-----Original Message-----
From: Chrys Ostrander [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 11:44 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [SANET-MG] Support Jim Riddle as USDA Marketing Chief
Folks,
Jim Riddle is a well known and well respected
authority on organic and sustainable agriculture
who has indicated to me a strong desire to serve
the Barack Obama Administration in some capacity
at the USDA. He has indicated that his experience
and background well suit him for consideration as
Administrator of the USDA Agricultural Marketing
Service or the Organic Program Coordinator
position that possibly is being created in the USDA Secretary's office.
My friend and colleague, Goldie Caughlin, the
Nutrition Education Coordinator at
<http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/>Puget
<http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/>Consumer
<http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/>Co-op in
Seattle says "Jim and I served on the National
Organic Standards Board together for five years.
He is exceptionally knowledgeable and qualified,
as I'm sure all who've had any amount of contact
with him and his work are aware. He has a deeply
evident sense of fairness and justice, and is the
most diplomatic and patient educator and
negotiator I believe I've ever known, remaining
positive, diplomatic and cordial in even the most
trying of circumstances -- and there were many
during the especially contentious times on the
NOSB." These qualities, and the experience
represented in the following biographical sketch,
in my mind help make Jim Riddle a person worthy
of widespread support and I urge anyone reading
this to contact your Congressional Delegation
TODAY (especially if you have a Democratic
Senator or two in your state) and voice your
support for his consideration for a job at the
new USDA. You should also send messages of
support directly to the Obama Transition Team at
<http://www.change.gov/page/s/contact>http://www.change.gov/page/s/conta
ct.
Chrys Ostrander, Davenport, WA
Jim offers this statement as part of his
expression of desire to serve in the new
administration: "Given the challenges of climate
change, ocean dead zones, groundwater
contamination, soil erosion, energy, obesity,
diabetes, food safety, farm subsidies, nutrition,
and food security, the Obama Administration has
the opportunity to make a significant shift in US
agriculture policy by investing in cost-effective
sustainable food and farming systems.
"The USDA must lead the transition to a green
economy by implementing policies that support
ecologically-sound food and fiber systems;
conservation and environmental stewardship;
renewable and efficient energy; and
consumer-driven markets, providing stable and
sustainable incomes for family farmers and
ranchers; supporting vibrant, web-accessed rural
communities; and encouraging a new generation of
farmers, ranchers, and gardeners. There is work to do!"
Biographical sketch:
(a complete vitae is available at
<file:///C:/DOCUME~1/HP_ADM~1/LOCALS~1/Temp/www.thefutureisorganic.net/J
Riddle-2008-Bio.pdf>www.thefutureisorganic.net/JRiddle-2008-Bio.pdf)
Jim Riddle was raised on a small dairy and
produce farm near Colfax, Iowa. As with many farm
kids, he spent his summers baling hay,
de-tasseling corn, and walking beans, until he
received a Maytag Foundation scholarship. Riddle
graduated from Grinnell College, where he
received degrees in Biology and Political Science
and an Iowa teaching certificate in 1978. He
worked as an Iowa State Senate aide, researching
alternatives to Iowa's property tax system, and
taught junior high school in Grinnell, before moving to Minnesota in
1980.
Since 1980, Jim Riddle has been an organic
farmer, gardener, conservation district
supervisor, organic inspector, educator, policy
advisor, author, organizer, and avid organic
eater. He and his wife, Joyce, have lived off the
grid since 1984, producing all of their power
from the sun, wind, and woods, living in their
owner-built, energy-efficient earth-sheltered
home. They raise a big garden and put up much of
their own food. For the Riddle family,
sustainability and green living are not just slogans - they are a way of
life.
Riddle's involvement in agricultural policy began
in 1983, when he was asked to serve on the
Lewiston, MN steering committee of the Land
Stewardship Project, a group dedicated to "stop
treating our soil like dirt" and "keeping the
land and people together." He has been a member
of the National Farmers Union since 1986, the
year he was elected to serve on the Winona County
Soil and Water Conservation District Board, where
he helped implement innovative programs such as
tree plantings with school groups and
soil-building crop rotation incentives for farmers.
In 1987, Jim Riddle was founding president of the
Winona Farmers Market Association, which remains
a thriving local foods market. He continues his
work on local food systems as an active member of
the Winona County Economic Development Authority,
helping provide economic opportunities to area
farmers and processors. As a Jesse Jackson
delegate to the DNC in 1988, Riddle spoke of the
need to invest in local, organic, and
environmentally-sound food and farming systems.
Jim Riddle began doing organic inspections in the
late-1980's, and was founding chair of the
International Organic Inspectors Association
(IOIA). He is co-author of the IFOAM/IOIA
International Organic Inspection Manual, which
has been translated into 5 languages and is used
as the definitive text for the training of
organic inspectors worldwide. Since 1991, he has
trained hundreds of organic inspectors throughout
the world. Riddle helped develop standardized
organic certification and inspection
<http://attra.org/organic.html>forms, which are
used by numerous
<http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=Templ
ateN&navID=CertifiersNOPNationalOrganicProgramHome&rightNav1=CertifiersN
OPNationalOrganicProgramHome&topNav=&leftNav=NationalOrganicProgram&page
=NOPCertifiers&resultType=&acct=nopgeninfo>USDA-accredited
certification agencies. He served as a member of
the US delegation to Codex, helping develop and
adopt the Codex International
<http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/standard_list.do?lang=en>Organic
Guidelines. He co-authored the
<http://www.ota.com/>Organic Trade Association's
1999 American Organic
<http://www.ota.com/news/press/96.html>Standards,
an influential document leading up to adoption of
the US National Organic Program
(<http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=Temp
lateF&navID=RegulationsNOPNationalOrganicProgramHome&rightNav1=Regulatio
nsNOPNationalOrganicProgramHome&topNav=&leftNav=NationalOrganicProgram&p
age=NOPRegulations&resultType=&acct=noprulemaking>NOP)
<http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?type=simple;c=ecfr;cc=ecf
r;sid=4163ddc3518c1ffdc539675aed8efe33;region=DIV1;q1=national>Final
Rule.
Jim Riddle has served on the Minnesota Department
of Agriculture's
<http://www.mda.state.mn.us/food/organic/default.htm>Organic
Advisory Task Force since 1991, and, in 1998, was
instrumental in passage of Minnesota's landmark
organic certification cost-share program, which
reimburses a portion of a farmer's certification
fees, now a national program in the 2008
<http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bill
s&docid=f:h6124eh.txt>Farm
Bill. He helped the MN-NRCS establish incentives
for conventional farmers to convert to organic
production under EQIP. He contributed to adoption
of the Minnesota Organic
<http://www.mda.state.mn.us/food/organic/mou.htm>Memorandum
of Understanding, signed by the leaders of 4
Federal (NRCS, RMA, FSA, USDA-RD), 3 State (MDA,
DNR, MPCA), and 3 University departments (CFANS, UMN-EXT, UMN-ROCs).
In January 2001, near the end of the Clinton
Administration, Jim Riddle was appointed to the
USDA's
<http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=Templ
ateQ&navID=NOSBHomeNOPNationalOrganicProgramHome&rightNav1=NOSBHomeNOPNa
tionalOrganicProgramHome&topNav=&leftNav=NationalOrganicProgram&page=NOS
BHome&description=NOSB&acct=nosb>National
Organic Standards Board. He served on the
Executive Committee for 5 years and was chair in
2005. He has worked with the Agricultural
Marketing Service; Economic Research Service;
Cooperative State Research, Education, and
Extension Service; Agricultural Research Service;
Natural Resource Conservation Service; Risk
Management Agency; National Ag Library; Foreign
Ag Service; National Ag Statistics Service; and
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.
Jim Riddle has provided support to State
Departments of Agriculture in Minnesota, Iowa,
Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas, Maine, Oregon, North
Dakota, Montana, North and South Carolina,
Mississippi, Louisiana, California, Washington,
Georgia, Utah, Idaho, and New York and has
collaborated with
<http://organicecology.umn.edu/links/>numerous
universities, certification agencies, and
non-profit food, agriculture, consumer, and
environmental groups, implementing policies that support sustainable
systems.
Since January 2006, Riddle has worked as the
<http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/index.php>University
of Minnesota's Organic Outreach Coordinator,
developing and giving farmer workshops and
presentations, and managing the UMN's
<http://www.organicecology.umn.edu/>Organic
Ecology website. He also chairs the Leadership
Team for <http://www.eorganic.info/>eOrganic, a
national multi-university
<http://www.extension.org/>Extension Service
initiative developing electronic resources for
organic farmers, researchers, and Extension
Agents. He is a frequent speaker at food and
agricultural conferences and a leading voice for
sustainable agriculture and local food systems.
Date of Birth: February 16, 1956.
Family: Wife - Joyce E. Ford, daughters Laura
Elizabeth (1981) and Sonja Jeanne (1985). Father
- John Perry Riddle (1908-1969), Mother - Sigrid
Faaborg Riddle (1919-1992), former personal secretary to Mrs. Henry A.
Wallace.
=====================
This message originated from or was forwarded by:
Chrys Ostrander
Chrysalis Farm @ Tolstoy
Organic Micro-permaculture
33495 Mill Canyon Rd.
Davenport, WA 99122
509-725-0610
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
http://www.thefutureisorganic.net
"From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs"
Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc - "The organization of work" 1839
Karl Marx - "Critique of the Gotha Program" 1875
"The purpose of agriculture is not the production
of food, but the perfection of human beings"
Masanobu Fukuoka (February 2, 1913 - August 16,
2008) - "One Straw Revolution" 1978
"We will never have an organic future and a
stable climate until we pull all the troops out of Iraq
and redirect our annual $650 billion military
budget to greening the economy and guaranteeing
a sustainable environment and economic justice for everyone."
Ronnie Cummins, National Director, Organic Consumers Association
at the "Farms Not Arms" public forum and protest in Manhattan,
September, 2007
Please consider making a contribution towards my
sustainable agriculture organizing work.
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=42
4800>https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_i
d=424800
Thank you.
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