Vilsack's first 100 days surprise early critics

As most media scrutinized President Obama's first 100 days in office, Philip Brasher of The Des Moines Register turns his attention to former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack's first 100 days as agriculture secretary. "Vilsack has surprised his early detractors, who feared he would be too close to agribusiness," writes Brasher. The creation of an organic vegetable garden outside the Department of Agriculture; the installation of Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, who helped create national organic certification standards; and the proposal of a farm-subsidy cut to help fund child nutrition programs (so far unsuccessful) have all contributed to the image of Vilsack as someone willing to buck conventional agribusiness interests.

But he still sees a place for traditional farming models. "To me it isn't about either-or," he told Brasher. "It's about how do you figure out ways for folks to co-exist and how do you figure how to take the best of all of it and move an agenda forward that repopulates the rural community, that focuses on good stewardship, on sustainability, on getting the most of our resources."

Brasher also notes some mistakes Vilsack has made in his tenure, such as the proposed subsidy cut, but writes, "Vilsack has made clear that he believes he has a mission to change the public perception of the USDA as an agency that mainly dispenses subsidies to large farms in his home state and elsewhere." Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, says, "One of the thing's you're going to be seeing this president and this secretary do is to make the Department of Agriculture more real in people's lives who don't ever see a farm." (Read more)