Although the Organic Consumers Association's nationwide Stop Vilsack campaign was unsuccessful in terms of getting Obama to appoint a real organic and alternative energy champion as head of the USDA, a chastened Vilsack recently appears to be doing his best to downplay his previous support for Monsanto, Frankenfoods and biofuels, and speak out in favor of more progressive polices for small and minority farmers and support for organic practices.
Definitely demonstrating the lobbying power of OCA and the grassroots, on February 23 Obama appointed long-time organic advocate Kathleen Merrigan as Deputy Agriculture Secretary in charge of the National Organic Program. Merrigan was the administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service at the USDA when the division crafted the organic guidelines. Since then, she's been a board member of the Organic Center and a professor at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. She's been an avid organic booster, spreading the word about the superiority of organic foods. For example, she helped promote an Organic Center study that showed that plant-based organic foods are, on average, 25% more nutritious than conventional.
Thank you to the nearly 100,000 organic consumers, including 50,000 new OCA network members who joined the Stop Vilsack campaign, and who called for Merrigan's appointment and a change in direction for the USDA. Thanks to your hard work and ongoing pressure, the Obama Administration and Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack are apparently responding to OCA and our allies' calls for major reform in the food and farm sector, including:
- President Obama's budget plan includes a $1 billion a year increase in funding for U.S. child nutrition programs including school lunches.
- Secretary Vilsack has called for government support for farmers using alternative energy, such as wind and solar, as well as those converting to organic farming practices. Vilsack also has called for cuts in taxpayer subsidy payments to large farms.
- Vilsack has pledged the USDA’s support in ending racial discrimination in the farm sector, specifically condemning past discrimination in limiting credit opportunities for African-American farmers.
- The USDA's National Organic Program has cracked down on companies spiking organic fertilizer with prohibited synthetic additives.
- Vilsack has launched the USDA People's Garden Project with the goal of creating community gardens at each USDA facility worldwide.
On this celebratory note, we'd
also like to thank the
thousands of you who supported Hilda Solis for Labor Secretary. Finally
confirmed on February 24, Secretary Solis, the department's first
Latino chief, is a longtime ally of
farm workers , and workers in general, and is certainly
supportive of OCA's goal to eliminate labor exploitation in the $60
billion organic and natural food and farming
sector. Secretary Solis supports the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would level the playing field for workers trying to unionize in workplaces where employers are hostile to organized labor. OCA's experience working with the United Farm Workers and the Teamsters has shown us that passage of the Employee Free Choice Act is necessary to make our food system truely sustainable.
OCA's support for the green jobs movement has
also yielded results. President Obama has guaranteed at least $500 million for the Green Jobs Act in the
stimulus package.
What's next? Keep the pressure on!
Congress, President Obama and Secretary Vilsack need to hear from you
on key issues:
- Time to Rein in Genetically Engineered Food
- Take Action: Stop NAIS
-
Give rBGH the Boot from our Nation's
Schools
