Should we look forward to Obama?

In the comments section a short time ago, I was asked by the pork lover John Crabtree the following:

So, riddle me this Batman, why am I supposed to be excited about the prospect of a new administration overseeing the most crucial structural issues facing rural America? Is there really any hope that an Obama or McCain USDA will be any better than the last one (or the last two, three… eleven Departments of Agriculture?)

That is an excellent question, one which I will try to expound upon in a series of blog posts.

First reason why you should look forward to Obama:

1.  He ain’t Bush. As far as USDA goes, that’s all you need to know.  Basically, this is the number one reason for the sustainable ag community to pray for an Obama victory.  In my mind, any President has two really big powers- foreign policy and most importantly for our consideration, the power of appointment.  Behind the once-every-five-years farm bill and the media coverage are the day-to-day decisions that determine the course of USDA programs.  Those programs are critical if we want to ever have a sustainable ag system for the country as a whole, and they are programs that both promote sustainable ag and work against it.  Either way, they’re important.  So if Obama appoints better people to make the decisions that guide those programs- and those people hire good people to actually implement those decisions- it is a big, big deal.  I’m not kidding.  Don’t believe me?  Go check out some of the all-stars currently running USDA at the under secretary level, those appointed by Bush.  Here’s two:

Charles Lambert is the current Deputy Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs.  That’s a mouthful, for sure.  He also spent 15 years as an employee of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assocation, an organization determined to screw small cattle ranchers if there ever was one.  Oh, and he serves as an official USDA biotech cheerleader in various international working groups.  Why should you care?  One of the many issues under his purview is $900 million in annual commodity purchases for school lunch programs.  GMO school lunches will stick around at least as long as he does.

Speaking of nutrition, Eric Hentges serves as Executive Director of the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, which is best known for our slight creepy food pyramid.  Within USDA nutrition programs, that means he tells other agencies what’s healthy and what isn’t.   He’s had some interesting big ag roles too:

Vice President of Applied Technology and Education Services for the National Pork Board, Director of Consumer Nutrition and Health Research with the National Pork Producers Council, and Director of Human Nutrition Research with the National Live Stock and Meat Board.

Hmmm….  If that doesn’t worry you, he’s also a member of the Institute of Food Technologists.  Yay for chicken nuggets!

There’s lots more where that came from.  These people matter.  Obama may not appoint sustainable ag angels, but on the whole it would no doubt be a serious improvement.