Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss
At the Senate Ag Committee meeting on Wednesday, Saxby Chambliss expressed some serious concerns over Department of Agriculture nominee Kathleen Merrigan: She has organic leanings.
According to La Vita Locavore, Chambliss, annoyed at Merrigan’s support of the Conservation Stewardship Program (which rewards producers for environmentally-responsible land use), was moved to drop some knowledge on Merrigan:
I do have some concerns that in promoting your passion for organic and sustainable agriculture that you tear down other types of agriculture and those with another point of view….
I would simply remind you that farmers and ranchers are the biggest environmentalists we have in America because they make their living off the land…I think it’s your lack in balance that concerns me the most… There is no logic to believing that any one method of production is any better than another….
[There are] as many arguments as there are for organic agriculture, there are just as many arguments against it… At the USDA your job isn’t to focus on one type of agriculture at the expense of the others.
Afterwards, it was decided to pass the nominees on to the Senate without a committee vote. Oh well, at least Saxy got to make a purty speech for his campaign contributors.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
