Hello, Iowans… I post over at La Vida Locavore and Desmoinesdem asked me to cross-post this diary so you guys could keep tabs on your ex-gov. Can’t say I blame you… gotta keep those politicians out of trouble 🙂
Crazy! Tom Vilsack made headlines for saying the USDA should serve eaters! What, is he reading Michael Pollan now? Well, let’s hope so.
“This is a department that intersects the lives of Americans two to three times a day. Every single American,” he said. “So I absolutely see the constituency of this department as broader than those who produce our food — it extends to those who consume it.”
Michael Pollan nailed it in his response when he said, “He’s definitely sounding a different note than his predecessors. Whether they’ll be reflected in policies remains to be seen.”
In addition to this diary, you can also check out my other one Tom Vilsack’s first week on the job – it’s a bit meatier
Here are the other things our SecAg has done in the past week:
- Vilsack came out in favor of a single food safety agency – this is a break from what he said even a few weeks ago.
- He also spoke about raising the amount of ethanol in our gasoline but would not give specific numbers
- This week Vilsack will speak at the USA Rice Conference. Oooh, I hope there’s a transcript of that available afterwards.
Lately it seems like there is more commentary about Vilsack than actual news about him. Take, for example, Tom Laskawy’s post on Grist. Laskawy is hopeful about Vilsack’s early moves that show he’s serious about nutrition – but hopes he will take the truly big steps that are necessary in the future. Then there’s Tom Philpott’s post, also at Grist, hoping there is “more to Vilsack than meets the eye.”
Then there’s another flavor of Tom Laskway at Beyond Green, in which he speculates that Vilsack will use the forest service as a major component of fighting the climate crisis. In the same piece, he quotes Vilsack as hoping to save mid-sized farms with more conservation money. Amen to that! Now if only Congress would give Vilsack the money to actually do that.
All of this commentary sounds hopeful, as does the AgWeb commentary calling Vilsack an “activist” (in a good way, I think). Oh, and the Des Moines Register has some advice for Vilsack: “Don’t tinker; transform.” (H/t Ethicurean)