Deputy Secretary Merrigan shows new face of USDA

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AMES, Iowa -- The garden on the White House lawn is producing more than vegetables, says President Obama’s deputy secretary of agriculture Kathleen Merrigan. It’s a sign of high-level support for the many changes in the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build stronger connections with our food and farmers, ways to help young people enter agriculture, and add more funds for local and regional food systems.

Merrigan spoke at Iowa State University recently to promote the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new “Know Your Farmer Know Your Food” initiative launched in May. She said a primary reason for her visit was to start a national conversation about food with students on the first stop in a national tour of college campuses.

“I want to bring the nation’s students into the discussion,” she told more than 300 people who attended the evening lecture hosted by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the ISU Lectures Program. “At the heart of the local food revolution, as some call it, are food and agricultural systems that are sustainable for the next generation. I need you to weigh in with ideas that will contribute to a discussion that is gaining momentum.”

Merrigan challenged students to get to know a farmer by joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group, shopping at farmers markets, or working on a farm as part of an internship or service learning project. “Maybe not every family needs an accountant or a lawyer, but every family needs a farmer,” she said. “It’s a very rewarding lifestyle, which farmers in this audience can attest to.”

Merrigan also referred to the “disappearing middle” of midsize U.S. farms, the rise in the average age of farmers, and the fact that more than 50 percent of USDA employees will become eligible for retirement during the current administration. “So what will the future face of agriculture look like?” she asked. “Where are the farmers? Where are the policy makers? I’m hoping they are in this audience.”

She encouraged students to consider farming and to understand the importance of science in agriculture. She pointed to a number of programs geared toward helping beginning farmers, for whom startup capital is a huge challenge. She said new farmers need to have a business plan and marketing know-how to be successful.

Merrigan serves with former Iowa governor and current U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. A key part of their “Know Your Farmer Know Your Food” initiative supports the development of local and regional food systems as a way to increase opportunities for the nation’s farmers and create wealth in rural communities. She said they believe the effort can lead to the use of more sustainable practices and a reduction in energy use on farms.

“‘Know Your Farmer Know Your Food’ is about reorienting your ship,” she said, adding the USDA is inventorying all of its programs to find the best fit for local and regional food systems. “There’s not a place in this country where local and regional food cannot take hold.”

The “Know Your Farmer Know Your Food” Web site, www.usda.gov/knowyourfarmer, features YouTube videos, blogs and places for people to post photos. It also serves as a portal for USDA grants and resources available for local and regional food systems.

A longtime advocate of sustainable and organic agriculture, Merrigan helped shape the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, which created standards for organic foods and a federal program to accredit them. She said that while the USDA has not fully addressed the needs of organic farmers, she sees value in aiding all types of agriculture.

“Diversity in agriculture is a very important tenet,” Merrigan said. “We need diversity in ecosystems but also in the type of agricultural production we have, seed stock, wildlife, and the type of people involved in agriculture.”

A podcast of the lecture is available on the ISU Lecture Program Web site at: www.lectures.iastate.edu/lecture/18656