiative is adding four states: Florida, Missouri, Montana and Ohio in 2016.

 

Since StrikeForce was launched in 2010, Vilsack says the USDA and its partners have invested $23 billion dollars in high-poverty areas in rural America, building homes, feeding children, assisting farmers and conserving natural resources.

Audio: Tom Vilsack,  Secretary of Agriculture at Ohio State University, January 15, 2016