Tom Vilsack is Big Ag’s Puppet in Washington

Few figures embody the corporate capture of American government officials quite like Tom Vilsack. As Secretary of Agriculture under both Obama and Biden, Vilsack has consistently championed the interests of large agribusiness corporations at the expense of small farmers, workers, consumers, and rural communities. Let’s take a look at some of the ways Vilsack has let us all down – while boosting Big Ag’s profits.

​​The Revolving Door: From Government to Industry and Back 

The most glaring example of Vilsack's corporate allegiances may be his time as a dairy industry lobbyist between his stints as Agriculture Secretary. After leaving the Obama administration, Vilsack raked in nearly $1 million a year working for the U.S. Dairy Export Council. This blatant example of the revolving door between government and industry exposes Vilsack’s true allegiances. As Biden’s agriculture secretary, Vilsack has continued to be Big Dairy’s darling, despite the industry’s abysmal record on sustainability and animal welfare.

Failing Farmers of Color: A Troubling Civil Rights Record

Vilsack's record on civil rights and support for farmers of color is deeply troubling. A two-year investigation by The Counter found that despite touting a new era for marginalized farmers in the press, Vilsack’s USDA made little more than “cosmetic changes.” During his tenure, the USDA was six times more likely to foreclose on a Black farmer than a white farmer. Vilsack's USDA also misrepresented data to falsely suggest an increase in Black farming, while in reality, Black farmers continued to face significant discrimination.

Compromising Food Safety and Public Health

When it comes to protecting public health, Vilsack's USDA has repeatedly fallen short. In 2011, his department refused to declare dangerous salmonella strains adulterants, leading to thousands of hospitalizations and deaths in the years since. Moreover, under Vilsack's leadership, the USDA implemented a new poultry inspection system that transferred some inspection duties from USDA staff to the meat industry itself. This change raised serious concerns about food safety, with one USDA consumer safety inspector stating, “If this proposal goes through and inspectors are cut, I would not feel safe enough to feed [poultry] to my family.”

Prioritizing Profits Over Worker Safety

Worker safety has also been compromised under Vilsack's leadership. His USDA has supported policies that increase line speeds in meat processing plants, putting workers at greater risk of injury. These decisions prioritize industry profits over the wellbeing of workers, many of whom are immigrants and people of color. Likewise, higher line speeds contributed to worse working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, as plants with faster line speeds were 10 times more likely to have COVID-19 cases.

Environmental Negligence: Supporting Harmful Agricultural Practices

Many of Vilsack's policies have been disastrous for the environment. His USDA approved pesticide-promoting GMOs that led to increased use of hazardous herbicides. His support for industrial-scale animal agriculture has exacerbated issues of manure mismanagement and pollution. For example, Vilsack promotes inefficient methane digesters, effectively subsidizing large-scale industrial animal operations that are major sources of pollution, rather than addressing the root causes of climate change.

Undermining Animal Welfare Protections

Animal welfare has suffered under Vilsack's leadership as well. He has supported measures to overturn animal protection laws like California's monumental Proposition 12, which banned extreme confinement practices in animal agriculture. In fact, he’s actively campaigning on behalf of industrial pork producers who are using the Farm Bill as a tool to dismantle Proposition 12 and similar legislation in other states. Animal welfare advocates argue that Vilsack's approach is undemocratic and threatens the progress countless American citizens, farmers, and public health organizations have made in opposing inhumane and hazardous animal confinement practices.

Enabling Anti-Competitive, Monopolistic Practices in Agriculture

Perhaps most critically, Vilsack has failed to address growing consolidation and monopolistic practices in the agricultural sector. Despite promises to promote competition in the livestock and poultry industries, Vilsack's USDA has dragged its feet for years and failed to block huge mergers, allowing further consolidation. The result is a disastrous loss of small- and mid-size farms and the rapid growth of multinational food corporations. As Chris Petersen, an Iowa hog farmer, grimly noted, “Approximately 92 percent of independent pig farmers are gone and the infrastructure for that type of agriculture is going and a lot of it is gone already.”

Vilsack's Defiance in the Face of Criticism, and a Call for Accountability

In the face of mounting criticism, Vilsack remains defiant. “People can criticize,” he says, “I don't pay any attention to it. My focus is on trying to make sure that small and mid-sized operators have a fair shot.” His actions tell us otherwise.

Vilsack's leadership at the USDA has been a boon for corporate interests and a disaster for small farmers, workers, consumers, and the environment. His tenure has been marked by a consistent pattern of prioritizing industry profits over public good, compromising on key issues from civil rights to food safety, and failing to address the critical challenges facing our agricultural system.

When will President Biden start holding Secretary Vilsack accountable? We need a secretary who stands up to corporate interests and fights for the greater good. Tom Vilsack has shown us time and again that he is not that leader. The American people deserve better.