Numerous media outlets are reporting that Tom Vilsack will be Joe Biden’s nominee for agriculture secretary.
MITCH JONES, via Seth Gladstone – sgladstone@fwwatch.org, @foodandwater
Jones is policy director of Food & Water Watch, which recently put out the statement “Tom Vilsack, a Friend of Big Ag, is the Wrong Choice for USDA.” Jones said: “Vilsack has made a career of catering to the whims of corporate agriculture giants — some of whom he has gone to work for — while failing to fight for struggling family farmers at every turn. America needs an agriculture secretary that will finally prioritize sustainable family farming and national food security over corporate profits. Tom Vilsack has proven he will not be the agriculture leader we need.”
Background: Earlier this year, Branko Marcetic wrote in In These Times that while “Vilsack resisted Republican attacks on food stamps and upped federal support for organic food – he angered progressive groups by letting poultry factories self-regulate, speeding up the approval process for GMO crops, shelving new regulations on big agriculture at the industry’s behest, and stepping in to craft an industry-friendly national GMO-labelling bill intended to replace a pioneering stricter standard in Vermont. The move helped earn him the derisive moniker ‘Mr. Monsanto’…
“Days after stepping down as agriculture secretary [in the Obama administration], Vilsack spun through the revolving door to the U.S. Dairy Export Council, where he now earns nearly $1 million as the top executive at its parent organization, Dairy Management Inc. The powerful Council boasts a who’s who of big agriculture and even pharmaceuticals as members, and last year, Vilsack urged Democratic candidates not to criticize or target agricultural monopolies, citing the potential of job losses. Vilsack was also a major booster of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.”
Also, see recent Politico report for summary of objections to Vilsack from civil rights groups.