Vilsack: Fruits and Veggies Among New USDA Priorities

(MoneyWatch)  Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack took the public stage Monday, giving his first official press conference and laying out the Department of Agriculture's top priorities under the new administration.

He acknowledged the obesity epidemic and said he was reversing a previous USDA decision which would have taken $3.2 million out of a specialty crop block program and used those funds to enforce country of origin labeling (COOL) instead.

"It is clear, from what President Obama has indicated to me, that he wants this department to promote nutrition through the use of healthy fruits and vegetables," Vilsack said. (Does anyone know how things as basic as fruits and vegetables came to be known as "specialty crops," by the way?)

The new COOL rules were among the many Bush Administration regulations that President Obama froze in order to give the new administration time to review them. Vilsack stressed that he supports COOL, but he wants to examine the details, as there has been some doubt as to whether the system to be implemented was strict enough.

Vilsack also announced that the USDA was extending the comment period for the Bush Administration's last-minute rule on commodity payment limits. This gives the department 60 additional days to seek feedback and figure out the best way to "limit and reduce the number of times that payments are going to people that aren't eligible," he said. He emphasized that 2009 crop payments would not be affected.

Those were the only two specific policy steps mentioned, but he talked about addressing climate change, making the ethanol industry more efficient, promoting rural Internet access, and modernizing the USDA's IT infrastructure. He also reiterated what Obama said recently about transparency and ethics in government and stated that the USDA "has an incredible opportunity to combat childhood obesity and to enhance health and nutrition."

A transcript of the press conference, along with audio, is available at the USDA website, along with the department's press release summary of the event.