Service to American Farmers

Diplomats deliver for American farmers by opening foreign markets to products from our fields and factories and promoting our food products at every opportunity. Our embassies and consulates connect American agri-business with local partners in other countries, identify marketing opportunities, and ensure that other governments do not misuse food standards for protectionist purposes. And when our government provides food assistance to hungry people around the world, we draw from the abundance of America’s farms.

Photo on right: Brian Levin, Perky Jerky “Chairman of the Herd”, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy celebrate the return of U.S. beef products to Japan in 2015. Photo by Evan Mangino.

Brian Levin, Perky Jerky “Chairman of the Herd”, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy celebrate the return of U.S. beef products to Japan in 2015.

Promoting American Agriculture

Evan Mangino: Bringing American Beef Jerky Back to Japan: A single case of Mad Cow Disease in the American northwest in 2003 prompted Japan to cut off all imports of U.S. beef, and it took years of work by American negotiators to reopen the market.

Allan Mustard: Keeping India’s Khapra Beetles out of U.S. Food Supplies: As agricultural minister-counselor in New Delhi, Allan Mustard oversaw U.S. Department of Agriculture programs to keep invasive pests such as khapra beetles, a serious threat to American grain supplies, out of India’s agricultural shipments to the United States.

Mattie Sharpless: Creating Menus of American Products in Europe’s Finest Restaurants: Ambassador Mattie R. Sharpless was born and raised in a rural community near the North Carolina coast. After studies at North Carolina College, she joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service in 1965.

Prem Balkaran, an inspector with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, examines mangoes being packaged for shipment to the United States. An irradiation seal certifies that irradiation has sterilized any insects that might have infested the mangoes inside this box, making the fruit safe for export to the United States. Courtesy of Allan Mustard
Prem Balkaran, an inspector with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, examines mangoes being packaged for shipment to the United States. An irradiation seal certifies that irradiation has sterilized any insects that might have infested the mangoes inside this box, making the fruit safe for export to the United States.
Courtesy of Allan Mustard
Mattie Sharpless greets children in the village of Mbaiki in 2012 during her time as U.S. Ambassador to the Central African Republic. (State Department photo)
Mattie Sharpless greets children
in the village of Mbaiki in 2012
during her time as U.S. Ambassador
to the Central African Republic.
(State Department photo)

Go to top