| Another two tidbits from that same article:
- Vilsack supports COOL (country of origin labeling) but he's going to take a look at the rule before making final decisions on it.
- Apparently the USDA is not in the 21st century technologically and Vilsack is going to work on this. From what I've heard, this was a common problem in the Bush administration... apparently the White House IT department was still living in the 1990s too.
More goodies could be found in a USDA press release. That said Vilsack stated priorities as including:
- Combatting childhood obesity and promoting health and nutrition
- R&D for biofuels, wind, and other renewable energy
- The environment:
Making progress on major environmental challenges, including climate change. Vilsack said it's important that farmers and ranchers play a role with USDA in efforts to promote incentives for management practices that provide clean air, clean water, and wildlife habitat, and help farmers participate in markets that reward them for sequestering carbon and limiting greenhouse gas emissions. [emphasis mine]
- Providing a safety net to farmers and ranchers - "including independent producers and local and organic agriculture."
- Enforcing the Packers and Stockyards Act!!!!!
- Quickly implementing the 2008 Farm Bill
- "Modernizing the food safety system"
- Food aid overseas
- The Forest Service:
Restoring the mission of the Forest Service as a protector of clean air, clean water, and wildlife habitat; a provider of recreation opportunities; a key player in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration.
About the Forest Service, Vilsack made a comment that we need to give them the funding the need so they can take care of wildfires and do everything else they need to do. If you've been in California during the past few wildfire seasons, you know how much we lack in firefighting resources.
It's all OK when there's one fire and the firefighters across the state can focus on it, but when there are simultaneous fires everywhere (as there were in 2003 and 2007) then suddenly Cali is bringing in firefighters from Nevada and wherever else they can get them. I'm good friends with a firefighter and during the 2007 fires they had him working for about 30 hours straight during one stretch.
One Vilsack quote that I don't like comes from FarmPolicy.com via Organic Consumers Association:
Philip Brasher reported yesterday at The Des Moines Register Online that, "Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the government must get Americans to eat more healthful foods while also boosting crop production to feed a growing world population.
"The two goals have often been at odds, Vilsack said...
Boost crop production? Feed growing world population? No, Tom. No. We have enough food and we're wrecking the environment and dumping cheap commodities on the developing world, pushing their farmers off the land.
From Reuters: Food safety system needs modernization: Vilsack. It's a no-brainer that our food safety system needs work but the article (and Vilsack) specifically address whether we need to merge all of the food safety functions into one agency as Dick Durbin has proposed. Vilsack said we need to first modernize our food safety system, then assess if we need to reorganize our agencies. He further added:
Vilsack said he wants the USDA to focus meat inspection on prevention and containment of dangerous pathogens that cause food-borne illness.
"A modernized system would have as a goal prevention, early detection if it can't be prevented, and mitigation of any adverse impacts if something occurs," Vilsack told reporters.
I like his emphasis on prevention and early detection - I'm sick of hearing people talk about traceability when we aren't even bothering to prevent OR test for problems. What's the point of a massive, expensive tracking system if we aren't even bothering to prevent or find the problems in the first place?
Obama Foodorama points out that Vilsack has spent much of his first days addressing civil rights problems at USDA. A group of black farmers have brought a class action suit against the USDA, saying they were "systematically denied loans and other aid from local USDA offices."
So there's what Vilsack's been up to during his first few days on the job. Not bad, so far. |
