Source:  NCSU College of Ag & Life Sciences, 2/7/11

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s second in command will visit North Carolina’s land-grant universities on Wednesday to promote USDA career opportunities and local food economies.

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems will host lectures by Dr. Kathleen A. Merrigan, deputy secretary of USDA, Feb. 9 at N.C. State University and N.C. A&T State University.  Both lectures are free and open to the public.

Merrigan, named one of Time magazine's “100 Most Influential People of the World” in 2010, oversees the day-to-day operation of USDA's many programs and spearheads the $149 billion USDA budget process. She has managed the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative that highlights the connection between farmers and consumers and supports local and regional food systems increasing economic opportunity in rural America. She also helped to spearhead the Organic Food Production Act.

Merrigan’s visit is an important component of CEFS’ ongoing Farm to Fork initiative to build North Carolina’s local food economy. CEFS is a partnership of N.C. State University, N.C. A&T State University and the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences. The center promotes education, research and extension efforts in sustainable agriculture. CEFS also developed The 10% Campaign to encourage North Carolina consumers to spend 10 percent of their food dollars locally.

More information on Merrigan is available on the USDA website:  www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=bios_merrigan.xml

Schedule for Merrigan visit, Feb. 9:
N.C. A&T State University, Greensboro
10 a.m., Room 100, B.C. Webb Auditorium
The auditorium is located at the corner of Benbow Road and East Market Street. Parking is available on the street and in the campus parking deck behind the library on Laurel Street. View a map of the N.C. A&T campus here: www.ncat.edu/campus.

N.C. State University, Raleigh
2:30 p.m., Room 124, Dabney Hall
Dabney Hall is located on the North Campus at 2620 Yarbrough Drive. Parking is available on Hillsborough Street and in the Dan Allen parking deck. Click here to view a map of N.C. State’s North Campus: www.ncsu.edu/campus_map/north.htm.