USDA Policy Outlook

It'll be a while before everyone knows what to make of the new administration's management of the USDA. Tom Vilsack, our new Secretary of Agriculture, would like the sustainable food community to suspend judgement in a recent interview with Jane Black of the Washington Post:

Some in the sustainable-food community have worried that you are too closely identified with ethanol and agribusiness. Is that fair?

First, I would ask for the opportunity for people to get to know me and judge me by the actions I take in this office. I'm not sure the full nature of the record was understood. ...

He could have been more specific on certain things in the interview, but he did break ground for a People's Garden at USDA headquarters on Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday, emphasis mine:

... "It is essential for the federal government to lead the way in enhancing and conserving our land and water resources," said Vilsack. "President Obama has expressed his commitment to responsible stewardship of our land, water and other natural resources, and one way of restoring the land to its natural condition is what we are doing here today - "breaking pavement" for The People's Garden."

The dedication comes on the 200th anniversary of the birth of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln founded the Department of Agriculture in 1862 and referred to it as "The People's Department" in his last annual message to Congress.

The commemoration of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial is only the first step in the Department of Agriculture's celebration of President Lincoln's life. During today's ceremony, Secretary Vilsack announced the goal of creating a community garden at each USDA facility worldwide. The USDA community garden project will include a wide variety of garden activities including Embassy window boxes, tree planting, and field office plots. The gardens will be designed to promote "going green" concepts, including landscaping and building design to retain water and reduce runoff; roof gardens for energy efficiency; utilizing native plantings and using sound conservation practices. ...

That's a good start at walking the walk.

Vilsack should also benefit from the political capital the administration likely has to reform our gutted food safety oversight system. If the administration chooses to spend that capital in following his idea of merging the USDA and FDA to simplify food inspection, they should be able to get it done.

Vilsack will also be managing the food aid that's made it into the stimulus, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition had this to say about it:

... In a major victory, the final bill includes an additional $500 million for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) feeding program, including $400 million in benefits and $100 million for state administrative costs. While not the full amount we have been seeking, the inclusion of the much higher amount from the Senate bill plus an additional $20 million in actual WIC benefits is nonetheless quite significant. This supplemental funding will bring the program closer to full funding for 2009, and limit the damage that could be done to farm bill conservation, energy, specialty crop and research programs when Congress takes up the omnibus appropriations bill for 2009 when they return to DC after next week’s recess.

Each dollar of WIC funding in the stimulus bill is one less dollar that needs to be found from other sources in the omnibus appropriations bill in order to make WIC whole for 2009. ...

After the stimulus package is passed, Congress seems set to return to balanced budget operating rules, only suspended in general for Iraq war supplemental spending. That means from here on out, programs will be facing off against each other as the Keynesian interest in stimulating sagging demand and boosting job growth gets pushed into the background.

With all that, and reading the whole of the interview, I think Vilsack will turn out to be someone we can work with to get local, healthy food to more people who need it most. That's something.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I'll allow some cautious optimism.

(Photo credit: laura padgett on Flickr.)