USDA is short for the United States Department of Agriculture. It is the part of the US government that looks after farming and food.

USDAUSDA is是 the United States Department of Agriculture美國農業部 short for的縮寫，It is是 the US government美國政府 that looks after裡負責管理 farming and food農業和食品 the part of的部門。

It does a lot of different jobs: it gives money and advice to farmers, it checks that meat, eggs and other food are safe and clean, it decides what the labels on food may say (the word "organic" on American food is a USDA rule), it runs food help programs for poor families and school lunches, and it takes care of national forests.

It does a lot of different jobs它負責很多不同的工作：it gives它給 money and advice錢和建議 to farmers給農夫，it checks它檢查 meat, eggs and other food肉、蛋和其他食品 are safe and clean是否安全乾淨，it decides它決定 what the labels on food may say食品標籤可以寫什麼（the word 'organic'「organic（有機）」這個字 on American food在美國食品上 is a USDA rule是USDA的規定），it runs它辦 food help programs食物補助計畫 for poor families and school lunches給貧困家庭和學校午餐，and it also takes care of它也照顧 national forests國家森林。

Because of the food-checking part, students meet this word most often on packets: you will see a round USDA mark on American meat, or the green-and-white USDA Organic mark.

Because of因為 the food-checking part食品檢查這部分，students meet this word most often on packets學生最常在包裝上看到這個字：on American meat在美國肉品上 you will see你會看到 a round圓形的 USDA markUSDA標章，or the green-and-white綠白色的 USDA Organic markUSDA Organic有機標章。

In speech people say the three letters, U-S-D-A, never a word. You will also hear it used as a kind of adjective in front of a noun — "USDA inspected", "USDA grade A eggs", "USDA approved" — and there "USDA" is doing the work of "the government says this is fine".

In speech說話時，people say大家會唸 the three letters, U-S-D-A這三個字母U-S-D-A，never a word而不是唸成一個字。You will also hear it你也會聽到它 used as a kind of adjective被當作形容詞 in front of a noun放在名詞前面：'USDA inspected'USDA檢驗合格、'USDA grade A eggs'USDA的A級雞蛋、'USDA approved'USDA核可，and there 'USDA'這裡的「USDA」 is doing the work of其實是在說 'the government says this is fine'「政府說這沒問題」的意思。

Note that food safety in the US is split: the USDA handles meat, poultry and eggs, while most other food is the FDA's job. Americans themselves mix these two up all the time, so do not feel bad if you do.

Note that要注意，food safety in the US美國的食品安全 is split是分開管的：the USDAUSDA handles負責 meat, poultry and eggs肉類、家禽和蛋，while而 most other food大部分其他食品 is the FDA's job則是FDA的責任。Americans themselves美國人自己 mix these two up all the time也常常搞混這兩個機關，so do not feel bad if you do所以你搞混了也不用不好意思。