Gov. Tom Vilsack appointed agriculture secretary

December 17, 12:58 PMFood ExaminerEric Burkett

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Gov. Tom Vilsack has been appointed as
Secretary of Agriculture.

Well, this was some interesting news to wake up to. President-elect Barack Obama has appointed former Iowa Gov.  Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture.
 
Vilsack’s appointment will be met with skepticism by many who watch these things, and it’s not without reason. Almost from the very moment his name came up as a possible nominee, environmental groups began pushing for other candidates. The biggest issue was Vilsack’s connections with the biofuels industry and the corn lobby. The former two-term governor and presidential candidate has made no bones about his support for biofuels, arguing their importance as the United States tries to wean itself off foreign oil.

Many agriculture interests will be very pleased with this appointment: they see Vilsack as one of their own. When it comes time to write the new farm bill, for example, they want someone who understands the needs of agriculture to be in the nation’s top ag office, and Vilsack – a popular governor of a major farm state – has the qualifications. But those ties to industrial agriculture are worrisome.

This morning, the New York Times reported that among Obama and Vilsack’s first major decisions will be whether to grant subsidies worth billions of dollars to the ethanol industry as part of the proposed economic stimulus bill.

That means billions of dollars in subsidies going to companies like Archer Midland Daniels Corp., which last June posted revenues of nearly $70 billion with profits of nearly $1billion and has a record of price fixing (for which three of its top execs were imprisoned), gross violations of clean air standards, and – most appalling – is allegedly involved in serious labor violations including human trafficking in Africa. They’re also among the lowest rated companies – along with shining stars like Cracker Barrel – for the rights of gays and lesbians in the workplace.

More encouraging are his statements to Grist magazine made early last year when he was running for president. Vilsack told interviewer Amanda Griscom Little he wasn’t afraid of drastic cuts to CO? emissions because it was necessary to make the US economy competitive, and that he hoped “we transform from the traditional farm policy to a food-and-farm policy that encourages greater diversity in agriculture, including incentives for food production and enhanced conservation practices.  I also think we ought to be looking at changing the way we subsidize agriculture generally, from a commodity-based process to a conservation-based process, which would benefit organic farms as well.  I believe this type of transition in farm policy is key to developing opportunities in rural communities.”

Let’s hope he remembers that.