Tom Vilsack Doesn't Get It

With a groundswell of interest in sustainable agriculture, particularly as a viable alternative for small farmers otherwise being squeezed out by factory farms, wouldn't you think that Obama's Secretary of Agriculture would, at the very least, give it lip service?

No such luck in an op-ed Secretary Tom Vilsack published in yesterday's Des Moines Register.

I must admit, I got my hopes up when I read this:

In searching for answers about how rural America can transform itself into a place of unprecedented prosperity, all of us should resist the easy temptation of looking back to the "good old days." The answers lie in the future, not in the past.

Yet, Vilsack goes on to support some approaches that defy logic, including expanding exports, when quantity is not remotely the problem, and promoting biofuels, which have already been proven to be a boondoggle for consumers, small farmers and forests — in short, everyone but agribusiness giants.

(I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise, since Vilsack has a reputation for being cozy with Big Ag, and also supports genetic engineering.)

Vilsack also emphasizes expanding ecosystem markets, which are basically cap-and-trade of unpolluted water and land.

The only good news is a plug for "investments in local processing and storage facilities," but even then Vilsack thinks big; he says such facilities would "allow for large scale consumers (e.g. schools, hospitals, small colleges) in rural communities to buy locally produced goods." What about average Joes?

It appears we have a long way to go before government leaders understand the scope of industrial agriculture's fail, even as they address the farmers who know all about it.

Photo credit: USDA via Wikimedia Commons