One of the most important races that you haven’t heard about yet in this election cycle is currently unfolding in America’s Heartland, and it’s generating national attention. Francis Thicke, the Democratic challenger in the race for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, is turning heads and shaking up the status quo in a campaign that geared up in the wake of an egg recall crises over the summer, shining a light on current unsustainable food production practices and oversight while taking on Big Agriculture.
Thicke is an organic dairy farmer from Fairfield, Iowa, and his message, which strikes at the heart of the problems of our food system, is inspiring endorsements from some of the nation’s foremost advocates for sustainability in agriculture and food production including Jim Hightower, Bill McKibben, Wes Jackson, Wendell Berry, and Fred Kirschenmann. The race is statistically a dead heat. If Thicke wins, Food, Inc. director Robert Kenner said, “He will be a game changer who can fix our agricultural system.” Environmental news website Grist pointed out, “It would be a huge win, not only for sustainable agriculture in Iowa, but the nation. It would send a clear message to Congress as lobbyists and activists begin putting on their battle overalls for the next farm bill.”
As food movement leader Michael Pollan (author of Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food) put it, “For the food movement, the most important election this year may be Francis Thicke’s in Iowa.” His campaign is also attracting young volunteers from all over the country, and senior campaign staff member stated, “People across the country are finding they have a champion in Francis Thicke. Big Ag, despite having millions of dollars in PAC money at its disposal, can’t quiet them now.”
An Interview with Francis Thicke Mike Ragogna: You’re going up against some big interests. Has corporate agriculture gained such a threshold in our food production system that you’re against insurmountable odds? Francis Thicke: It’s true that my opponent’s campaign is getting a lot of money from Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont and other agribusiness giants that are heavily invested in the status quo. Contributions to my campaign are much smaller, but they number in the thousands and are coming from a broad base of supporters.