This bill, introduced by Chellie Pingree, is dead this session, but bills that fail aren't necessarily gone. They can be reintroduced, sometimes modified in ways that make them more passable. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition considers the bill one of the good things that happened in agriculture in 2020, so it's something I'd like to … Continue reading Agriculture Resilience Act
Author: Cindy Cotter
Urban-Rural Divide
Bill Hogseth Worth a read: Why Democrats Keep Losing Rural Counties Like Mine, by Bill Hogseth, chair of the Dunn County Democratic Party in Wisconsin, in Politico, 12/01/2020. He details how consolidation in the food industry -- that is, big companies buying out smaller ones and then moving on to consume each other -- is … Continue reading Urban-Rural Divide
Big Ag and Antitrust, a Conference
Yale law school is offering a free online conference on January 16, 2021, “Big Ag & Antitrust: Competition Policy for a Sustainable and Humane Food System,” 6 am (ouch!) to 2 pm. I'm signed up! Six am is early, but it's better than the event I attended that was set in Europe. Bill Bullard, the CEO … Continue reading Big Ag and Antitrust, a Conference
Vilsack
Tom Vilsack is Biden's pick for Agriculture Secretary according to Politico, though a formal announcement hasn't been made yet. Vilsack has already served in that role under Obama, and advised on rural and agriculture policy during Biden's campaign. He is definitely not a wild-eyed reformer. I suppose that means he'd be easier to get confirmed, … Continue reading Vilsack
The People’s Department
The Department of Agriculture should renew its mission as "the people's department," as President Lincoln called it when he created it. That's the argument made by Ricardo Salvador from the Union of Concerned Scientists and food writer Mark Bittman in a New York Times opinion piece last week. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/opinion/usda-agriculture-secretary-biden.html Phil Lempert, the "supermarket guru" and … Continue reading The People’s Department
Farm Bill
The Farm Bill is the primary agriculture policy document in the nation. It's passed roughly every five years. The last one was signed into law by Trump in December of 2018, so the next one is due in 2023. Lots of info here: What Is the Farm Bill? The first hearings in the House for … Continue reading Farm Bill
David Scott, House Ag Chair
On Tuesday, David Scott (D-Ga) was chosen as the House chair for the agriculture committee, replacing Collin Peterson (D-Minn) who lost his bid for re-election. Here's how Mother Jones and The Hill reported the news. A politician's staff matter, also. Scott's former chief of staff, Gary Woodward, left in early November for a position at … Continue reading David Scott, House Ag Chair
Lobbyists
This arrived with my email today, as part of an announcement for a series of virtual talks with more than 50 prominent organic farmers, scientists, and climate activists. Chellie Pingree, quoted above and said to be under consideration for Biden's secretary of agriculture, is one of the speakers . You can read more about the symposium by following … Continue reading Lobbyists
American Farmland Trust in Politico
American Farmland Trust (AFT), a national non-profit, is reaching out to left-leaning political wonks with a paid message in Politico that we need to unify behind a push for regenerative agriculture, and the preservation of farmland and farms, for the sake of all of us, including the climate. No, regenerative agriculture isn’t being oversold — … Continue reading American Farmland Trust in Politico
Heitkamp
The news I've seen about possible picks for Biden's Secretary of Agriculture has coalesced around one issue: Heidi Heitkamp. She's considered a frontrunner, but progressive groups hoping for serious change in U.S. food production are concerned she's too closely allied to the status quo. So, lots of drama. This is a tremendous opportunity to do … Continue reading Heitkamp
Acorns and Alligators 