The Obama transition team is taking its time mulling candidates to head up USDA. That's a good thing, considering the generally dismal names that dominate the circulating short-lists.
Meanwhile, the temperature is rising around Obama to pick a real reformer, not a business-as-usual politician or outright industry flack. The latest: New York Times op-ed pundit Nicholas Kristof has opined that Obama should rename the USDA the "department of food." Get this:
Renaming the department would signal that Mr. Obama seeks to move away from a bankrupt structure of factory farming that squanders energy, exacerbates climate change and makes Americans unhealthy -- all while costing taxpayers billions of dollars.
Snap! Turns out Kristof has been talking food policy with Michael Pollan. And Kristof glowingly mentioned a petition that's been circulating urging Obama to choose a real reformer. (I wrote about it here.)
Online petitions never work -- except, possibly, when A-list pundits promote them in high-profile forums.
Obama administration officials grateful for early spring
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Delay And Deny Posted 9:09 am
11 Dec 2008
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/12/4/145754/222/#co ...
Texeme.Construct.Questioner
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Ruralite Posted 9:38 am
11 Dec 2008
An online petition that can be found at http://www.fooddemocracynow.org calls for a reformist pick for agriculture secretary -- and names six terrific candidates, such as Chuck Hassebrook, a reformer in Nebraska.
I am a long time fan of Hassebrook and the Center for Rural Affairs. If you are looking for a group of people who understand the true structure of what is wrong with our food and farm system, you won't find a more knowledgeable group.
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