Vilsack pitches rural food projects
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack hit the road this week in Michigan promoting the administration’s efforts to expand market access for producers and healthy meal options for children.
Then Mr. Vilsack came to Iowa promoting competition in supply chains and rural economies.
Peter Tubbs reports.
Transcript
Sec. Tom Vilsack, USDA: “So the question is, is there another option, another opportunity available for small and mid-sized farming operations that essentially get us to a point where they can stay in business and it's not get, get big or get out, it's get diverse and grow.”
This week, secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, made the case for the Biden administration's use of grants and loans to diversify the nation's food production system, giving producers and consumers more options in the food economy.
Sec. Tom Vilsack, USDA: “You want to grow the economy with a middle class from the bottom up and the middle out. You can't not, you can't have this, just this, these folks are really important. I make no mistake about it. Production agriculture is incredibly important. Why? Because the world population continues to increase. But rural America needs these folks because if you don't create an opportunity, an option to diverse and grow, and you simply have get big or get out, then what happens to your rural communities is what's happening. Fewer farmers, fewer farm families, fewer customers for the small town business.”
Take a secretary also defended the EPAs rules for the RFS.
Sec. Tom Vilsack, USDA: “We got the 15 billion gallons first administration ever to get to that point. And we've increased in, created, uh, uh, glide path and a growth path for, uh, for biodiesel. I believe that's the best. Uh, this administration has been the most supportive of the industry over the course of two and a half, three years than any previous three year period of any, any administration. And I'm happy to have that challenge, but, uh, you're gonna have to convince me that there's another administration that's done more in this shorter period of time.”
For Market to Market. I'm Peter Tubbs.