The new Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, was interviewed by NPR's Morning Edition. Shortly after his nomination by Obama Michael Pollan appeared on the same show and suggested that this appointment was good for corn but bad for real food and eaters. Well, the former governor of Illinois is already making a move for corn. But he has also staked out a clearer need to promote real food, especially for kids: “We ought to be about encouraging our kids to be just terrific consumers of food. They ought to want different colored fruits and vegetables on their plate, they ought to demand it, they ought to be encouraged to do that.”
Here at SEBS (formerly known as the College of Agriculture and Environment) his goals may seem particularly fitting. In a recent speech at the Agricultural Outlook Forum 2009, he said that one of the three goals that Obama wants from the USDA is to "make sure that we worked hard at doing the research necessary to allow, over time, agriculture to transition away from its rather significant dependence today on fossil fuels." Interesting times in Washington.
It is worth pointing out that NJ has new Secretary of Agriculture as well, Doug Fisher.
(h/t Bob Goodman)
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