Science Front and Center at USDA

by Katherine Gustafson · 2009-11-02 06:00:00 UTC
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Change is in the air at the USDA; the agency has taken it upon itself, in the words of President Obama, "to restore science to its rightful place" with the creation of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), according to a USDA press release.

The new Institute, a product of the 2008 farm bill, replaces the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), and is intended, in the words of Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, to "be the Department's extramural research enterprise."

While science should indeed be incorporated back into the fold in all aspects of life, its application to agriculture is a particularly hot-button tonic, as I discussed on Friday. For those concerned with the advancement of the use of genetically modified organisms, the formation of this new Institute should hold kernels of concern.

Vilsack revealed the agenda plainly:

We can build on recent scientific discoveries - incredible advances in sequencing plant and animal genomes, for example. We have new and powerful tools -- biotechnology, nanotechnology, and large-scale computer simulations -- applicable to all types of agriculture.

Vilsack also mentioned, somewhat ominously, that Under Secretary of Research, Education, and Economics Raj Shah, who I previously pointed out was the architect of the Gates Foundation's new GMO-friendly agriculture policy, "has begun an in-depth and systematic analysis of our research programs, their goals, and their outcomes."

Another concerning tidbit is the incorporation of the USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program under NIFA. While all bureaucratic entities need somewhere to call home, and it is logical that SARE move to NIFA with the rest of the remnants of CSREES, it strikes a strange chord to house a sustainable agriculture program inside an institute focused on applying advanced science to farming practices.

Scientific advancements may well be a piece of the sustainable-ag puzzle, but co-opting SARE under what Vilsack referred to as "a research 'start-up' company" that will focus on "rebuilding our competitive grants program from the ground up to generate real results for the American people," makes one wonder whether all our farmers' age-old but hard-won wisdom about sustainability via organic polyculture methods and holistic land management will be given the credence it deserves.

Photo courtesy of kaibara87 via flickr

Katherine Gustafson is a freelance writer and editor with a background in international nonprofit organizations.
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