Author

I don't think the face of the Democratic Party is Nancy Pelosi.

Many young and beginning farmers start out in local markets. Some stay there, and some scale up.

In 2011, agricultural exports hit a record high and producers saw their best incomes in nearly 40 years.

Local and regional food systems are about opportunity.

Although they are some of the hardest working folks I know, rural Americans earn, on average, $11,000 less than their urban counterparts each year. And they are more likely to live in poverty.

From Tom Vilsack

In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only nine percent of family farm income comes from farming, and more and more of our farmers are looking elsewhere for their primary source of income.

From Tom Vilsack

We're going to move from a commodity economy where you basically grow the same kind of crops - where a kernel of corn is a kernel of corn is a kernel of corn - to an ingredient economy where there will be a kernel of corn that will be designed for fuel, there will be a kernel of corn designed for livestock.

From Tom Vilsack

There are a lot of farmers and ranchers who are struggling. I get on my knees every day. If I had a rain prayer or a rain dance I could do, I would do it.

From Tom Vilsack

Every dollar of SNAP benefits generates $1.84 in the economy in terms of economic activity. If people are able to buy a little more in the grocery store, someone has to stock it, package it, shelve it, process it, ship it. All of those are jobs. It's the most direct stimulus you can get in the economy during these tough times.

From Tom Vilsack

One out of every 12 jobs in the economy is connected in some way, shape or form to what happens on the farm.

From Tom Vilsack

Tom Vilsack

Notable Quotes

Authors with Similar Views

Joel Salatin

Michael Pollan

Jose Andres

Kimbal Musk

Sandra Lerner

Authors with Opposing Views

Satchel Paige

Albio Sires

Anne Northup

Black Elk

Blake Farenthold