Will Biden Ag Dept. Feed People or Corporations?
Cabinet pick offers hope
December 8, 2020
Re: “Fight over Cabinet post could sway hunger policy,” Nov. 27 Denver Post news story
This presidential election, for me, brought a sense of hope wrapped up in a sense of dread.
As a rancher, processor, producer and local market owner, I have seen corporations relentlessly suffocate independent farmers and ranchers while the government has either helped or sat back and watched. For decades, those at the helm of the USDA — “conservative” and “liberal” — have helped corporations build a food system that tries, with all of its might, to stomp out independent farmers and ranchers.
But where I do continue to hold onto hope is President-elect Joe Biden’s pledge for a diverse group of leaders. When I heard that Congresswoman Marcia Fudge was being considered for secretary of the USDA, I knew that she would be the one to begin to turn the tide and fight for economic justice in our food systems.
A Democrat from Ohio, longtime member of the House’s agricultural committee and experienced advocate for SNAP and nutrition programs, Fudge is more than qualified to do the job and has shown time and again with her policies that she believes in true food-system reform. She understands the journey food makes from the fields to the table and has tirelessly pushed for rural economic development and reform. Her policies say farmers and ranchers deserve fair prices, not just government handouts that ignore the root problem.
Mike Callicrate, Colorado Springs