Food and Agriculture

Feature Article: Protecting Food from the Farm to Our Plates

S&T collaborates with DHS experts to ensure that the food we eat and our agricultural supply are safe.

S&T Proactively Preparing for African Swine Fever

With up to a 100 percent mortality rate in pigs, African Swine Fever continues to spread in Asia, Europe and Africa. DHS S&T is meeting this emerging threat now with a newly published Master Question List. 

News Release: S&T Releases New Information Resource to Address African Swine Fever Proactively

S&T released today the ASF Master Question List (MQL), a comprehensive resource that provides an up-to-date authoritative summary of publicly available information about the virus to promote coordinated research and improved emergency response preparedness.

S&T African Swine Fever Factsheet

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a high-threat foreign animal disease that is highly transmissible and results in up to 100% mortality in swine.

S&T CRISTAL Fact Sheet

To help mitigate the interruption of lifeline supply chains, researchers at a Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate Center of Excellence, the Food Protection and Defense Institute (FPDI), are developing new ways of identifying and understanding how and where supply chains are vulnerable to disruptions. As part of this work, research teams are also finding methods to document and assess the components of food supply chains – something that could also help meet goals of the Food Safety Modernization Act.

FPDI has developed an early prototype software tool for supply chain mapping, vulnerability assessments and analysis called Criticality Spatial Analysis (CRISTAL). Through CRISTAL, FPDI aims to develop a new capability to: (1) define and document food critical infrastructure, and (2) assess risk in the global food supply chain.

S&T FPDI Fact Sheet

FPDI defends the safety and security of the food system by conducting research to protect against vulnerabilities in the food supply chain, from farm to table, and to reduce the potential catastrophic attacks on public health and the economy.

Written testimony of CBP for a House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture and Research, and Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture hearing titled “Defending American Agriculture Against Foreign Pests and Diseases”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations Agriculture Programs and Trade Liaison Executive Director Kevin Harriger addresses CBP’s role in agriculture security and how it is accomplished in collaboration with other Federal agencies and non-federal stakeholders.

S&T FMD Vaccine Fact Sheet

FMD is a highly contagious dis-ease that can severely affect domestic and wild cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, swine, sheep, goats, deer and buffalo. Protecting American livestock is critical to the country’s agricultural economy and preservation of food supplies.

Statement of Dr. Doug Meckes, Branch Chief, Food, Agriculture & Veterinary Defense Branch, OHA, before Senate Comm. on Homeland Security & Gov. Affairs Subcomm. on Oversight of Gov. Mgmt., Fed Workforce, and D.C., "Agro-Defense: Responding to Threats

Dr. Doug Meckes, Branch Chief of the Food, Agriculture, and Veterinary Defense Branch of the Office of Health Affairs testified regarding DHS's efforts to defend our nation's agriculture, food, human and animal health.

Plum Island Animal Disease Center

DHS S&T ONL PIADC has served as the nation’s premier defense against accidental or intentional introduction of transboundary animal diseases.