The Slow Food USA Blog

Agribusiness and the White House

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Sooooo, apparently hoop houses aren’t the only things gaining ground at the White House.  A note from a friend of ours at World Hunger Year (WHY), Siena Chrisman:

When he was on the campaign trail, President Obama pledged, “We’ll tell ConAgra that it’s not the Department of Agribusiness. It’s the Department of Agriculture. We’re going to put the people’s interests ahead of the special interests.” Given such strong language, a lot of people were surprised and dismayed at the October nomination of Islam Siddiqui—a former pesticide lobbyist and vice president for CropLife America—to the important post of Chief Agriculture Negotiator for the US Trade Representative.

90,000 people signed a petition asking the president to stick to his campaign promise to stop the revolving door between industry and government. The protest got noticed by the media. Even the New York Times weighed in, recommending “tough questions” at Siddiqui’s Senate confirmation hearing.

Nonetheless, Siddiqui is still on track for confirmation. He will likely pass through committee this week to a full Senate vote. After that, his confirmation could happen within hours. We must act now to derail the nomination. If one person calls their Senator for every ten that signed the petition, we will make that revolving door much squeakier than it’s been in a long time.

Click here to contact your Senator.