Meet Your Leaders: Dick Lugar (Emphasis on DICK)

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM PDT

Lugar is on the Ag committee and he's the ranking member of the Foreign Relations committee. In addition to his obvious influence in food issues on the ag committee, the foreign relations committee makes decisions about U.S. food aid to other countries.

Lugar is an odd bird when it comes to ag policy. He was raised on a 600 acre farm and he boasts that he saw yields triple in his lifetime using agricultural chemicals and GMOs. He also feels that wildlife flourishes on his farm and that proves as justification that chemical ag does no harm to the environment. He stands for a lot of things I'm against, but he also manages to piss off groups that I strongly oppose like the Farm Bureau. So - the enemy of the enemy is...??? In this case, I don't think he's my friend.

Contact Information
DC Office: 202-224-5623 (phone); 202-228-1377 (fax)
District offices: 317-554-0750 (Indianapolis); 812-465-6500 (Jeffersonville); 260-422-1505 (Ft. Wayne); 219-548-8035 (Valparaiso); 812-465-6313 (Evansville)

More Non-Help for Africa, Courtesy of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Mar 24, 2009 at 11:16:30 AM PDT

Here are the true things they said (most of the rest after this is B.S.):

• There are 800mil to 1bil hungry people in the world and 2/3 of them are in Sub-Saharan Africa and S. Asia.
• The world's population is growing
• Many of the hungry are farmers in Africa, many of whom are women, uneducated, and powerless.
• Farmers in Africa lack water for irrigation, petroleum-based fertilizer, GMO or hybrid seeds, pesticides, electricity, and any machinery whatsoever. 70% also live more than 30 minutes walking distance from the nearest road, effectively cutting them off from any markets.
• Global hunger is not just a moral issue, it's also a national security risk.
• White House leadership will be critical in any effort fighting global hunger.

After that, we started to get into chemical-ag-public-relationsland. More below the flip.

Throw the Hungry Under the Bus First

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 17:56:28 PM PST

I've been following the stimulus coverage kind of loosely, but it seems that Obama's finally taking his message around Congress, directly to the American people. At the same time, the Republicans don't want a stimulus at all, mainly because if it works Obama will get credit and if it fails they will share the blame. They've proposed a bullshit alternative "stimulus" which is basically just more of the same stuff that we've already seen fail during the Bush years - tax cuts to corporations and capital gains. Sorry "Main Street" - Republicans don't give a damn about you.

So how's that working out, given that the Republicans are in the minority? More below...

Vilsack unanimously confirmed as Secretary of Agriculture (updated)

by: desmoinesdem

Tue Jan 20, 2009 at 17:40:52 PM PST

The Sunday Des Moines Register ran an article featuring Drake University Law Professor Neil Hamilton, who predicted that Vilsack will do more to reform the US Department of Agriculture than some of his critics anticipate:

His critics see Vilsack as "coming from only part of agriculture, and I don't think that probably is accurate," Hamilton said in an interview after Vilsack's Senate confirmation hearing last week. Hamilton, who has long been an advocate of locally grown food systems, a priority of Vilsack's critics, attended the hearing and chatted with the former governor afterward.

Hamilton persuaded Vilsack as governor to form a state food policy council to promote local food systems, among other ideas.

At last week's Senate confirmation hearing, Vilsack promised to do more to promote local foods.

Discussing Vilsack's record on agriculture issues, Hamilton told the Des Moines Register that

Vilsack couldn't have been expected to be anything but an advocate of biotechnology or ethanol when he was governor. "It would have been hard to be the governor of Iowa, just as it's hard to be the senator from Illinois, without being a supporter of ethanol," Hamilton said in a reference to Obama, a leading supporter of corn ethanol as an Illinois senator.

"The fact that you can see a role for genetic modification and science in agriculture doesn't necessarily mean you don't also see an opportunity for local food and organic" agriculture, Hamilton continued. [...]

Hamilton said he is "very confident that whether it's a year, two years, or four years, that most of the people" who signed the Food Democracy Now! petition "will be impressed and pleased" with Vilsack.

Hamilton was one of the six potential nominees for secretary of agriculture on the Food Democracy Now! petition. He is also one of the "sustainable dozen" that Food Democracy Now! is recommending for undersecretary posts within the USDA.

Those senior appointments will set the tone for Vilsack's tenure. I have no idea whether any of the "sustainable dozen" have a chance to be hired. Unfortunately, Jill Richardson reported recently that some strong advocates for industrial agriculture are being considered for high-ranking USDA positions.

For now I am willing to give Vilsack the benefit of the doubt. I greatly respect Hamilton, who knows the Iowa governor well.

However, if senior USDA posts go to people with strong ties to agribusiness like Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff or Joy Philippi, former president of the National Pork Producers Council, then it will be time to follow the Russian maxim: "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst."

UPDATE: Vilsack will hire John Norris (an early Obama supporter in Iowa) to be his chief of staff at the USDA.

More Reasons to Love Tom Harkin

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 00:35:25 AM PST

S.771: A bill to amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to improve the nutrition and health of schoolchildren by updating the definition of "food of minimal nutritional value" to conform to current nutrition science and to protect the Federal investment in the national school lunch and breakfast programs.

If I've got the facts right, you can't serve "foods of minimal nutritional value" in schools, but the way they define "foods of minimal nutritional value" allows you to basically serve whatever you want. Cheetos? Mountain Dew? No problem. Under government definitions, those aren't foods of minimal nutritional value (so what is? tree bark?). Good on Harkin for proposing this! Unfortunately, after gaining 32 co-sponsors, it went to the Ag committee and died there.

More below.

Dodd - Still Concerned About Childhood Obesity

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 18:49:20 PM PST

This week he was at a forum focused on curbing obesity in children. The really GOOD news about this forum is that it was actually a serious attempt to solve the problem, not some sham put on by fast food companies.

(Thanks to Bill Scher for sending this info my way)

The  Preventing Childhood Obesity: A Healthy Imperative for Connecticut's Next Generation site lists speakers that are a foodie's dream come true. For example, here's just the first part of the agenda:

Welcoming Remarks
Dr. J. Robert Galvin, Connecticut Commissioner of Public Health, and
Senator Mary Ann Handley, Public Health Committee Co-Chair, on behalf of the Connecticut Childhood Obesity Council.

Keynote address
Kelly Brownell, Ph.D., Director of the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity: "Is There the Courage to Change the American Diet?"

Address
Gina McCarthy, Connecticut Commissioner of Environmental Protection:
"No Child Left Inside"

Address
Thomas Merrill, General Counsel, New York City Health Department:
"Calorie Labeling in New York City Restaurants"

Success story
Jeanne Goldberg, Ph.D., Professor of Nutrition,
Tufts University School of Nutrition Science & Policy:
"Shape Up Somerville"

The agenda practically looks like a meeting of the Community Food Security Coalition! They also supply a ton of materials, which look like they provide an absolute wealth of information. (For example, check out this paper that ties soft drinks to health problems.) Bravo, Connecticut and Senator Dodd!

Meet Jeff Merkley, Senator-to-be

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Oct 21, 2008 at 19:06:46 PM PDT

He's almost too modest, like an Al Gore-type who sticks to doing the hard work and making progressive changes without wasting time tooting his own horn. It takes a little extra work as the interviewer to really understand how incredible this man is when he isn't laying it out there for you like a Republican would. Well, like his opponent, the incumbent Gordon Smith would. Except in Smith's case when he's telling you how great he is, he's lying.

Meet Your Leaders: Chris Dodd

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Sep 13, 2008 at 08:00:00 AM PDT

Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Chris is a 5th term Senator who won his last election with 66% of the vote. He was born in Willimantic, CT on May 27, 1944. He is Catholic, and he received his law degree from University of Louisville in 1972. He was in the army from 1969-1975. Before he was elected to the Senate, he was an attorney. He is married and his wife's name is Jackie Clegg.

Contact Information
DC Office: 202-224-2823 (phone); 202-224-1083 (fax)
District Office: 860-258-6940 (Wethersfield)

Chief of Staff: Lori McGrogan
Scheduler: Jennifer Goodman
Legislative Director: Jim Fenton
Press Secretary: Colleen Flanagan

Congresspedia Entry on Chris Dodd

Scott Kleeb: Our Newest Ally in the Senate?

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Aug 19, 2008 at 10:00:00 AM PDT

And he made references to his childhood: he grew up moving with his parents from one military base to another and spent time with his grandparents in Broken Bow, Nebraska. Then, in 1998, he started working summers on a ranch while getting his Ph.D., in American history. As part of his dissertation research, he spent a year living in his old pickup and driving around to state parks. Once, he was chased by a bear. The thesis topic? "The Atlantic West: Cowboys, Capitalists and the Making of an American Myth." "What's interesting is we tend to think about the cowboy as being this iconic American image, but in reality he resold his cattle globally, and he was part of the world economy," Kleeb said. He does something similar, raising organic Kobe beef, which he sells to restaurants in Los Angeles and Europe. "I spend my days doing paperwork," he said.

I guess we'll have to work on converting Kleeb over to the idea of local food?

Federal Obesity Prevention Act of 2008

by: OrangeClouds115

Sun Jul 27, 2008 at 12:46:11 PM PDT

The Federal Obesity Prevention Act of 2008 was developed to respond to the recommendations of public health experts and organizations, including the Institute of Medicine and Trust For America's Health, which have called for more coordinated, sustained federal leadership to address the obesity crisis.  The legislation establishes an interagency task force of department Secretaries or other high level officials to fill that need.  The task force will:

1. Establish a government-wide strategy for preventing and reducing overweight  and obesity that  includes defining clear roles, responsibilities, and accountability for all agencies of the Federal Government;

2. Coordinate effective interagency coordination and priorities for action among Federal agencies, including short-term and long-term goals for childhood and adult obesity rates; and

3. Implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy.

Members of the task force will include the Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, Transportation, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Interior, and Labor as well as the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.

Let's keep an eye on this and see if it goes anywhere. Then we'll have to see who gets appointed to the task force if it passes, to see if they will actually take the steps needed to curb our obesity epidemic.

Childhood Obesity Hearing - Senate HELP Committee - July 23, 2008

by: OrangeClouds115

Thu Jul 24, 2008 at 01:00:00 AM PDT

So how do we do this? The American Beverage Association's bullshit is thick and bold like in real life, my words are in regular font. Actually - you know what - I'm just going to delete the stuff that's not relevant and give you your bullshit straight up. Karateexplosions, I promise to give you royalties, so long as you accept mojo from my tip jar.

Follow Up From Yesterday's Senate Obesity Hearing

by: OrangeClouds115

Thu Jul 17, 2008 at 09:02:22 AM PDT

I applaud Dodd for the quality of the witnesses he called on to testify. Here is what they said during the hearing:

Jeffery Levi, the Executive Director for Trust for America's Health, said that approximately twenty three million children are obese or overweight in the U.S., and rates of obesity have nearly tripled since 1980. He explained that the U.S., as a nation, needs a cultural shift in which healthy environments, physical activity and healthy eating become the norm. Francine Kaufman, a past national president of the American Diabetes Association, said that obesity has reached epidemic proportion in the U.S. Kaufman also said that during the mid-1990s, type 2 diabetes in youth increased ten-fold and mirrored the childhood obesity epidemic. She explained that there is no doubt that obesity in youth, along with its associated medical conditions, is the major health challenge of this century, and more needs to be done to combat it.

Margaret Grey, dean and professor of the Yale School of Nursing, said that this obesity epidemic in youth threatens not only the future of children with chronic diseases and a decreased lifetime, but the epidemic is multi-faceted and will ultimately affect the workforce and thus the economy. Grey explained that obesity and diabetes have physical complications - cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, blindness, and amputations - as well as complications related to quality of life - depression and academic achievement. She also said that this generation of youth cannot survive if Congress continues to pay for the care of their heart attacks, but not for the intensive behavioral care that it will take to reverse the epidemic.

(Emphasis added by diarist)

The American Diabetes Association also posted a press release about the hearing here. You can view the entire hearing for yourself here.

Dodd Hearing on Childhood Obesity - Today

by: OrangeClouds115

Wed Jul 16, 2008 at 08:00:00 AM PDT

The good news: they will be hearing from someone from the Yale School of Nursing.

The less good news: They will be hearing from someone from the American Diabetes Association, a group that's been somewhat influenced by "Big Food"

At least they aren't letting Coca-Cola reps testify.

A representative's office I saw today at the Texas State Legislature

Meet Your Leaders: Tom Harkin

by: OrangeClouds115

Tue Jul 08, 2008 at 08:00:00 AM PDT

Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Tom is a 4th term Senator who won his last election with 54% of the vote. He was born in Cumming, IA, on November 19, 1939. He is Catholic and he received his law degree at Catholic University in 1972. He served in the Navy from 1962-1967 and in the reserves from 1968-1970. Before he was elected to the Senate, he was an attorney. He is married and his wife's name is Ruth.

In 2007, his committee (and the full Senate) passed a much more progressive Farm Bill than the House did. He is supportive of conservation programs and, under his leadership, the Senate passed the very first livestock title in the Farm Bill with provisions to make the market less unfair to small producers.

Contact Information
DC Office: 202-224-3254 (phone); 202-224-9369 (fax)
District Offices: 515-284-4574 (Des Moines); 319-365-4504 (Cedar Rapids); 563-322-1338 (Davenport); 563-582-2130 (Dubuque); 712-252-1550 (Sioux City)

Chief of Staff: Brian Ahlberg
Scheduler: Amy Beller
Legislative Director: Pam Smith
Communications Director: Jennifer Mullin

Congresspedia Entry on Tom Harkin