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Back in September I thought to myself that, if all races were of equal importance, I would want Denise O'Brien to win the most out of any Democratic candidate. I couldn't really put my finger on the reason why. There are a lot of other good Democrats running for office (and a few not so good ones), but there is something about O'Brien that makes her stand out above everyone else.
Yesterday in the Des Moines Register Rekha Basu sums up my thoughts in a great article about O'Brien and explains how O'Brien just "gets it" about Iowa's future. The article begins with Basu retelling how she thought when she moved to Iowa, she would be living in a country house where milk was delivered and you were able to buy food from a roadside stand. Basu goes on to add...
We hadn't completely grasped that Des Moines was city and not country, or that Iowa agriculture was almost strictly about corn, soybeans, cattle and hogs, produced on an exceptionally large scale, then shipped elsewhere.Basu closes by saying that there are Iowans that want to farm and Iowans that want to buy fresh food locally. O'Brien understands this and wants to make this a reality. This is a great chance for our rural communties to grow, it is a great chance for Iowa to grow. O'Brien gets it. I hope many other Iowans get it too and elect Denise O'Brien as the next Secretary of Agriculture.
That would explain why the corn at the grocery store came from Missouri, and the pork was no fresher or choicer than anywhere else. And despite being a soybean state, there was no Iowa tofu to be found; soybeans went to feed the livestock. It also explained why there were few full-time farmers, and why people scratched their heads when I asked about visiting a working family farm.
Iowa wasn't "farm" country culturally or economically. It was corporate-agriculture country, interests well represented by the Farm Bureau and the big producers' and growers' associations.
The mystery was why we, as a state, accepted this model as best despite the costs to small farmers and the environment, and though rural communities were dying.
8 comments:
Go Cow Killer Go!
denise lied, cows died.
Basu wouldn't know a farm from a mole on her ass.
Few full time farmers? A 20 minute drive from her downtown office would land you at the front door of numerous full time farmers.
By the way, I think I can put my finger on what it is about O'Brien that you like. The big D in front of her name, and that she is going to lose to non Democrat.
Vote Northey..the only Full time Family Farmer in the race!!!
Irish,
Didin't you read my post? I said, "There are a lot of other good Democrats running for office (and a few not so good ones), but there is something about O'Brien that makes her stand out above everyone else."
All Democrats running have a big D by their name. What separates O'Brien is that she has a vision of Iowa that benefits the common Iowan and rural communities. Tell what about Northey's corporate factory farm philosophy that benefits the common Iowan and rural communities. I bet you would be hard to find anything.
Our family had the opportunity to eat an entirely organic meal. Hopefully Sec. of Ag O'Brien will help promote MORE organic farms, family farms and LOCAL CONTROL of factory hog lots.
Oh, and keep Ag jobs here in Iowa unlike the factory farmer running against her.
debi,
O'Brien isn't even certified organic...make sure you don't eat what comes out of her garden, or who knows, you may end up with e-coli!
Like the Register said, Iowa Needs Northey.
I find this whole blog filled with irony, from its name referencing "common Iowans" (who, if they were truly from Iowa, would have a better understanding of ag than is being displayed on this blog) to quoting a woman from New York who has a romantic notion of what farming actually is (from the 1950's, I might add) to an endorsement of an individual for Secretary of Ag who doesn't understand how to develop new, sustainable markets that benefit Iowa's economy. Bill Northey supports diverse agriculture from vintners to elk breeders to hydroponic tomato farms, but he also understands that in order for Iowa to grow economically and to further an alternative energy opportunity within Iowa, we need to
encourage the growth of traditional ag, too.
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