On Saturday, February 13, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited Vermont. He was the first Secretary of Agriculture to visit Vermont in 20 years, and only the third in history. His visit was hosted by Senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy. Congressman Peter Welch and Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee also accompanied the Secretary throughout the day.
Secretary Vilsack's first public meeting was a Dairy Town Meeting at the Hilton Hotel in Burlington. Mike Farmer, Yankee's Vice President in the St. Albans office, attended and reported that the room was full with over 200 people in attendance and full media coverage. After opening comments by the public officials, there were questions from the audience. Bob Foster of Foster Brothers Farm in Middlebury presented a statement from the Vermont dairy industry.
The Secretary's next visit was the NOFA-VT Winter Conference at UVM (see this post). I attended this meeting, which was held in Ira Allen Chapel. There was standing room only. Will Stevens of Golden Russet Farm in Shoreham moderated the session. Secretary Vilsack spoke about the USDA's commitment to organic and local agriculture. He discussed the 2008 Organic Survey released earlier this month, noting that there were nearly 500 organic farms in Vermont with total sales of $73 million.
Secretary Vilsack also visited the St. Albans Co-op annual meeting. Shantel Thomas, Yankee's Crop Insurance Specialist in the St. Albans office, attended this meeting. She reported that the Secretary acknowledged the difficult dairy economy and that he also spoke about USDA efforts to improve the nutritional value of school lunches with more dairy products, and the challenge of getting more young people interested in agriculture.
News articles about Secretary Vilsack's visit to Vermont:
WCAX - 2/13/10
Burlington Free Press - 2/14/10
