Fax, email and call your Congressional Representatives and Senators. Most members’ websites allow you to fill out a contact form. It’s time to make our Lawmakers aware of our movement.

The 111th Congress will be sworn in January 6, 2009. Please contact both if your representation will be changing in January.

                                         

 

 

The goal of 'Pollan for Secretary of Agriculture' is to have Michael Pollan appointed
Secretary of Agriculture for The United States of America.

 

We believe that access to wholesome food is the right of every person.

The preamble of The Constitution of the United States of America:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

This is a unique time in our nation’s history where the opportunity for changing business as usual is possible.  This is not a partisan argument, but one that all Americans can rightly feel passionately and patriotic about. Coming together over the dinner table is inextricably woven into the fabric of our nation.

We understand we are in the position of drafting a reluctant leader in Pollan. He is fully aware of this movement and we are in regular contact. He’s had an opportunity to preview this material and is impressed with the enthusiasm the petition has garnered. We see this as an excellent opportunity to hone our argument and forge a coalition dedicated to transforming the way the USDA does business. Following is a list of statements that show why Pollan's unique understanding of Agriculture makes him the best choice for Secretary of Agriculture.  The quotations are from Pollan’s Open letter to the Next "Farmer in Chief" published in the New York Times Magazine.  We view that article as our position paper. 

The ‘One Big Idea’ put forth in the article:

"Most of the problems our food system faces today are because of its reliance on fossil fuels, and to the extent that our policies wring the oil out of the system and replace it with the energy of the sun, those policies will simultaneously improve the state of our health, our environment and our security."

 

-Energy Independence :

"After cars, the food system uses more fossil fuel than any other sector of the economy -- 19 percent. And while the experts disagree about the exact amount, the way we feed ourselves contributes more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than anything else we do -- as much as 37 percent, according to one study."

-Economy:

"Spending on health care has risen from 5 percent of national income in 1960 to 16 percent today, putting a significant drag on the economy."

-Healthcare:

"Four of the top 10 killers in America today are chronic diseases linked to diet: heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and cancer. It is no coincidence that in the years national spending on health care went from 5 percent to 16 percent of national income, spending on food has fallen by a comparable amount -- from 18 percent of household income to less than 10 percent."

-National Security:

"At issue is not only the availability of food, which may be held hostage by a hostile state, but its safety: as recent scandals in China demonstrate, we have little control over the safety of imported foods. The deliberate contamination of our food presents another national-security threat. At his valedictory press conference in 2004, Tommy Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, offered a chilling warning, saying, "I, for the life of me, cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply, because it is so easy to do."

 

Pollan’s Open letter to the Next "Farmer in Chief" published in the New York Times Magazine.  Our position paper.

WNYC Brian Lehrer Show

Bill Moyers

Facebook Group dedicated to the cause, over 3500 members strong!

Note the grassroots groundswell. Hundreds of thousands of Google results for Pollan Blog.

View videos of Pollan’s lectures and television appearances:
                                       

Contact Blane Friest, our lobbyist and media representative, at the email address below for further discussion, to add your link to our site, and to sign up for the mailing list:

bfriest@pollanforsecretaryofagriculture.org