"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" was meant to be a metaphor by Pete Townshend from The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again in 1971. Townshend likely couldn't imagine Tom Vilsack being invited to run the Department of Agriculture once again in the United States.
Vilsack was not an inspired choice even in 2009 under Barack Obama. He did fit the recent definition of having been a governor (Iowa) in an agricultural state.
Vilsack's most significant act while as the Secretary of Agriculture is to endorse the use of "pink slime." Vilsack said pink slime was "safe, it contains less fat and historically it's been less expensive."
Colbert Report: Tom Vilsack and school lunches
Stephen Colbert calls out Tom Vilsack for ag policy contradictions
Vilsack will have an easier time since Stephen Colbert went out to do a regular talk show at CBS.
Vilsack is leaps and bounds ahead of Sonny Perdue, Mike Johanns, and Ed Schafer in the post.
As we noted during the campaign, the outgoing regime has done disturbing and disgusting work to reduce the safety standards for meat, poultry, and seafood.
Needing a radical 'New Deal' from the next Secretary of Agriculture
If the United States has a benign or progressive food policy that factored in nutrition and American consumers, Vilsack might be able to sail the ship and not crash into an iceberg. Stephen Colbert did more to advance the concerns over the U.S. food supply in the 9 years on the Colbert Report than any Secretary of Agriculture has done in decades.
Michael Pollan turned down a proverbial request for the position after the 2008 election. Pollan did offer these words of wisdom.
"What Obama needs to do, if he indeed wants to make change in this area — and that isn't clear yet that he does, at least in his first term — I think we need a food policy czar in the White House because the challenge is not just what we do with agriculture, it's connecting the dots between agriculture and public health, between agriculture and energy and climate change, agriculture and education."
Substitute "Biden" for "Obama" and that advice is still helpful.
Vote for a better food policy on Election Day
Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump: Who will be better on food policy
The American people did vote for a better food policy on Election Day with the election of former Vice President Joe Biden and outgoing Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA). They will be sworn in tomorrow midday as the new U.S. president and vice president, respectively.
Biden and Harris will be arms in deep in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic amplified the growing food insecurity in the United States. The pathetic financial supplement further exasperated a widening gap in a struggling to feed a family or even an individual.
Children who weren't in school struggled to get fed where school breakfasts and lunches had been the difference for many kids.
Celebrating the Michelle Obama legacy for food and nutrition
Biden could pick a nutrition czar, something that Barack Obama did during his time in office. Sam Kass and Debra Eschmeyer filled that role under President Obama. Michelle Obama might be available once again. Unlike Vilsack, that is a retread Americans can get behind.
5 questions you should ask presidential candidates about U.S. food policy
BalanceofFood.com school lunch coverage
President Obama placed a priority on increasing the money spent on school lunches. Conservative Democratic senators helped water that down to a 6¢ increase in 2010, the first such non-inflationary increase since 1974.
Expectations are low and since the food supply didn't come up, no promises to be broken. Here's to hoping to find solutions in the next 4-8 years.
photo credit: Colbert Report/Comedy Central
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