Via @revolvingdoorDC: "Why Vilsack is the Wrong Choice to for USDA Secretary" https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/tom-vilsack-the-wrong-choice-for-usda-secretary/
Vilsack claimed he ushered in a “new era for civil rights” at USDA, overseeing a sudden increase in the # of Black farmers. But an investigation by @TheCounter found that Vilsack’s statements were at best extremely misleading, and at worst false. https://thecounter.org/usda-black-farmers-discrimination-tom-vilsack-reparations-civil-rights/
Vilsack oversaw the firing of Shirley Sherrod, a Black Agriculture Department official who was the target of a right-wing media smear campaign. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/us/politics/22sherrod.html
Soon after Sherrod’s firing, Vilsack asked her to return and take on the burden herself of addressing the USDA’s discriminatory history. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/us/politics/22sherrod.html
Despite a commitment to stand up to big ag companies, Vilsack was cozy with corporate agribusinesses whose control of the market harmed family farmers. He even appointed Monsanto-connected executives to serve under him. https://grist.org/article/2009-09-24-usda-obama-monsanto-organic/
Under Vilsack, the USDA rolled back regulations on genetically modified foods that corporate agribusiness like Monsanto lobbied hard against. https://grist.org/article/2011-01-27-in-stunning-reversal-usda-chief-vilsack-greenlights-monsantos-al/
Vilsack rolled back USDA oversight of slaughterhouses, releasing a plan that would decrease the number of federal inspectors required at each factory. This plan received harsh criticism from worker advocates. https://www.motherjones.com/food/2013/04/usda-inspectors-poultry-kill-lines-chicken/
After leaving government, he took a lucrative job at Dairy Management Inc. where he earns $1 million per year, the highest of all executives at the company. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/special-reports/dairy-crisis/2019/12/02/former-secretary-agriculture-tom-vilsack-top-paid-dairy-management-exec/4265818002/