Former deputy agriculture secretary Kathleen Merrigan will become a co-chair of the AGree farm-policy initiative, succeeding Gary Hirshberg, founder of the organic food company Stonyfield Farm. Hirshberg is a leader in the campaign to label GMO foods. As a Senate staff worker, Merrigan had a key role in legislation creating the national organic program in 1990 and in implementing it nearly a decade later at the USDA. She was deputy secretary from 2009-13. There are three other co-chairs at AGree.
AGree was formed four years ago with support from foundations with an interest in agriculture and food policy. Among its goals are “to break down barriers and work across issue areas” to build consensus on food and ag policy for the future. In a farewell blog, Hirshberg said AGree “developed recommendations that will help us be better prepared for the challenges facing the global food and agriculture system. And now we are working together to drive change through policy advocacy, demonstration projects, and continued convening around thorny issues.”
Last November, AGree issued a set of policy papers and announced a transition: “Going forward, AGree will be structured as an initiative-focused and partner-driven effort” for the implementation and advocacy of its ideas. The policy papers covered conservation, immigration reform, public nutrition and international food security. AGree has not issued a paper on U.S. farm subsidies.
“AGree is exploring the potential to use federal crop insurance to drive broader adoption of agricultural conservation practices,” said chief of staff Heather Lair in an email. “As part of this process, AGree and its advisors and partners are supporting data integration and analysis to better understand and quantify the correlations between soil health, conservation practice adoption, yield, and yield variability.”