Minnesota Independent » Food

Obamnivore’s Dilemma: Foodies champion Ritchie as ‘sustainable’ ag secretary

Paul Schmelzer — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:26:12 +0000

A cast of big-name characters is vouching for Secretary of State Mark Ritchie — only their advocacy has nothing to do with the statewide election recount he’s overseeing. Food and environmental activists from Minnesota’s own Winona LaDuke to Omnivore’s Dilemma author Michael Pollan, Diet for a Small Planet author Francis Moore Lappé, restaurateur/food activist Alice Waters and poet Wendell Berry have signed a letter [pdf] to Barack Obama calling on him to appoint a Secretary of Agriculture who’ll use the job to address the environment, rural economies and human health. Ritchie, who co-founded the Twin Cities-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy prior to his current high-profile gig, is fifth in a six-name list of options for “the sustainable choice for the next U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.”

The 88 signatories — which includes Minnesotans like restaurant owner Lucia Watson, IATP president Jim Harkness and Susan Stokes, head of the Farmers Legal Action Group, among others — write that the secretary’s vision should encompass: “recreating regional food systems, supporting the growth of humane, natural and organic farms, and protecting the environment, biodiversity and the health of our children while implementing policies that place conservation, soil health, animal welfare and worker’s rights as well as sustainable renewable energy near the top of their agenda.”

Update: Ritchie tells MnIndy he’s not interested in the ag secretary job “at this point in time.”

The six suggested candidates and the letter’s text:

Gus Schumacher, former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services and former Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture.

Chuck Hassebrook, executive director, Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, Neb.

Sarah Vogel, former Commissioner of Agriculture for North Dakota, lawyer, Bismarck, N.D.

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.

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.

Neil Hamilton, Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law and director of the Agricultural Law Center, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.

Read the full letter:

Dear President-Elect Obama,

We congratulate you on your historic victory and welcome the change that your election promises to usher in for our nation. As leaders in the sustainable agriculture and rural advocacy community we supported you in record numbers during the caucus, primary and general election because of the family farm-friendly p olicies that you advocated during your campaign.

As our nation’s future president, we hope that you will take our concerns under advisement when nominating our next Secretary of Agriculture because of the crucial role this Secretary will play in revitalizing our rural economies, protecting our nation’s food supply and our environment, improving human health and well-being, rescuing the independent family farmer, and creating a sustainable renewable energy future.

We believe that our nation is at a critical juncture in regard to agriculture and its impact on the environment and that our next Secretary of Agriculture must have a broad vision for our collective future that is greater than what past appointments have called for.

Presently, farmers face serious challenges in terms of the high costs of energy, inputs and land, as well as continually having to fight an economic system and legislative policies that undermine their ability to compete in the open market. The current system unnaturally favors economies of scale, consolidation and market concentration and the allocation of massive subsidies for commodities, all of which benefit the interests of corporate agribusiness over the livelihoods of farm families.

In addition, America must come to understand the environmental and human health implications of industrialized agriculture. From rising childhood and adult obesity to issues of food safety, global warming and air and water pollution, we believe our next Secretary of Agriculture must have a vision that calls for: recreating regional food systems, supporting the growth of humane, natural and organic farms, and protecting the environment, biodiversity and the health of our children while implementing policies that place conservation, soil health, animal welfare and worker’s rights as well as sustainable renewable energy near the top of their agenda.

Today we have a nutritional and environmental deficit that is as real and as great as that of our national debt and must be addressed with forward thinking and bold, decisive action. To deal with this crisis, our next Secretary of Agriculture must work to advance a new era of sustainability in agriculture, humane husbandry, food and renewable energy production that revitalizes our nation’s soil, air and water while stimulating opportunities for new farmers to return to the land.

We believe that a new administration should address our nation’s growing health problems by promoting a children’s school lunch program that incorporates more healthy food choices, including the creation of opportunities for schools to purchase food from local sources that place a high emphasis on nutrition and sustainable farming practices. We recognize that our children’s health is our nation’s future and that currently schools are unable to meet these needs because they do not have the financial resources to invest in better food choices. We believe this reflects and is in line with your emphasis on childhood education as a child’s health and nutrition are fundamental to their academic success.

We understand that this is a tall order, but one that is consistent with the values and policies that you advocated for in your bid for the White House. We realize that more conventional candidates are likely under consideration; however, we feel strongly that the next head of the USDA should have a significant grassroots background in promoting sustainable agriculture to create a prosperous future for rural America and a healthy future for all of America’s citizens.

With this in mind, we are offering a list of leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to the goals that you articulated during your campaign and we encourage you to consider them for the role of Secretary of Agriculture.

Signatories:

1. David Murphy, Clear Lake, IA
2. Paul Willis, Thornton, IA
3. Michael Pollan, Berkeley, CA
4. Bill Niman, Bolinas, CA
5. Nicolette Hahn Niman, Bolinas, CA
6. Diane Halverson, Northfield, MN
7. Marlene Halverson, Northfield, MN
8. Aaron Woolf, Elizabethtown, NY
9. Judy Wicks, Philadelphia, PA
10. Wendy Wasserman, Iowa City, IA
11. Anna Lappé, Brooklyn, NY
12. Cornelia Butler Flora, Ames, IA
13. Eleanor Bertino, San Francisco, CA
14. Wes Jackson, Salina, KS
15. Wendell Berry, Port Royal, KY
16. Alice Waters, Berkeley, CA
17. Marion Nestle, New York, NY
18. Bill McKibben, Middlebury, VT
19. Rick Dove, New Bern, NC
20. Ann Cooper, Berkeley, CA
21. Michel Nischan, Fairfield, CT
22. Jerry DeWitt, Ames, IA
23. Michael Dimock, San Francisco, CA
24. Jim Harkness, Minneapolis, MN
25. Frank Reese, Lindsborg, KS
26. Jeff Odefey, Irvington, NY
27. Cathy Liss, Alexandria, VA
28. Eric Schlosser, Monterey, CA
29. Leigh Adcock, Ames, IA
30. Dan Barber, Pocantico Hills, NY
31. Francis Thicke, Fairfield, IA
32. Josh Viertel, Brooklyn, NY
33. Peter Hoffman, New York, NY
34. Tom Philpott, Valle Crucis, NC
35. Hillary Wilson, Valle Crucis, NC
36. Dan Imhoff, Healdsburg, CA
37. Michael Stumo, Sheffield, MA
38. Simran Sethi, Lawrence, KS
39. Lisa Stokke, Clear Lake, IA
40. Sarah Willis, Thornton, IA
41. Peter Kaminsky, Brooklyn, NY
42. Kurt Michael Friese, Iowa City, IA
43. Carl Safina, Stony Brook, NY
44. Anthony Garrett, Washington, DC
45. Eliza Maclean, Snow Camp, NC
46. Odessa Piper, Silver Spring, MD
47. Edward Behr, Barnet, VT
48. Phyllis Willis, Thornton, IA
49. Larry Cleverley, Mingo, IA
50. Jesse Ziff Cool, Menlo Park, CA
51. Curt Ellis, Austin, TX
52. Wenonah Hauter, Washington, D C
53. Patty Lovera, Washington, DC
54. John Ikerd, Columbia, MO
55. Lucia Watson, Minneapolis, MN
56. Deborah Madison, Galisteo, NM
57. George DeVault, Decorah, IA
58. Melanie DeVault, Decorah, IA
59. Andrea King Collier, Lansing, MI
60. Rosiland Creasy, Los Altos, CA
61. John Jeavons, Willits, CA
62. Samuel Fromartz, Washington DC
63. Frances Moore Lappe, Cambridge, MA
64. Denise O’Brien, Atlantic, IA
65. Arnell Hinkle, Berkeley, CA
66. Marjie Bender, Pittsboro, NC
67. Winona LaDuke, Ponsford, MN
68. Diane Hatz, New York, NY
69. Cory Schreiber, Portland, OR
70. Rick Bayless, Chicago, IL
71. Angie Tagtow, Elkhart, IA
72. Ralph Paige, East Point, GA
73. Clara Bingham, New York, NY
74. Arie McFarlen, Dell Rapids, SD
75. Bret Kortie, Dell Rapids, SD
76. Dwight Ault, Austin, MN
77. Amy P. Goldman, Rhinebeck, NY
78. Judith LaBelle, New York, NY
79. Patrick Martins, New York, NY
80. Mary Berry Smith, New Castle, KY
81. John Fisk, East Lansing, MI
82. Tim LaSalle, Kutztown, PA
83. Susan Stokes, St. Paul, MN
84. Jude Becker, Dyersville, IA

Friday Financials: The Memorial Weekend BBQ edition

Molly Priesmeyer — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:24:15 +0000

It’s officially the first weekend of summer. And for many that means get-togethers, beer, noisy neighbors, beer, DIY BBQs and OMG ROFL.

Ah, BBQs. They ain’t what they used to be. Cheap beer and brats are so 2006. And remember those low-budget corn chips that cost, like, $2.89? Man, I wonder whatever happened to those. Those were awesome. Friday Financials takes a look at how we’re all getting raked over the coals this holiday weekend. Happy grilling!

Capitalism consuming itself? Fund investors help inflate food prices

Dan Haugen — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:00:00 +0000

Ethanol critics have widely bashed the corn-based fuel for its role in inflating food prices worldwide. But a fascinating article in Der Spiegel, a German news magazine, says classic supply and demand can’t fully explain the recent food inflation phenomenon.

Aggressive hedge-fund investors have played a significant and underreported role in bidding up the price of grocery store items, the article says, in a scheme one analyst equated as “evidence that capitalism is literally consuming itself.”

Farmers and grain wholesalers have long used futures markets as a way to minimize short-term price fluctuations caused by things like storms or drought. At the Chicago Futures Exchange, the regulars are “mainly farmers and silo operators.”

In recent years, though, many index fund managers have looked to food commodities as a way to boost profits, the article says. So now, instead of just grain wholesalers bidding for farmers’ crops, you have a group of deep-pocketed fund managers bidding, too.

One commodities dealer says the trend demands an ethical discussion. Food has become so expensive that prices are sparking riots around the equator, which is the cover story of this week’s Economist. One paragraph in particular stopped me in my tracks:

Click “Read More” to continue reading…

… In Haiti, protesters chanting “We’re hungry” forced the prime minister to resign; 24 people were killed in riots in Cameroon; Egypt’s president ordered the army to start baking bread; the Philippines made hoarding rice punishable by life imprisonment …

Why aren’t we hearing more about this? Well, as Stephen Colbert put it, “When you’re covering a landmark presidential campaign, little stories sometimes fall through the cracks. For instance, the small matter of a massive global food shortage”…

Bourdain: Twin Cities at the Gastronomic Crossroads of Good and Evil

Tom Elko — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:05:43 +0000

Minneapolis is a culinary war zone, according to Anthony Bourdain — a place where the dark forces of big-box chain restaurants do battle with the ambitious chef and the neighborhood restaurants.

This argument resonated with the packed house at the Triple Rock Social Club, as City Pages food critic Dara Moskowitz announced while introducing Bourdain that one of the Twin City’s most beloved dining establishments, Saigon Restaurant and Bakery, was being forced to relocate to accommodate a retail and housing development.Bourdain, the journeyman chef and star of the Travel Channel’s “No Reservations” who is spending a few days in Minneapolis promoting his new book “No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach,” is familiar with the Twin Cities food scene. Several years ago the outspoken gourmand portrayed Minneapolis as gastronomically conflicted in an episode of A Cook’s Tour, his short-lived series with the Food Network. The episode, entitled “The Struggle for the Soul of America,” opened at the Mall of America food court with Bourdain decrying the sacrifice of taste in deference to convenience and cost, before visiting a few of the Twin Cities’ best restaurants. Last night, that theme was revisited during a question-and-answer session.

I’ve always liked Minneapolis. I did a Food Network show here on Minneapolis as sort of the crossroads of good an evil. The struggle is here. These are the front lines. These are the barricades. It’s either us or them. It’s fish on a stick versus good food. But it is happening here. This is one of those pockets of enlightenment, you know, amid the vast empty spaces.

Bourdain offered his take on another conflict zone and epicure’s pocket of enlightenment on the Mississippi. Having just filmed an upcoming episode of “No Reservations” in New Orleans, he peeled away any pretense that the devastated city is on the rebound.

The whole thing is about the restaurant and hospitality industry in New Orleans. What happened, how it is now, is it recovering. Man, I tell you, every single person we talked to for the show, every single person, at some point started crying on camera. Anyone who is telling you that New Orleans is back and that New Orleans is better and everything is fine is lying. That town was abominably fucked over. It’s like everybody had a simultaneous nervous breakdown, and the sense of betrayal, everything you believe was proven to be utterly false.

Not a happy place, but chefs and cooks are particularly well suited to New Orleans because we’re used to being fucked over by everybody and used to working in a situation where you’re probably not going to win the day. You’re used to futility and irony, and there is a sense of humor there that is strangely beautiful.

Bourdain displayed his irreverent approach to consumption when asked why he was not drinking locally brewed Summit beer. Swishing around the contents of a near-empty bottle of beer, Bourdain promised, “I will correct my error immediately.” Asked for his take on smoking bans, Bourdain admitted that he had quit smoking four months ago, adding, “Every chef I know smokes, and that’s why God created salt.”

“No Reservations” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on the Travel Channel. Bourdain’s new book “No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach” is available now from Bloomsbury.