Local and regional food systems are about opportunity. – Tom Vilsack
Let us build a 21st-century rural economy of cutting-edge companies and technologies that lead us to energy and food security. Such an investment will revitalize rural America, re-establish our moral leadership on climate security and eliminate our addiction to foreign oil. – 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. – Tom Vilsack
If you think of what food is, its the energy we use to do our daily work. I want people to know about the USDA. This is a very important department. Its not fully appreciated as such. – Tom Vilsack