• Dave Murphy
• Calls to Action, Food, Energy, and Agriculture Commentary
• October 29, 2010

A Victory Here In Iowa Crucial To Food Movement

by Dave Murphy

In case you haven’t heard, there’s an exciting race in the Midwest heading for a serious showdown. Here in Iowa, this year’s match for the state’s Secretary of Agriculture race is between an organic dairy farmer and the current ag secretary, a corn and soybean farmer, is in a statistical dead heat.

Currently, Francis Thicke is set to overtake his opponent, Bill Northey, a Republican with long ties to agribusiness giants like Monsanto, Syngenta, CropLife, Farm Bureau and Wal-Mart.

In the 2010 election alone, Northey has hauled in more than $273,000 in agribusiness cash. Since 2006, Northey has taken more than $11,000 from Monsanto, $5,000 from Koch Industries and $10,000 from an Iowa factory farm and ethanol promoter.

While Francis’ opponent has been able to raise $10,000 checks from agribusiness giants, Francis has relied on the strong grassroots efforts of friends and members of the sustainable and local foods movement.

Now Francis needs your help to close the gap. Chipping in $10, $25 or $50 could help unseat agribusiness here in Iowa.

A victory in this race would be critical for making inroads in upcoming political battles leading up to the 2012 Farm Bill. Already Francis has received endorsements from: Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, Bill McKibben, Jim Hightower, Senator Tom Harkin and Michael Pollan.

Michael Pollan has called the race for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture:

“The most important race this year.”

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), former head of the Senate Ag Committee, said:

“Thicke is one of the best ag secretary candidates ever.”

Right now, an organic farmer is poised to become Secretary of Agriculture right in the heart of agribusiness. All Francis needs is some additional support to help spread Francis’ message in commercials and radio ads.

If you want to help build local food systems and create new opportunities for farmers, help put Francis in office. You can help by chipping in $10, $25 or $50 to spread Francis’ message about rebuilding local economies through local foods.

Please forward this email to 3 friends, your help could make all the difference.

As always, thanks for your support.

Dave Murphy

The opinion expressed above is the personal opinion of Dave Murphy, and should not be taken to represent the views of Food Democracy Now!