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President-elect Joe Biden’s appointment of Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture has triggered a wave of anger and frustration from many corners of the food world, where pundits and activists have pointed to the ways he let down BIPOC farmers, small-scale producers, and environmental advocates during his eight years under the Obama administration.
It’s not clear how Vilsack will respond to this criticism. But one thing is clear: When he returns to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), he will be dealing with a world and a nation that have drastically changed from the time of his departure four years ago. The confluence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ensuing food insecurity, climate-induced apocalyptic wildfires, rising rates of farm bankruptcy, soil erosion, polluted surface waters, wholesale undermining of the public’s trust in science, and the nation’s racial reckoning will demand a forceful and creative departure from the trends that have brought us to this