photo: vaXzine, flickr Creative Commons
In many ways, Barack Obama is my hero. He’s a brilliant leader who is doing amazing things to reform health care, the economy and education. He and his wife Michelle sparked much excitement when they installed an organic garden at the White House. His Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, quickly followed suit and planted a tidy green plot in front of his office building. And, like the bean stalks growing in their yard, the excitement continues to swell as Michelle is periodically photographed in the garden and speaks about the need for healthy food choices for kids. The Obamas quickly ascended to be the most visible participants in the sustainable food movement.
But, like the sudden realization that your lettuce crop has been eaten by a furry friend, I was shocked and disappointed by recent nominations by President Obama to key posts at US Department of Agriculture (USDA) of people from at Monsanto and CropLife, two agribusinesses. These nominations severely undermine his campaign promises and efforts to reform our industrial food system (which the Obamas are already trying to do in their backyard!). His hero status has been lowered.
According to the Pesticide Action Network, Islam Siddiqui, nominated to U.S. Chief Agricultural Negotiator is currently a Vice President at CropLife and a former lobbyist. According to the organization, “this position will enable him to keep pushing chemical pesticides, inappropriate biotechnologies, and unfair trade arrangements on nations that do not want and can least afford them.” Roger Beachy, formerly with Monsanto, is now the director of the newly created National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which is part of the USDA. “This office comes with a $500 million budget, and therein control over the U.S. ag research agenda for years to come.”
As the film Food, Inc. has shown, there is a revolving door between lobbyists from big agribusinesses and the US government. This has enabled these agribusinesses to set much of the US agriculture policies which are dangerous and destructive to the environment, our health and farm workers. It’s disappointing that the Obama Administration is not providing the visionary leadership on agriculture, like it is in some many other policy areas.
However, we have an opportunity for Obama to be a food-policy hero if we help to stop these nominations and set a new policy direction at the USDA that is focused on a healthy, sustainable and environmentally-safe food for all. Join with thousands of others today to say no to these appointments by signing this petition and tell others. And, if you’d like to munch on some delicious, local organic produce like the First Family, find a local farmer near you.
CATEGORIES: Environment
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Horray for you for letting us in on this. I’ve emailed family and friends already, and am about to take a massive rebellious bite of local produce!
Shameful and unfair. Puts the poor at high risk by jeopardizing our food suppply.
Keep Monsanto and other agribusiness OUT of the Dept of Agriculture. They will continue to decimate the independent farmers of the US and increase their control over EVERYTHING we eat. *BUY LOCAL/EAT LOCAL!*
i’m so tired of our govt officials also being on the payroll of the worst and greediest companies in the world. change needs to come in the form of these folks not making so far as to be able to make decisions for our country. this needs to stop and we need to have thorough background checks to weed out ALL conflicts of interest!
USDA doing such great stuff in other areas like “Know your Farmer, Know your Food” its hard to imagine this other stuff going on.
I’m glad you’re letting everyone know about this and it’s a real shame - one step forward two steps back it seems - but I counted several grammatical errors in this article. Could I perhaps be of assistance as an editor?
Thank you for this information. I agree that buying and eating locally grown food is a great idea - but only half a response! The other half is to take action on a national level. Everyone who cares about this situation should contact the White House and make known their disapproval of these appointments! Tell the White House that this is NOT the change we’d hoped to see. Why not suggest that Obama appoint an Organic Ag Business person to both these posts for a little balance? Go to http://www.whitehouse.gov and GET INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS!
These nominations are so disappointing! Where are the organic and sustainable food experts to nominate? Monsanto is about as far away from where I want my food choices coming from as a person can get!
So very important to the core of what sustains us as a culture, healthy vital, food. Also glad that “sustainable” is NO LONGER just a buzzword.
Chemical free! Local sustainable=healthy.The voice of sanity is persistent and free of pesticides.The change we want is less of the same!
yeah well you should of realised that when you elected the moron.
all they do is dine out, golf and have fun, good luck for a decent president!
vaya con dios
My boy friend and I are on the Paleo diet ( caveman diet) This video is a lot like how we eat… no fast food, no sodas etx., instead we eat natural foods, not processed foods! I wish parents would educate their children into how to eat right! Also I wish schools would show this video. If they get taught sex education why not show how our economy works when it comes to the food industry?!?! Check out this book that I’m reading(similar to the video) “Waistland”. I am proud to be apart in this group! May educate our towns, our friends and families, our country!
Please put genuine small family farmers and organic farmers into the USDA and not big business folks. Our future depends on it! Thank you!
Please put genuine small family farmers and organic farmers into the USDA and not big business folks. Our future depends on it! Thank you!
Nice little article and a petition if you are so inclined.
–Don
Dear President Obama, Please clean up the USDA by removing Siddiqui and Beachy. We cannot afford to have Monsanto or CropLife agribusiness-related people influencing our children’s nutrition. Thank you.
Once again President Obama has disappointed America
No more
I like REAL food. Did you know that whole milk cheese are already illegal in the US? What do we lose next???