ABC’s Jake Tapper is reporting that President-Elect Barack Obama will name former Iowa Governor Tom (Mr. Monsanto) Vilsack as the new secretary of agriculture.  As recently as the Monday before Thanksgiving, the Des Moines Register reported that Vilsack felt he was out of the running, but it appears he will now be named soon.

Sustainable and organic groups had urged Obama to pass over the pro-biotechnology and pro-ethanol governor for a more enlightened choice.   The Organic Consumers Association recently published Six Reasons why appointing Vilack would be a “terrible idea,” with the former governor’s support for genetically engineered pharmaceutical corn at the top of the list, followed by his eagerness to see cloning of dairy cows.

Those of us who were encouraged by Obama’s choice of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Steven Chu as Secretary of Energy are truly disappointed to see Vilsack chosen as the person in charge of protecting our food.  Perhaps the best we can hope for now is that the in-coming ag secretary will take the time to read Michael Pollan’s Letter to the Farmer-in-Chief, in which the author of Omnivore’s Dilemma argues for a “sun-food” agenda where Washington leaders take the lead in promoting fresh, healthy, local food.

Can pressure from organic and sustainable groups help Vilsack grow if he does take office?  Blog for Rural America recently asked Vilsack to name his top priorities for the job.  “”There will be an opportunity next year with the re-authorization of child nutrition programs to address that need first. The Conservation Stewardship Program must be more adequately funded than in the past to preserve our most precious resources - our soil and water. And rural entrepreneurial development, next generation biofuels, expanded wind/solar/geo-thermal uses for land, specialty crops, local foods efforts and rural, high-speed broadband internet access need investment,” Vilsack added.

While there is much to applaud in support for feeding children, promoting “specialty crops” and extending broadband into rural areas, it is Vilsack’s unrelenting cheerleading for GMO foods and for ethanol that make him such a poor choice. (For concerns about the global impact of patented GMO seed produced by companies such as Monsanto, watch this YouTube video about the 1300 suicides among cotton farmers in India in 2006.) If President Obama is serious about dealing with issues such as climate change and food security for all people, he should have reached outside the circle of people like Vilsack who do not offer change we can believe in.