I linked on my blog announcing Obama’s Economic Dream Team, but the information you posted here had good points.

The more and more we all work together to share information, the better off we all will be. I’ve submitted my own thoughts on living green so if anyone would like to check it out, please do so and contribute!

GM foods aren’t a big priority to me. I’m not convinced that we gain much as consumers when GM food is labelled. But if that’s an issue that is important to you, you should definitely press Vilsack on it.

I realized when I wrote it that you probably don’t just value change for change’s sake, but denigrating Obama for making a “non-change” appointment just because change was a big part of his campaign seems wrong to me and I see it a lot (not just as a throw away line, like on your post). So I probably overreacted.

You certainly didn’t vilify Vilsack and I’m sorry that I connected you with that. The OCA does seem to be vilifying Vilsack and I wanted to point that out. It’s important to push our elected and appointed officials to do the right thing, but part of that is getting a clear picture of what they actually believe.

My biggest problem with Vilsack is his support for corn biofuels. I’m not opposed to all biofuels, but I think it’s become increasingly clear that corn is an incredibly inefficient source for biofuel. To me, a recession is no time to be turning more and more valuable food into biofuel.

I’m also not completely against GMOs. I think there could be value to GMOs, but the truth is that a lot of GMOs have not received proper study and are poorly regulated. There have been cases where GMO corn grown specifically for livestock has ended up in human food. I also believe there should be standard GMO labeling on food, which there isn’t. American consumers should have the right and ability to avoid GMO food if they choose to do so.

By the way, I’m not pro change for change’s sake. I was very happy that Obama nominated Clinton for Sec of State, because I think that while she will obviously make changes, she is likely to be a very moderate voice, foreign policy wise. But when it comes to the food industry, I do believe change is necessary. And I believe it needs to be sooner rather than later. The current system of US subsidies also undermine food economies in the Global South, because IMF policies don’t allow a lot of countries in the South to have the same subsidies on crops that the US and Europe enjoy. Basically, the way the global food industry is set up tilts the playing field very much in favor of the Global North. Given that I think the South will experience the worst effects of any sort of crisis, I think this is something that needs to be addressed now and not later.