Fred Kirschenmann, one of the sustainable dozen, wrote SUCH a spectacular op ed this week and honestly, I cannot imagine a better person to have at the USDA - which is probably precisely why he won't get the job. He's too smart to be married to the status quo of agribusiness. Here's my favorite part of the op ed:
I would urge Secretary Vilsack to consider two questions and one recommendation to begin moving us toward a more sustainable food and agriculture system.
First, let's assume that ten years from now oil will be $300 a barrel, that we only have half the fresh water resources available that we have today for our food and agriculture system and that we have twice the severe weather events. What kind of agriculture should we be designing to put on the landscape that enables farmers to thrive, invites a new generation of farmers to enter farming and that restores the economic health of our rural communities?
Second, since we all know that healthy soil is the foundation of any sustainable food system, what could we do to launch a major global soil health restoration effort?
And since systems are complex and multi-faceted, I would urge Secretary Vilsack to insist on full life cycle analysis in assessing whether any innovation actually produces the economic, environmental or social benefits it purports to provide.
