New Leaf New York: From Pharma to Farm

How?  You can sign on to this letter, for starters.  And do it quick, ’cause bloggers, journos and pundits seem to think Obama is gonna announce this puppy any day now.

Food Democracy Now, a grassroots movement of farmers, writers, chefs, and other food-and-community types who advocate a sustainable food system, drafted the letter to President-Elect Obama urging him to appoint a Secretary of Agriculture who is well versed in sustainability and will have a “broad vision for our collective future” in a way that past appointees have not.

Food Democracy Now incorporates energy, environment, public health, and the economy into the reasoning behind supporting an appointee who believes the following are of utmost importance:

recreating regional food systems, supporting the growth of humane, natural and organic farms, and protecting the environment, biodiversity and the health of our children while implementing policies that place conservation, soil health, animal welfare and worker’s rights as well as sustainable renewable energy near the top of their agenda.

So delightfully ambitious, and what a refreshing (and at times so unbelievable, I’m still pinching myself) change from the food and farm policies of the 20th century!  I think this is an amazing time for America — we’re perched cautiously, teetering on the edge of total ruin, but we really have a chance to start turning things around.  And I think that appointing one of the following, as proposed in their letter, is an integral step:

• Gus Schumacher, former Undersecretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture; former Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture
• Chuck Hassebrook, Executive Director, Center for Rural Affairs
• Sarah Vogel, former two-term Commissioner of Agriculture for the State of North Dakota; attorney
• Fred Kirschenmann, organic farmer; Distinguished Fellow, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University; President, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture
• Mark Ritchie, current Minnesota Secretary of State; former policy analyst in Minnesota’s Department of Agriculture under Governor Rudy Perpich; co-founder of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
• Neil Hamilton, attorney; Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law and Professor of Law and Director, Agricultural Law Center, Drake University

I’ll admit I’m not yet knowledgeable enough to make the case for the best pick, but frankly, I know that I would be beyond excited to have any of these accomplished, intelligent people in the top spot.  It’s quite telling that the Obama transition team has already begun working diligently on briefing documents for the appointee.  We have a lot of work ahead of us, especially if we want to make the next Farm Bill into a true Food Bill, as Michael Pollan has suggested.

Image courtesy On Bradstreet