Big farmers, small farmers, Michael Pollan, Sen. Grassley, USDA policy, the First Lady's food agenda; it's all connected, and included...Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan held a Facebook chat yesterday afternoon, the first live e-event for USDA's new Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food (KYF2) initiative. The half-hour discussion was wide ranging, and included the Deputy Secretary clarifying the goals of KYF2, as well as pointing out that USDa's new focus on local and regional food stystems does not mean USDA is moving away from other forms of Ag. She also fielded online questions that covered farm to school programs, farm to restaurant programs, and beginning farmer programs, among others. (Above: Dep. Sec. Merrigan on a recent visit to Tree and Leaf Farm in Virginia, owned by small farm rockstars Zach Lester and Georgia O'Neal) Some highlights from the Facebook chat, and thoughts on policy:
One Hundred Percent Locavores We Are Not: Dep. Sec. Merrigan was careful to explain that KYF2 is not meant to replace the global, industrialized food system, but rather to facilitate local and seasonal food systems; “100% locavores we are not,” she wrote. --This is of a piece with current USDA policy, which is seeking to create a more dynamic food system, not toss any stakeholders out of the picture; feeding America--or the world--would not be possible without Big Ag concerns. But some critics seem to think that having initiatives that are inclusive of all Ag stakeholders somehow undermines USDA's mission, and seem to believe that if there's a focus on anything other than pure organics and old-school farming methods, then the USDA has failed. This is an absurd concept, and it should be noted that President Obama never made any pledges that upon his election, the US Ag system was going to become 100% organic, local and sustainable, and there's been no indication that this is the route USDA is going to go. Our Ag economy must necessarily include all stakeholders, and for the first time in a long time, USDA and the White House are working in concert to promote better Ag practices--and health and nutrition--across the board. USDA's current highlighting of smaller and family farming is bracing for people who monitor food policy (as is the First Lady Michelle Obama's health and nutrition agenda); it's terrific that all of this is getting attention and focused funding, but it in no way implies that other forms of Ag are headed for extinction; especially because we also have a global Ag agenda in the US, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has recently made clear. In her Facebook chat, Dep. Sec. Merrigan noted that the choice of the word "locavore" as "word of the year" in 2007 by the Oxford American dictionary was proof that eating local has big traction, but she also pointed out that USDA has no formal definition for what "Local" means: "There is no USDA definition of local as each region is different. In some areas, a state’s borders defines local” Merrigan wrote, citing Vermont Grown as an example of a state-centric food system. “And, in others, it’s a common area or foodshed.” So in other words, if you have a Big Ag concern near you, that's local. And local doesn't necessarily mean organic. USDA also has no firm definition of what "Family Farmer" means, either.
Side note, but part of this whole debate: Smaller farmers vs. industrial Ag is also a hot topic on Capitol Hill, of course; on Sept. 30, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), in a prepared statement read out on the Senate floor, protested Time magazine's recent cover story on industrialized agriculture, in a point-by-point demolition of Getting Real About The High price of Cheap Food, written by Bryan Walsh. "I am disappointed that an information source, previously known to be a news magazine, has resorted to an inaccurate, incomplete and unfair reflection of family farmers across the country..." was Sen. Grassley's opener. Hmm, it's interesting to note that no Senator has become a Floor Lit Critic of Michael Pollan's NY Times op-ed Big Food vs. Big Insurance, which held that true health care reform is not possible without much better industrialized Ag practices..and changing USDA subsidy policies. Is the lack of critique perhaps because Mr. Pollan's arguments are unassailable?
Farmers Are The Rockstars: On Facebook, Dep. Sec. Merrigan called farmers "rockstars" in response to a reader question about why anyone should want to know a farmer. She noted that all farmers, no matter what scale they're farming, are critical for the environment and the climate: “Farmers are the best environmental stewards. Farmers know how to sequester carbon and manage the soil.” She also wrote that knowing a farmer is obviously important for "understanding where our food comes from," and she made the connection between health care and preventative health issues, such as combating diet-related disease with better, fresh foods. Which can be attained from your friendly local farmer. Farmers as a critical population of climate stewards is getting much attention lately, as the climate Bill is debated in the Senate, and Senators from big farming states protest perceived economic burdens.
Dep. Sec. Merrigan closed by urging everyone to visit a Farmers Market; the USDA has a zipcode search engine for what they estimate to be more than 4,900 American Farmers Markets; it's here. There was also a promise of future Facebook chats, to continue the "national conversation" on food and farming, which is a big part of the KYF2 initiative. On Facebook, USDA currently has 1,010 "fans," and that's a drop in the bucket for what they could have. Ongoing outreach is obviously necessary. No transcript of the Facebook chat is yet available, but it will be linked here when it is.
Related: Ob Fo accompanied Dep. Sec. Merrigan to the KYF2 rollout at Tree and Leaf Farm; Dep Sec. Merrigan's unprecedented memo, describing her role as "matchmaker" between available USDA funding and smaller farming initiatives; WH chef Sam Kass cooks with Dep Sec. Merrigan in the USDA cafeteria as part of the KYF2 roll out here; the opening of the new Farmers Market BY the White House is here.
