Sustainable Development
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is committed to working with partners and stakeholders toward sustainability of diverse agricultural, forest and range systems. USDA seeks to balance the goals of:
- Satisfying human needs;
- Enchancing environmental quality, the resource base, and ecosystem services;
- Sustaining the economic viability of agriculture;
- Enhancing the quality of life for farmers, ranchers, forest mangers, workers and society as a whole.
USDA integrates these goals into its policies and programs, particularly through interagency collaboration, partnership and outreach at both domestic and international levels.
USDA encourages the development and adoption of place-and-scale-appropriate management, production, distribution, and information systems that advance continuous, integrated progress toward all of these goals across landscapes, supply chains and markets. USDA also supports the principles of “reduce, reuse, and recycle” in relation to efficient product handling, processing, transportation, packaging, trade, consumption and waste management.