United States Department of Agriculture - USDA

What’s everyone’s favorite f-word? Uh...no. Not that one. The other one.

Yep..."food." Who doesn’t love food, right? Well, here in the United States, all regulations pertaining to food are handled by the “United States Department of Agriculture,” or “USDA.” And we’re not just talking about the food itself. We’re talking about the farms and forests that grow it, the farmers and factories that produce it, the plants that package it, the trucks and planes that ship it, and the stores that sell it. All of those entities are at least somewhat regulated by the USDA.

Ever seen a nutrition label on a package of food? Of course you have, because the USDA requires it. They’re also responsible for food safety standards, domestic and foreign food inspections, and safety recalls, and probably a lot of that is fairly obvious, but here's something that might not be: the USDA is also heavily involved with rural development, including providing loans and other financial resources to folks living in rural areas. In addition, they work with many individuals and groups to conserve and manage our natural resources, and they have a research function entirely devoted to compiling and analyzing data on America’s agriculture industry.

But far and away the biggest chunk of the USDA’s annual budget—like...80% big—goes to the Food and Nutrition Service Program, which provides, among many other things, food stamps to low-income families across the nation. That’s a lot of stuff for one governmental department to take on, but it’s all in the name of the worthiest of causes: delicious num-nums.