×
One of the few cabinet appointment that hasn't yet been is Secretary of Agriculture. Indeed, all we know is that it won't be anyone who was floated early on: Iowa governor Tom Vilsack is out of the running, as is subsidy baron Collin Peterson. Accordingly, a crew of 88 foodies, including such names as Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser and Marion Nestle, have gotten together to write Obama a letter making recommendations for the position. They name:
1. Gus Schumacher, former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services and former Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture. 2. Chuck Hassebrook, executive director, Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, Neb. 3. Sarah Vogel, former Commissioner of Agriculture for North Dakota, lawyer, Bismarck, N.D. 4. Fred Kirschenmann, organic farmer, distinguished fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Ames, Iowa, and president of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Pocantico Hills, NY. 5. Mark Ritchie, Minnesota Secretary of State, former policy analyst in Minnesota’s Department of Agriculture under Governor Rudy Perpich, co-founder of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. 6. Neil Hamilton, Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law and director of the Agricultural Law Center, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.All seem like sensible, qualified choices. You can download the full letter here. Meanwhile, scuttlebutt is that Rep. John Salazar, a former potato farmer, is being considered.
