Reproduced discussion:
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I was looking on Daily Kos today and he has a poll up to vote for who you think
should be Obama's Secretary of Agriculture:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/11/61447/0377/993/513603
While I find the list interesting, I was wondering who we would pick if we
had the choice? Jim Hightower's winning, but I can tell you right now he'd never
be considered by the Obama team.
Which got me thinking - should those of us working in community food security be
thinking about who our ideal AND appointable Secretary of Agriculture would be
in an Obama cabinet? It might be worthwhile to identify a candidate, publicize
it, collect signatures, and make the case for him or her right now. If we could
get a more general group like MoveOn to endorse the idea and collect the
signatures, we could reach a large number of people and really make an impact.
I think Obama is an amazing candidate for president despite his
waffling/ignorance on food issues. I see that not as a shortcoming, but as an
incredible opportunity to educate.
Does anyone have an organization with the advocacy background and bandwidth to
take this on?
Just thinking out loud here...
Liz Snyder
Program Director, Full Circle Farm
A project of Sustainable Community Gardens
=================
Given that Jim Hightower won't make the cut, Gus Schumacher has my vote
for someone who would be acceptable to Obama and for most, if not all, of us.
You can read about some of his activities in Mark Winne's book Resetting the
Table (a little plug for your book, Mark). A short bio for Gus can be found at:
http://www.wkkf.org/default.aspx?tabid=102&CID=19&CatID=19&ItemID=190429&NID=200234&LanguageID=0
Steven
Steven M. Garrett
Doctoral Candidate, Geography
Lecturer, Urban Studies
University of Washington Tacoma
====================
Why wouldn't Hightower--assuming he were
interested--not even be considered by Obama's camp, assuming all the campaign
statements about building bridges and transcending party lines, etc., is nothing
more than rhetoric. Perhaps part of Obama's education should be holding him
accountable to these statements and forwarding the nominee those of us in the
good food movement believe would truly do the best job. Considering the state of
things, this doesn't feel like a time to be timid.
Hightower was the first person that popped into
my mind when I read the first sentence of the post below, as well. John Ikerd
would probably do a hell of a job, too.
Dan Sullivan
Senior editor
Rodale Institute
www.rodaleinstitute.org
611 Siegfriedale Road
Kutztown, PA 19530-9320
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How about A.G. Kawamura, the head of the CA Dept of Food and Ag? He's
got some good credentials--he's a farmer, with a bunch of conventional land
under production, and also has some organic land in production. He knows the
important food issues, and heads up the Dept. of Ag in the biggest ag state in
the union. There's definitely precedent for this with Rick Rominger as a
previous head of CDFA and then Deputy Undersec. of Ag under Clinton--why not a
Sec. of Ag from CA??
Rex Dufour
National Center for Appropriate Technology
=====================
Hightower would never be on the table not because of his ag policies, but
because he has too many vocal, sometimes divisive, opinions on too many other
subjects to be anything but a liability to Obama's "let's work together, we are
all Americans" message. His ability as an advocate for agricultural change would
be forever shadowed by his reputation as an iconoclast. I really like Jim
Hightower, I'm sure Obama and most of his campaign team do too. I'm just
guessing they will see him - probably rightly so - as a political hot potato for
their administration.
I just looked up John Ikerd and he sounds amazing.
Liz Snyder
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I just looked at the Daily Kos and it would appear that someone other
than food activists were consulted to pick the candidates. We do not get a
choice to populate the list, it is already completed. We only get to vote. My
guess is that this is not a list that people on comfood would create.
FYI: So far no women have been nominated for any position on the Daily Kos.
Steven M. Garrett
=================
I don't know any of the people listed. Would definitely like to read
more. However, if we want true reform, why should politics get in the way? The
challenge should not be "let's work together, we are all Americans", and that we
should all agree. The challenge and message should be how do we in the mist of
people who are passionate, and who may have 'too many vocal, sometimes divisive,
opinions on too many other subjects to be anything but a liability" transform
and improve our ag system. Who is the most qualified, who understand what's
best for the people, and who can educate our presidential candidate? It's sort
of backwards for us to educate our leaders, don't you think?
Diana Liu
Community Gardening Activist
=======================
speaking of dr. ikerd, see "more here" link under graphic--
http://www.goodfarmmovement.com/2008/06/new-american-gothic.html
Mark Andrew Gravel
Urban Agrarian Activist
Good Farm Movement
www.bouwerie.com |
www.goodfarmmovement.com
=====================
The person who did that isn't a food person, you are right. I'm on
DailyKos a lot and I'm in touch with the handful of food people on the site,
many of whom are also on this list. Want me to get in touch with them or see
what I can do about it? I can get a diary going on there with our
recommendations for ag secretary if you'd like. With luck it'll get some
attention.
Re: John Ikerd, he IS amazing. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak this
year. He's a very powerful speaker and his ideas are entirely in line w/ ours.
Jill Richardson
freelance writer and sustainable food
advocate
http://www.jillrichardson.net/index.html
==================
I know that thinking politically like this sometimes just raises people's
hackles, but I don't think Obama's got it wrong. He needs a cabinet that will be
listened to and not dismissed because of their reputation or vocal opinions on
matters not relevant to their post. People shutting off and getting defensive
when they feel contrary opinions yelled at them by someone is just the reality
of human nature, like it or not. If he picks someone with a reputation for
yelling, they'll be deadlocked by that reputation the minute they take their
post and no change will happen as a result no matter how good their intentions.
Wanting people to work together toward a common goal does not equate wanting
everyone to agree - it's a matter of picking people, like Obama, who are natural
mediators and have an ability to bridge people together based upon their common
goals and ability to see reason. I'm guessing that's what Obama's team will be
looking for in all their appointments.
But don't take my word for it... I'm just looking in as a curious outsider with
a naturally political mindset. I like the chess game, I like how Obama has the
potential to cross political boundaries by choosing his cabinet carefully. I try
to do the same in my work talking to people of all political stripes about the
work we're doing in food systems change. It is exhilarating and uplifting to
throw aside divisiveness and watch those barriers fall away.
I definitely don't think it's backwards at all for us to strive to educate our
leaders. All leadership by necessity must be a two-way relationship between the
leader and the people s/he leads. In my opinion the best leaders are avid
learners and avid listeners. Listening to the needs of the people and those
working on the ground to meet them is how top-level change happens.
Liz Snyder
======================
I guess Daily Kos is not the place to look for non-partisan polling, but...
Why is this just about Obama's Ag Secretary?
Why not...WHO DO WE WANT TO BE THE NEXT AG SECRETARY, regardless of who
becomes next president?
That way, regardless of who ends up at 1600, at least all the food policy people
will have UNITED to influence the selection of the AG secretary!
--
daniel bowman simon, leed ap, mba
brooklyn, usa
the white house organic farm project (non-partisan)
www.TheWhoFarm.org
===============
Comfoodies,
I have several people who should be considered.
Fred Kirschenmann is my top choice.
Fred is one of the true leaders and visionaries of our time when it comes to
agriculture.
Two organic farmers who ran for State Secretary of Agriculture are also on my
list...
Emil DeFelice in South Carolina AND
Denise O'Brien in Iowa.
Finally, I think Minnesota's Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie, who founded and
ran the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy for decades would be an
excellent Secretary of Agriculture.
My thoughts.
Christopher Bedford
CENTER FOR ECONOMIC SECURITY
#6543 Hancock Road
Montague, MI 49437
=================
While I can appreciate the sentiment that we
should be selecting a suitable Secretary of Ag candidate no matter who gets
elected, I don't see McCain's camp inviting the likes of Hightower or
Ikerd or just about anyone whose been suggested here.
As for women candidates, what about Marion Nestle
or Frances Moore Lappe or (as Chris Bedford just suggested) Denise O'Brien?
Liz, your points about the temperament of the
right candidate are well taken. Ikerd exudes a warmth and depth of character and
knowledge--not unlike Obama--I've not seen in many.
Dan Sullivan
==================
Jon Tester, Montana Senator and Organic Farmer
[name put forward]
Brian Bruckner
Farmer
================
I was pleased to see the Mark Ritchie's name has surfaced. He
would be my choice.
Audrey Maretzki
Emeritus Professor
Penn State University
====================
So, maybe the thing to do is to start a WIKI to craft the perfect JOB
DESCRIPTION for Sec of Agriculture, and then give that description to Obama and
McCain and Nader with a short-list of recommended people...instead of trying to
fit the square peg in the round hole.
Daniel Bowman Simon
====================
Mark Ritchie has the experience of running a state department plus a total
understanding of global agriculture and a long history of building coalitions
and working hard as has Gus Schumacher and Katherine Merrigan.
Ed Maltby
Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance
==================
Hi everyone,
So I ran with Daniel's suggestion and created a bare-bones wiki to create both a
job description and a list of every candidate that's been brought up so far -
feel free to add anyone in you like. If you wouldn't mind filling in the blanks
on the description & candidates where you can, that would be awesome!
I think this could really help us discover who potentially serious candidates
are that we could back, and help define the changes we hope they'll bring to the
job. If you want to contribute, you can find it here:
http://agriculturesecretary.pbwiki.com/
(New user? Just click 'create account' to be able to add content.)
I agree, a short list would be ideal. Then it would be a matter of refining the
document into a publishable proposal and getting some good publicity out of it.
Thanks all - this is a lot of fun!
Liz Snyder
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