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USDA launches new nutrition hub network

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest $4.5 million into providing nutritional advice and guidance across the US.

Last month, the USDA announced it had made the funding available to bolster its nutritional support for the farming and agriculture sectors, as well as the wider public.

The department’s focus on nutrition comes after its annual food security and nutrition assistance data, released in 2023, found that 17.3% of US households with children were food insecure in 2022.

In addition, 12.8% of – or 17 million – households were food insecure at least some time during the year, demonstrating that they struggled to provide enough food for all those living there, due to a lack of resources.

Centralising nutrition support

The investment builds on the USDA’s pilot nutrition hub. Developed in 2023 in collaboration with Southern University and A&M College, the initiative was launched under the USDA’s Agricultural Science Center of Excellence for Nutrition and Diet for Better Health (ASCEND for Better Health) initiative.

The funding will allow the federal government department to create three more nutrition hubs in areas throughout the US. The USDA is developing these additional hubs to give farmers and agriculturists customised, adaptable, and scalable agriculture methods.

The network aims to promote fair access to food and nutrition in the hope of improving overall food security and addressing and preventing diet-related chronic illnesses, particularly in marginalised communities.

The three extra hubs will further expand the US government’s ability to share information and education on nutrition and specific industry insights.

Focusing on precision nutrition and ‘priority communities of interest’

During a virtual event as part of the White House Cancer Moonshot Community Conversations week of action, the USDA made a funding announcement to support precision nutrition research and community engagement efforts aimed at preventing diet-related diseases, including cancers.

Each nutrition hub will utilise precision nutrition to focus on specific priorities within the programme area.

Precision nutrition, an increasingly popular area of interest, focuses on personalising dietary guidance and tailoring nutrition plans to different population subgroups, using data unique to those groups.

It is hoped that precision nutrition research will lead to the creation of personalised recommendations and messaging for specific subpopulations, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach to dietary guidance.

“Equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable foods that promote optimal health and wellbeing can have a significant impact in reducing rates of diet-related chronic diseases, including many cancers,” said Dr Chavonda Jacobs-Young, chief scientist and under-secretary for research, education, and economics at the USDA.

The nutrition hubs will concentrate on offering science-based information. The USDA will customise this to areas it has identified as priority communities of interest. These include Tribal, Hispanic, and Insular Areas.

The nutrition hubs have received funding from the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA’s) competitive grants programme for agricultural sciences. The hubs are hoped to enhance the USDA’s overall efforts in extension, education, and research, particularly in underserved communities.

By gaining deeper insights into the real-life issues and opportunities related to nutrition and diet-related health disparities, they will help to produce cohesive, evidence-based solutions and resources that will positively impact these communities.

“When people have tailored tools, resources, and knowledge, they are empowered to take a more active role in managing their nutrition and health,” Jacobs-Young added.

Building tomorrow’s nutrition knowledge today

The USDA currently has an AFRI opportunity open and is taking applications for its foundational and applied science programme. The programme, which is receiving applications until 3 October, supports grants in six AFRI priority areas to advance knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture.

The six priority areas are: plant health and production and plant products; animal health and production and animal products; food safety, nutrition, and health; bioenergy, natural resources, and environment; agriculture systems and technology; and agriculture economics and rural communities.

“These nutrition hubs present an exciting new opportunity through our AFRI programme portfolio to strengthen extension, research and education efforts of our nation’s Land-grant Universities,” said Dr Manjit Misra, NIFA’s director at the USDA.

“The goal of this programme area priority is to stimulate and catalyse cross-cutting and interdisciplinary work among scientists and stakeholders that will reduce the incidence of diet-related diseases while building current and future workforce capacity.”

The USDA’s long-term goal is that every nutrition hub will collaborate with priority groups to create and share evidence-based nutrition knowledge and promote research and training in human nutrition research. Ultimately, it hopes these findings will then enhance food and nutrition security, especially in neglected and underrepresented communities.