Chrys Ostrander
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- Name: Chrys Ostrander
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Here are Some USDA Options
No Shortage of knowledge, vision and experience:
I am encouraged by and I support President-Elect Obama's proposed
rural and agricultural policies. The people Mr. Obama chooses to
hold key policy-making positions to carry forth his progressive
vision for rural America (as well as the rapidly developing realm of
urban agriculture) will be key in the success of the Obama
administration in this regard.I urge you to suggest to Mr. Obama that he consider the following
individuals for US Secretary of Agriculture, or, where appropriate
to a candidate's vitae, the following subordinate positions: Under
Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services; Under Secretary
for Food Safety; Under Secretary for Research, Education and
Economics; Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs;
Under Secretary & Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and
Environment; Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural
Service; Chief, Natural Resource Conservation Service.YOUR SUPPORT CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
You can find your Congressional Delegation at:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.ttSend your picks to the Obama Transition Team at:
http://change.gov/page/s/ofthepeopleSee:
http://thefutureisorganic.net/tfio-blog/?p=1Kathleen A. Merrigan
Kathleen Merrigan is Assistant Professor, Friedman School of
Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and former head of
the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service. She is Director of the
Agriculture, Food and Environment Program and the Center for
Agriculture, Food and Environment at Tufts. She served twice as
Expert Consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, five years as Senior Analyst for the Henry A.
Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture and five years as
Senior science and technology adviser to Senator Patrick Leahy,
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and
Forestry. She holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Environmental
Planning and Policy.James Alan Riddle
Jim Riddle [February 16, 1956] has worked his entire adult life in public service, dedicated to environmental protection and economic opportunity through the advancement of organic agriculture. Over the past 28 years, he has been an organic farmer, gardener, inspector, educator, policy analyst, author, activist, and avid organic eater. He and his wife, Joyce, live off the grid, producing all of their power from the sun, wind, and woods, living in an owner-built, energy efficient earth-sheltered home. They raise a huge garden and put up much of their own food. Jim was founding chair of the International Organic Inspectors Association, (IOIA), and co-author of the IFOAM/IOIA International Organic Inspection Manual, which has been translated into 5 languages and is used as the definitive text for the training of organic inspectors worldwide. Since 1991, he has trained hundreds of organic inspectors throughout the world. He developed standardized organic certification and inspection forms, which are used by numerous USDA-accredited certification agencies.Jim Riddle served on the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Organic Advisory Task Force since 1991, and was instrumental in passage of Minnesota's landmark organic certification cost-share program, which is now included in the 2008 Farm Bill. He served 4 years as an elected Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor, and was a delegate for Jesse Jackson to the 1988 Democratic National Convention. He has been a member of the National Farmers Union since 1986. In 1987, he was founding president of the Winona Farmers Market Association, and continues his work on local food systems as founding chair and member of the Winona County Economic Development Authority.
Since January 2006, Jim Riddle has worked as the University of Minnesota's Organic Outreach Coordinator. He chairs the Leadership Team for eOrganic, a national multi-university Extension Service initiative developing electronic resources for organic farmers, researchers, and Extension Agents. He is a frequent speaker at agricultural conferences, and works closely with numerous State Departments of Agriculture, conducting training courses and providing resources for State employees. He is former chair of the USDA's National Organic Standards Board, and is a leading voice for organic agriculture and local food systems.
Fred Kirschenmann
A longtime leader in national and international sustainable
agriculture, Kirschenmann holds a doctorate in philosophy from the
University of Chicago, and has written extensively about ethics and
agriculture. He has served on several national and international
boards, including the USDA's National organic Standards Board. He is
a distinguished fellow of the Leopold Center for Sustainable
Agriculture at Iowa State University. Kirschenmann is from south
central North Dakota where he manages his family's 3,000 acre
certified organic farm. He assumed management of the family farm in
1976 when his father became ill. By 1980k the farm was certified
organic, one of the early operations to make the transition. The
farm is a natural prairie livestock grazing system that combines a
none-crop rotation of cereal grains, forages, and green manure.
Kirschenmann Family Farms has been featured in national publications
including National Geographic, the Smithsonian, Audubon, Business
Week, the LA Times and Gourmet magazine. In 1995, Kirschenmann was
profiled in an award winning video, "My Father's Garden," by Miranda
Productions, Inc.Mark Ritchie
Mark Ritchie serves as Minnesota's Secretary of State, the state's
chief elections officer. Mark previously worked in the
administration of Minnesota's Governor Rudy Perpich in the
Department of Agriculture, responsible for addressing the economic
crisis facing family farmer and rural communities. Mark served for
twenty years as the president of the Institute for Agriculture and
Trade Policy (IATP), a Minnesota-based public research center
working with businesses, churches, farm organizations, and other
civic groups to foster long-term economic and environmental
sustainability in Greater Minnesota. In 2003 Mark led National
Voice, a national coalition of over two thousand community-based
organizations from across the country working together to increase
non-partisan civic engagement and voter participation. National
Voice, through their "November 2″ media campaign, registered over 5
million new voters nationwide, making the effort one of the largest
non-partisan voter mobilizations in our nation's history. Over four
hundred Minnesota churches, businesses, unions, schools, and
community groups participated in the campaign.Gus Schumacher
Gus Schumacher, Jr. is the former Under Secretary, for Farm and
Foreign Agricultural Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Gus was responsible for the domestic commodities, insurance and farm
credit operations of USDA. In addition, he was in charge of USDA's
international trade and development programs. Prior to his
appointment in August 1997, he was the Administrator of the Foreign
Agricultural Service for 3 years. Before coming to USDA, Mr.
Schumacher served as the Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture
and at the World Bank. From a farm family in Lexington,
Massachusetts, Mr. Schumacher attended Harvard College and the
London School of Economics and was a Research Associate in
Agribusiness at the Harvard Business School.John Ikerd
Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri
Columbia, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. John
was raised on a small dairy farm in southwest Missouri and received
his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics from the
University of Missouri . He worked in private industry for a time
and spent thirty years in various professorial positions at North
Carolina State University, Oklahoma State University, University of
Georgia. John returned to the University of Missouri 1989, under a
cooperative agreement with U.S.D.A, to provide state and national
leadership for research and education programs related to
sustainable agriculture, retiring in early 2000. Since retiring, he
spends most of his time writing and speaking on issues relate to the
sustainability of agriculture. Author of the following books:
Sustainable Capitalism: A Matter of Common Sense - Small Farms are
Real Farms: Sustaining People Through Agriculture - Return to Common
Sense - Crisis and Opportunity: Sustainability in American
Agriculture.Michael Ableman
Michael Ableman is the founder and executive director emeritus of
the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, a non profit
organization based on one of the oldest and most diverse organic
farms in southern California, where he farmed from 1981 to 2001. At
its peak the farm served as an important community and education
center and a national model for small scale and urban agriculture,
hosting as many as 5000 people per year for tours, classes,festivals, and apprenticeships. Under Ableman's leadership the farm
was saved from development and preserved under one of the earliest
and most unique active agricultural conservation easements of its
type in the country. He has lectured extensively throughout the U.S.
and in Europe. His work has been covered in National Geographic, on
National Public Radio's All Things Considered, in the Utne Reader,
Gourmet Magazine, and the L.A. Times. An award-winning film about
Ableman's work, Beyond Organic, narrated by Meryl Streep aired
nationally on PBS in 2001. Ableman has received numerous awards
including the 2001 "Sustie" Award for his work in sustainable
agriculture, Eating Well magazine's 1995 Food Hero Award, and the
1997 Environmental Leadership Award from the governor of the state
of California.John Wesley Boyd, Jr.
John Wesley Boyd, Jr. (born September 4, 1965) is a Virginia farmer and civil rights activist. He owns and operates a 300 acre farm where he grows soybean, corn and wheat and currently raises a hundred head of beef cattle. For fourteen years Boyd was a chicken farmer in a Perdue Farms breeder program. He was a tobacco farmer for many years.[1] Boyd, a fourth-generation farmer, is president of the National black farmers association (NBFA) a non-profit organization based in Virginia that he founded in 1995.[2] In 2000, Boyd was the Democratic nominee for election to Virginia's 5th Congressional District running against Independent incumbent Virgil Goode. Goode later became a Republican.In his role with the National Black Farmers Association, Boyd has worked closely with national leaders in government, agriculture organizations and rural groups nationwide. Boyd was appointed by then-Virginia Governor-elect Tim Kaine to serve as co-chair of his Policy Committee on Agriculture and Forestry during the transition period. In 2000, Boyd was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on his administration's tobacco commission. Prior to that, he was appointed by then-Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore to serve on the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission.[3] His term lasted from July 1, 1999 until June 30, 2001.
Jon Tester
Jon Tester (born August 21, 1956) is an organic farmer and junior U.S. Senator from the state of Montana, and a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to his election in 2006, he served as President of the Montana State Senate.Tester was born in Havre, Montana to Helen M. Pearson and David O. Tester. He grew up in Chouteau County, near the town of Big Sandy, Montana, on the same family land that his grandfather homesteaded in 1916. The small town is also the birthplace of Jeff Ament of rock band Pearl Jam, who played a concert in Missoula in support of Tester's U.S. Senate bid.
Tester grew up helping his family on their conventional farm, as well as helping run their butcher shop. Beginning in the late 1980s, Tester moved toward the more profitable organic farming; his family now grows organic wheat, barley, lentils, peas, millet, buckwheat, alfalfa and hay.
As a child, Tester lost the middle, index, and ring finger on his left hand in an accident while working with a meat grinder.
Tester has a Bachelor of Science degree in music from the University of Great Falls. He was subsequently a music teacher in the Big Sandy School District for a brief time, before returning to farming.
Tester served five years as chairman of the Big Sandy School Board of Trustees and served on the Big Sandy Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Committee and the Chouteau County Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) Committee.
Tester was first elected to the Montana State Senate in 1998. He was elected the minority whip for the 2001 session. After being re-elected in 2002, he became minority leader for the 2003 session. In 2005, Tester was elected President of the Montana Senate, the chief presiding officer of the Montana Legislature's upper chamber.
His election as President marked a significant transition for Montana Democrats as they moved into the majority leadership of the Senate for the first time in more than a decade. Term limits would have prohibited Tester from running for state Senate for a third time. While serving as Senate President, Tester increased funding for public education and cut taxes for small business owners and the working poor. He also worked to make health insurance more affordable and require public utilities to use more renewable energy.
Tim LaSalle
Tim LaSalle is CEO of Rodale Institute, a 60-year-old organization
dedicated to researching and educating farmers and consumers about
sustainable agriculture. He holds his doctorate in depth psychology
at Pacifica Graduate Institute, a master's in populations genetics
from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and a
bachelor of science degree from California Polytechnic State
University. For 12 years, he was a full professor at Cal Poly, where
he taught dairy science classes and served as the president and CEO
of California's Agriculture Education Foundation. While at Cal Poly,
LaSalle started and operated a conventional dairy near Templeton,
California. More recently, LaSalle served in an executive capacity
with various nonprofit organizations, including the Environmental
Center of San Luis Obispo County and the Allan Savory Center for
Holistic Management.Tom Buis
Tom Buis became National Farmers Union's 13th president during the
organization's 104th anniversary convention in 2006. Buis has been
with the organization since March 1998, previously serving as vice
president of government relations. In this capacity, he oversaw the
NFU Washington, D.C., government relations office, which advocates
the interests of family farmers in Congress and the administration.
Prior to joining NFU, Buis served for nearly five years as senior
agriculture policy advisor to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
In addition, Buis worked for U.S. Rep. Jim Jontz, D-Ind., for nearly
five years as legislative assistant and legislative director. He was
also special assistant for agriculture to U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, D-Ind.
Before moving to Washington, D.C. in 1987, Buis was a full-time
grain and livestock farmer in Putnam and Morgan Counties in West
Central Indiana, with brothers Mike and Jeff, who continue to
operate the family farm. Additionally, Buis serves as a member of
the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP)
executive committee. The international organization represents more
than 600 million farm families.Katy Coba, Oregon's Director of Agriculture
Katy Coba becomes the 13th ODA director after being appointed by
Governor Kulongoski in January. She is no stranger to agriculture or
the department. Katy grew up on a Umatilla County wheat ranch and
spent nearly six years at ODA from 1989-1994. She was a special
assistant to the director and headed up ODA's marketing efforts
before joining Governor Kitzhaber's staff, where she was a policy
advisor on international trade. Immediately prior to rejoining ODA,
she served as interim director of the Oregon Economic and Community
Development Department. The following are excerpts of an interview
with Coba conducted by ODA Director of Communications Bruce Pokarney.Denise O'Brien
Denise has been an organic farmer and farm activist for over 30
years. She and her husband ran a dairy farm for 20 of those 30
years. During this time Denise became interested in agriculture
policy that promotes the family farm. She has helped start severalprogressive programs to fight corporate influence in farming. In the
1990's she lunched the Women, Food and Agriculture Network -- an
organization that supports women in farming. She almost won election
as Iowa's ag sec a few years ago.Will Allen of Growing Power, 2008 MacArthur Fellow
Will Allen is an urban farmer who is transforming the cultivation,
production, and delivery of healthy foods to underserved, urban
populations. In 1995, while assisting neighborhood children with a
gardening project, Allen began developing the farming methods and
educational programs that are now the hallmark of the non-profit
organization Growing Power, which he directs and co-founded. Guiding
all is his efforts is the recognition that the unhealthy diets of
low-income, urban populations, and such related health problems as
obesity and diabetes, largely are attributable to limited access to
safe and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. Will Allen received
a B.A. (1971) from the University of Miami. After a brief career in
professional basketball and a number of years in corporate marketing
at Procter and Gamble, he returned to his roots as a farmer. He has
served as the founder and CEO of Growing Power, in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, since 1995 and has taught workshops to aspiring urban
farmers across the United States and abroad.Roger Johnson North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner
Roger Johnson, a third-generation family farmer from Turtle Lake,
ND, was elected North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner in 1996 and
re-elected in 2000 and 2004. Roger is currently the President Elect
of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA).
He played a leading role in the development of policies for the 2002
Farm Bill as chairman of the NASDA Rural Development and Financial
Security Committee. In this position, he will again be very involved
in drafting policy for the 2007 Farm Bill. In September 2005, Roger
was elected chairman of the Insterstate Pest Control Compact, a
36-state alliance committed to controlling plant pests, especially
in interstate situations. Among the issues of great importance to
Roger are economic growth and entrepreneurship in rural areas,
development of value-added agricultural industries, animal
agriculture and renewable energy resources. He believes that North
Dakota must develop new agricultural technologies, businesses, and
industries that will fuel further growth in the rural sector,
thereby ensuring that agriculture remains the backbone of the
state's economy.Kathleen Sebelius Kansas Gov.
Kathleen Sebelius née Gilligan (born May 15, 1948) is currently
serving as the 44th Governor of Kansas. She is the second female
governor of Kansas, the 2008 respondent to the State of the Union
address, and chair-emerita of the Democratic Governors Association.
Sebelius was born Kathleen Gilligan and raised in a Roman Catholic
family in Cincinnati, Ohio. She attended the Summit Country Day
School in Cincinnati, followed by Trinity Washington University in
Washington, D.C., and later earned a Master of Public Administration
degree from the University of Kansas. She moved to Kansas in 1974,
where she served for eight years as a representative in the Kansas
Legislature and eight years as Insurance Commissioner before being
elected governor. In 2001 Sebelius was named as one of Governing
Magazine's Public Officials of the Year while she was serving as
Kansas Insurance Commissioner. In November 2005, Time named Sebelius
as one of the five best governors in America.Stephanie Herseth Sandlin Rep. (D-S.D.)
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (born December 3, 1970) is an American
lawyer and Democratic politician, currently serving as the sole
member of the House of Representatives from South Dakota. She is the
youngest woman member of the House, and the first woman elected to
the House of Representatives from South Dakota. She won the at-large
seat in a special election on June 1, 2004. Prior to her 2007
marriage, she was known as Stephanie Herseth. Herseth Sandlin was
raised on her family's farm near Houghton (between Hecla and
Columbia) in a family active in South Dakota politics. Herseth
Sandlin received her undergraduate, graduate and law degrees from
Georgetown University, the latter in 1997. Prior to her election to
the House, Herseth Sandlin was Executive Director of the South
Dakota Farmer's Union Foundation, was in private practice as an
attorney, taught at the Georgetown University Law Center, and
clerked in the federal court system. Herseth Sandlin serves on four
committees in the 110th Congress - the House Committee on Veterans
Affairs, the House Committee on Agriculture, the House Committee on
Natural Resources, and the Select Committee on Global Warming and
Energy Independence. She is Chairwoman of the House Committee on
Veterans Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee. She also serves
on the Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research; and General Farm
Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittees on the Agriculture
Committee, as well as the Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee of
the Natural Resources Committee.Rod Nilsestuen Wisconsin Agriculture Secretary
Rod Nilsestuen, 54, served as President and CEO of the Wisconsin
Federation of Cooperatives (WFC) for 24 years, building it into one
of the most respected cooperative trade associations in the country.
For the last four years, he has also headed the Minnesota
Association of Cooperatives, which has worked in an alliance with
WFC. He founded Cooperative Development Services, a first-of-its
kind model for new cooperative development, spearheaded the overhaul
of the Wisconsin Agriculture Marketing Act, and played a pivotal
role in the creation and establishment of the Wisconsin Milk
Marketing Board, a major dairy promotional program, as well as the
Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board and the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing
Board. Nilsestuen provided the initial leadership in the development
of Wisconsin Dairy 2020, the state's program to bring together a
cross-section of the dairy industry to better its economic and
political environment. For the past decade, under Rod's direction,
WFC coordinated and staffed the Midwest Dairy Coalition, an
industry-wide coalition dedicated to reforming federal dairy policy
to give Wisconsin and Midwestern dairy producers a more level
playing field. He is a founding chair of the National Rural
Cooperative Development Task Force, a pioneering effort that has
resulted in the creation of 17 co-op centers and hundreds of co-op
development projects nationwide. He is a past chair and board member
of the National Cooperative Business Association and the Cooperative
Foundation, and has also served on the Wisconsin Rural Leadership
Program, the Governor's Commission on Agriculture, and as initial
chair of the Coalition for Agricultural Research, Extension and
Teaching and the UW Board of Visitors. He is a 1970 graduate of
UW-River Falls and received a law degree from the University of
Wisconsin Law School in 1974. Nilsestuen and his wife Carol live in
DeForest and have three sons.Kenneth Lee Salazar
Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American politician,
rancher, and environmentalist from the U.S. state of Colorado.
Salazar, a Democrat, served as state Attorney General before winning
a U.S. Senate seat in the 2004 Senate elections. He has been the
junior U.S. Senator from Colorado since January 2005. He and Mel
Martinez (R-Florida) were the first Hispanic U.S. Senators since
- They were joined by Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) in January
- He will become Colorado Senior Senator in January 2009, as his
a third term. Serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources.Jill Long Thompson
Jill Lynette Long Thompson (July 15, 1952) is an American politician
and educator. Born in Warsaw, Indiana, she was raised on a family
farm outside of Larwill, Indiana, in Whitley County. She was the
Democratic Party candidate in the Indiana gubernatorial election,
2008 and was the first woman in Indiana history to be nominated for
governor by a major party. She lives with her husband Don Thompson,
a commercial airline pilot, in Marshall County on a farm near Argos,
Ind, where they planted 2,000 trees in two days as a symbol of their
love. Long graduated from Columbia City Joint High School, in
Columbia City, Indiana. Jill Long Thompson was the first in her
family to graduate from college. She earned an M.B.A. (1978) and
Ph.D (1984) in Business from Indiana University, and a B.S. in
Business from Valparaiso University (1974). Long served as a fellow
at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy
School of Government. She most recently served as CEO and Senior
Fellow at the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy.On Vilsack out; Peterson and Herseth Sandlin square off posted 1 year ago 11 Responses- They were joined by Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) in January