| Tom Vilsack's friend Jennifer Donahue says Vilsack is the "best possible" choice for secretary of agriculture.
Legendary activist Denise O'Brien, an organic farmer who was the Democratic nominee for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture in 2006, urges sustainable agriculture advocates not to give up hope, because as governor Vilsack was accessible and did some good things on food and environmental issues.
Another Iowan, Food & Society Policy Fellow Angie Tagtow, published a diary here urging Vilsack and incoming Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Daschle to work together:
A dichotomy exists between agriculture policies and Dietary Guidelines for Americans - yet, ironically, both are overseen by the USDA. Current food and farm policies stand in the way of making healthy food the easiest choice.
Food and agriculture policies must support disease prevention efforts and can save millions in health care costs. The USDA and USDHHS must use sound science, instead of pressures from special interests like biotechnology companies and the food industry, to reform policies and programs that support a healthy and sustainable food and agriculture system.
Specifically, Tagtow advocates cooperation between Vilsack and Daschle toward the following goals:
1. Creating an intradepartmental Food Policy Council, led by a Food Czar, "to assure farm, food and nutrition policies and programs support public health goals."
2. Enacting policies to build fertile soil. "Farmers should receive support or credits for decreasing use of synthetic farm chemicals, protecting natural resources, building soil, reducing fossil fuel use and capturing carbon."
3. Creating incentives to grow more fruits and vegetables in the U.S.: "Our agriculture system does not grow enough of the right foods that promote our health. We are forced to rely on other countries to put fruits and vegetables on our plates."
4. Making fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains more available to people on federal food and nutrition assistance program: "Improving the nutritional quality of the WIC food package and the foods served in schools will nourish healthy children, prepare them to learn, reduce childhood diseases, reduce food insecurity and produce healthy, productive adults."
5. Leveraging food production as economic development. "Growing more food closer to where we eat it increases our access to fresh seasonal food, cultivates a closer relationship with farmers, and builds community resiliency, economic stability, food security and health."
Tagtow's suggestions are all excellent, and I hope Vilsack and Daschle will act on them. (Side note: I encourage her to cross-post her diary at Bleeding Heartland so I can put it on the front page there.)
Rob Hubler, former Congressional candidate in Iowa's fifth district, is asking everyone on his e-mail list to support petitions calling for a more sustainable agriculture policy:
Friends,
[...] Will you join me in continuing to work for the same values we campaigned on? There are two quick, but important, actions I want you to take. Both will make a difference for the future of rural communities, family farming and our entire food system.
First, I was proud to add my name to a remarkable effort to pressure President-elect Obama to appoint a "Sustainable Secretary of Agriculture" originated in our own district. Food Democracy Now (http://www.fooddemocracynow.org), launched last week by Iowan Dave Murphy, rocketed to national attention when Nicolas Kristof endorsed the effort in his New York Times column.
Nearly 50,000 people have already signed. Will you help push the petition to 100,000?
Second, the Center for Rural Affairs launched a Grassroots Letter to the next Secretary of Agriculture. No matter who Obama selects, the next head of the USDA needs to hear from you. You can sign the Center for Rural Affairs Grassroots Letter and leave your own comment about the change you would like to see to food, farm and rural policy. The Center for Rural Affairs will send your signature and comment onto the next Agriculture Secretary.
Join me in signing their letter here: http://www.cfra.org/08/grassro...
Peace & Justice,
Rob L. Hubler
I agree that it's helpful to add more names to those petitions. Food Democracy Now has more than 58,000 signers already. The Center for Rural Affairs' proposals are wide-ranging and sensible.
The Organic Consumers Association, which came out swinging against Vilsack last month, hasn't given up on blocking this appointment. On Wednesday they launched a "Stop Vilsack" petition.
This strategy strikes me as ineffective and unwise. There is no chance of Obama backing off from this nomination. He was aware of Vilsack's position on agriculture when he made the decision. There is no chance of the Senate not confirming Vilsack. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa chairs the relevant committee and has already said he will make sure the confirmation hearings go smoothly.
The Organic Consumers Association would do better to organize pressure on Vilsack to take specific actions, either reversing bad Bush administration policies or moving in a more sustainable direction, as the Center for Rural Affairs and Tagtow are proposing.
Daily Kos user CornSyrupAwareness had a different take on Vilsack's nomination:
I'm glad to see Iowa get their due with this pick of Tom Vilsack. They were instrumental in getting our man elected, and we should all tip our caps to Iowa. Iowa is now paid in full for their efforts and I'm glad. This way they don't get their due by 'vetoing' a Surgeon General's warning on High Fructose Corn Syrup.
CornSyrupAwareness also quoted some comments Obama made months ago about corn syrup, and posted this great clip of Bill Maher asking Joe Biden, "Which is more likely to contribute to the death of your average American: a terrorist strike, or high-fructose corn syrup, and air that has too much coal in it?"
Once Vilsack is confirmed as secretary of agriculture, a lot of other positions within the USDA will need to be filled. At La Vida Locavore, Obama Foodorama drew attention to last week's little-noticed resignation of Elizabeth Johnson, the Under Secretary for Food Safety of USDA and made the case for Bill Marler to replace her.
The undersecretary appointments don't get much attention but are quite important. Thanks to Obama Foodorama for shining a light on food safety.
Daily Kos user Halcyon informed me that Marler is an occasional diarist at Daily Kos. His most recent post is about the top ten food safety stories of 2008.
Share any relevant thoughts on Vilsack's nomination or federal policies on food and agriculture. |
