Obama’s pick of Vilsack offers more proof of the incoming administration’s unwavering centrism – meaning they’ll need to hear from sustainability and food justice advocates, and other progressive forces, early and often.

I join the chorus of dissenting voices, but also encourage the food justice and sustainability movement to keep its sights fixed on the future. While protesting the Vilsack choice is important, it’s equally vital and timely to launch a national education and policy campaign on core issues, and to keep building the so-called “alternative” food system – farmer’s markets, local food projects, farm-to-school, foodsheds, and others – into an everyday option for everyone.

To this end, I propose a focused, dare I say united push for a sustainable food justice platform including elements from sustainable food and agriculture, sustainable anti-hunger, good food for all, community food security, and related movements. Such a platform could be used both for educational and political purposes, for shaping public consciousness and lobbying the Obama administration and Congress. For the sake of unity and clarity, it should be simple and uniting, even if not fully inclusive. To re-launch this idea, which has been mentioned before in other forms, I would suggest it include, among other things, in one order or another:

1. New public investments targeting sustainable agriculture, defined as organic, small to mid-sized, diversified farming;

2. New public investments in local/regional food networks and foodsheds – to help build up the connections between farmers and consumers, to open up and expand new markets for organic farmers and those considering the transition; for more farmer’s markets and local food stores featuring local produce;

3. A moratorium on agribusiness mergers, and strenuous anti-trust provisions and enforcement to protect what little is left of economic diversity in the food economy;

4. A moratorium on all new GMO products, and on expansion of existing ones, and appointment of a blue-ribbon panel/commission on GMO foods’ environmental and health impacts;

5. A moratorium on – and gradual phasing out of – concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), a.k.a. factory farms, which are among the nation’s top polluters of water and air, and breeders of exponentially widespread and virulent bacterial strains;

6. Dramatically expanded regulatory enforcement and staffing in USDA and FDA, to protect food safety and meat industry labor and environmental practices;

7. Slowing the meatpacking (and poultry) assembly line, to protect workers and consumers

8. Incentives for small-scale urban, suburban and rural farming ventures oriented toward diversified local food systems;

9. Bold public investment in a raft of public awareness campaigns that build support, and expand markets and demand, for sustainable alternatives such as urban agriculture and gardening, reducing fast food consumption;

10. Fill in the blank, and write me at cdcook@igc.org.

This is at once an incomplete yet immodestly wishful list to be sure – but one that I hope can be of use in compelling greater public and policy support for a new sustainable food system. I welcome your input and feedback on this work in progress, and sincerely hope it bolsters the already-feisty movements lobbying for real systemic change – change we can eat.

Today President-elect Obama announced that former Iowa governer Tom Vilsack, who has a history of dealings in favor of agri-business, will be his Secretary of Agriculture.  This is a disappointment for many grassroots organizers and food policy activists, who had hope that the President-elect and his team would take a leaf from the petition, signed by over 55,000 individuals, which suggested sustainable and qualified choices for the position and represented a true change for the way the government views food production in our nation.  It is clear that while our new president will bring much needed change to how we do business in other realms in Washington, that food has not yet become a part of that equation.

For some background on Vilsack, Tom Philpott gives a sense of his legislative history on food-related issues at Grist.  It is clear from what President-elect Obama said today, that he intends to further push biofuels and even biotech:

“To lead a Department of Agriculture that helps unlock the potential of a 21st century agricultural economy, I can think of no one better than Tom Vilsack. As Governor of one of our most abundant farm states, he led with vision, promoting biotech to strengthen our farmers and fostering an agricultural economy of the future that not only grows the food we eat, but the energy we use. Tom understands that the solution to our energy crisis will be found not in oil fields abroad but in our farm fields here at home. That is the kind of leader I want in my cabinet.”

I encourage those of you who, like me, are fighting for a better food system not to be discouraged.  It is our job to keep pushing and protesting until Washington understands how serious the issues surrounding our methods of food production in this country are.  I take inspiration from the workers at the Chicago factory that was shut down earlier this month, and by Obama’s encouragement of their protest.  We must insist that we be heard, and continue to ride the wave of hope, because we know that we have an incoming President who is at last receptive.