Super Eco

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A New York Times Sunday business section headline sums up the news coming from Washington over the past few months in a question: "Is a Food Revolution Now in Season?" As most question-mark headlines go, the article doesn't answer much, but does bring a wide number of recent news makers into focus on the central question-mark theme: will Congress ever be persuaded to act on the growing sentiment to focus government dollars and policies on local food systems, organic foods, and sustainable agriculture?

The answer that can be found, however, is a staunch defense of Tom Vilsack against those who would claim the man is a shill for Monsanto. Instead, the Times finds him a friend to Stonyfield Farm (he nows breakfasts on organic yogurt— "Trust me, I would have not have had that two years ago, or four years ago" he tells the Times) and sums up recent Vilsack news thusly: "In mid-February, Tom Vilsack, the new secretary of agriculture, took a jackhammer to a patch of pavement outside his headquarters to create his own organic "people's garden." Two weeks later, the Obama administration named Kathleen Merrigan, an assistant professor at Tufts University and a longtime champion of sustainable agriculture and healthy food, as Mr. Vilsack's top deputy."

The article goes on to explain that Vilsack has an impetus for his change; he's an expectant grandpa; and he wishes his own grandparents had survived to play with their grandkids. Now it's vegetables and fruits and a program of healthier foods for schools. He wants to change the food available in school vending machines, support local farms in developing regional food networks (including schools), and will be screening the anti-Big Food film "Food, Inc." soon.

Could Vilsack be a changed man? The Times seems to think so, and environmentalists and foodies have new reason to hope that the stars are aligned in their favor.