Vilsack Vows States Priorities at First Press Conference
Vilsack's first press conference on Monday provided further insight into how the Secretary of Agriculture plans to run his office. His first order of business was to brush up on ethics and sign an Ethics Agreement valuing transparency put forth by President Obama.Vilsack then outlined his priorities as Secretary of Agriculture and that included promoting "a sustainable, safe, sufficient, and nutritious food supply for all Americans and for people around the world." He also plans on combating childhood obesity and providing block grants to promote nutrition. Vilsack has also expressed concerns about food safety.
One of Vilsack's top priorities will be to modernize the Department of Agriculture, get a handle on the number of people that work for the department (their bookkeeping is that bad) and update the technology.
Vilsack continues to give support to the biofuels industry saying nothing about the effects of fertilizer on the Gulf of Mexico's growing dead zone. However, he has announced that he will be scrutinizing the number of farm subsidies handed out every year and that he will "significantly limit and reduce the number of times that payments are going to people that aren't eligible." My guess is that because of his affinity for bio-fuels, we won't be seeing an end to corn subsidies any time soon.
[via: Obama Foodorama]
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