AG SECRETARY BLUES

There's a lot of discussion going on about how to respond to Vilsack's appointment, should we lobby, should we letter-write -- and one person on Comfood said this:

What if the popular army focused on participating in local actions that restored local food systems and regenerative agriculture to every food shed in the United States? Those local actions could range from building neighborhoods gardens to investing in local food enterprise networks. My theory is that those local actions, mounted on a massive scale, would attract the attention of policy makers through the shining example set by their constituents, by demonstrating that people indeed will build the food systems they want to deliver the healthy food they need, and ultimately by taking the market away from industrial agriculture.

Very few people have the means to petition policy makers inside the beltway. And our advocates in Washington, DC are as constrained by federal policy dynamics as any elected or appointed official. But we all live in our own neighborhoods. Let’s mobilize the popular army to do the work in each of our own neighborhoods.

Perhaps that we can actually create change first and lead the way for the policy makers to follow.