Department of Agriculture - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Department of Agriculture Index / Organizations Transcripts Esther Brimmer ...the Department of Energy, and Department of Agriculture , and Health and Huma... Rob Nabors ...Protection Agency] and Ag [ Department of Agriculture ] sort of looking at the world an... Krysta Harden ...deputy secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] from 2013 to 2016, as chief o... ...States Department of Agriculture [ USDA ] from 2013 to 2016, as chief of staf... ...as chief of staff at the United States Department of Agriculture from 2011 to 2013, and as assistan... ...relations at the United States Department of Agriculture from 2009 to 2011. In this interview... ...relations at the United States Department of Agriculture . How did you come to be invited t... ...I also wanted to make a difference at USDA . I wanted the president to b... ...to approach the relationship between USDA and Congress, saying, “There must b... ...agriculture, and the rural economy. One USDA publication about the Recovery Ac... ...engagement through a different part of USDA ? No, I did hear. I was sitting a... ...extremely engaged in this effort. We at USDA were soldiers with the White Hous... ...There are tools to do that through USDA programs. Our school lunch program—s... ...more years. Did those first years at USDA change how you saw Congress as a... ...House. Did those first few months at USDA give you a different sense of th... ...pandemic influenza. I've read that USDA was preparing for a potential H1N... ...in communicating with Congress about USDA 's preparations? Yes. There was a lo... ...again.” Can you talk a bit about how USDA thought about the reputational risks o... ...not something that I knew as much about USDA 's role, but was educated prett... ...character who knew food safety and USDA as well as anybody. I spent a lot o... ...sure we understood about the role of USDA in food safety. But Al was a grea... ...fingertips. That's so wonderful about USDA , is folks who've dedicated their live... ...Congress about that? Yes, mainly from USDA it was members of Congress who said... ...of Congress who said, “Keep what USDA has jurisdiction over within USDA.” I... ...what USDA has jurisdiction over within USDA .” It seemed like there were alway... ...wanted to pull different functions of USDA out and form either another agency, ... ...thought of as part of your portfolio at USDA , and that is to assist in th... ...the immense number of things in which USDA was involved? Most definitely. It's ... ...and I wanted to ask about USDA 's efforts to settle the discriminatio... ...the right time to change your role at USDA ? It was very interesting. We ha... ...started letting folks know, outside of USDA , that I would be willing to leave... ...Did that election have an impact on how USDA saw the path forward and the path fo... ...harsh, harsh loss for us. Did it make USDA , in your memories, think of ways t... ...deputy secretary at the United States Department of Agriculture . How did you come to be invited t... ...officer. You've noted before that USDA had a hundred thousand employees, th... ...you tried to learn about the scope of USDA 's functions when you were appointe... ...the US government in my hometown was USDA . It was the Farm Service Agency [FSA]... ...office, quasi-government, and you had USDA . I knew the opportunity that we had a... ...I knew the opportunity that we had at USDA to make an impact, to influence, t... ...in the way I grew up around USDA . Not all of its work, as we've talke... ...the Farm Service Agency doesn't talk to USDA .” And I said, “Well, it is USDA.” It'... ...talk to USDA.” And I said, “Well, it is USDA .” It's just that disconnect out in th... ...times the government has shut down and USDA had already had its budget cleared i... ...in which the shutdown had an impact on USDA ? I do remember that it went longe... ...farm subsidies. Broadly speaking, did USDA have a position on decoupling thos... ...fifty-eight. Broadly speaking, how had USDA , during your entire time there... ...as you ascended through the ranks at USDA ? From day one. All of my publi... ...as going to the farmer's market at USDA . We have visitors from all over th... ...Compared with 2009, when your tenure at USDA began, what changes had you seen in th... ...areas. We really started looking at USDA programs. The secretary was very muc... ...funds that we had access to at USDA , making sure they were used to buil... ...administration more broadly, outside of USDA , had been consistently interested i... ...the rural economy across your tenure at USDA , or do you think they wer... ...He looked for resources not only within USDA but within other agencies that we coul... ...a trade mission to Africa to inaugurate USDA 's Sub-Saharan Africa Trade Initiative... ...the trade missions I did and led from USDA . The women—bless them, the differenc... ...context. I've read that you visited USDA 's Caribbean Climate Sub-Hub in Rí... ...aims of the regional climate hubs and USDA 's involvement with them? It reall... ...you signed in April of 2015 as part of USDA 's Food for Progress program wit... ...to get to this little rural school. USDA donated products through our program... ...they have had the food through the USDA feeding programs for five years or si... ...getting from the partnership with USDA and the partnership with the U... ...the Agriculture Research Service, at USDA has worked with NASA for a long time t... ...We did things in the garden at USDA . One of the things we do is actuall... ...about the breadth and the touches of USDA , how extreme they really are. I'l... ...with the touches and the breadth of USDA ?” He kind of had heard th... ...the a section, and I will connect it to USDA .” Nobody could stump him, and the... ...of service, I knew a lot about USDA because I had worked around it, been ... ...had no idea the breadth, the depth of USDA . And I think Secretary Vilsack reall... ...hard over this past seven years to make USDA truly the people's department, a... ...think about the span of your tenure at USDA , how had you wanted to change th... ...had you wanted to change the culture at USDA , and do you think you were successfu... ...I take comfort in knowing today's USDA is there to support their dreams.... ...ours was. By and large, people saw USDA as a partner, and that was reinforce... ...reinforced to me. I think the role of USDA really came to life to me. I mentione... Show more... Janie Simms Hipp ...and director of the United States Department of Agriculture 's Office of Tribal Relations durin... ...Institute of Food and Agriculture at USDA and director of risk managemen... ...at the Risk Management Agency at USDA . Outside of government, she has serve... ...serves as general counsel at the Department of Agriculture . In this interview, we will not b... ...there and come back?” And I was like, “ USDA is where I'm supposed to be. Farmin... ...became national program leader for the USDA National Institute of Food an... ...was the first time you'd served within USDA . Oh, yeah. I actually told myself a... ...I never saw that I would work for USDA . But at some point, when given th... ...lawyer, you need to get inside USDA and actually see how government works... ...between the secretary, the entire Department of Agriculture , and every tribe in the United States... ...out to change the relationship between USDA and tribes? Well, you know, clarity... ...for me, because I had been at USDA a few years prior, so I saw how thing... ...too, because—and I love it so much, but USDA is interesting because we ar... ...Because if you look at the portfolio of USDA 's authorities, we can make a hug... ...want to talk about a water program at USDA , but they would always start talkin... ...would they start that conversation? At USDA . The other thing that everyone need... ...the needs of tribes, so that USDA could better meet them, from you... ...really have to take the time to do it. USDA moves around a lot [laughs] becaus... ...that we saw happen when I was there at USDA before continue now, which wa... ...conversations inside our buildings at USDA to try to unpack why the action wa... ...that into policy: in February of 2011, USDA 's Office of Tribal Relations asked fo... ...on consulting with tribes about USDA policy. Given what your experiences ha... ...farmers and ranchers in accessing USDA programs. The Council for Nativ... ...they are one of the loan places where USDA does loans. The other place where we d... ...lot of folks don't even know that about USDA is that we have two banks [laughs... ...don't get to just play with one part of USDA ; because that's not how we're set up... ...farmers, did it change how they saw USDA as an agency when they started t... ...it's all of the agency leads of all of USDA all in one spot with all the triba... ...had regular quarterly meetings between USDA officials and tribal leadership... ...inspirational to me, in the place at USDA that I chose to be, that is in lin... Show more... Kevin Concannon ...Consumer Services at the United States Department of Agriculture from 2009 to 2017. In this interview w... ...is a major part, as you know, of the US Department of Agriculture [USDA] . It represents—when I was ther... ...of the US Department of Agriculture [ USDA ] . It represents—when I was there i... ...So over the nearly eight years I was at USDA , I visited, I think, forty-five of th... ...I think back to Costco. When I was at USDA , Costco opened their first Costc... ...And you also, during your time at USDA , worked to make SNAP eligible a... ...as the DHS director, but when I got to USDA , there were nine hundred authorize... ...were a proponent, during your time at USDA , of adding behaviorists to the sort o... ...but you give it to us—” because the USDA would purchase this “—but it comes i... ...label? They were food purchased by USDA .” He said, “They'll be the last item... ...Monte beans, right? So I went back to USDA —I'm telling you, it took me more tha... ...the summertime, during your time at USDA . Had the need for meals in th... ...Hunger-Free Kids Act also change how USDA sourced food from suppliers for th... ...meals per meal based on foods that the USDA purchased for the school, and that'... ...example, the canned vegetables that the USDA purchases even to this date have les... ...and vegetables on the contract that the USDA had bid. So that was another way wher... ...enough to talk about the way in which USDA exercises flexibility in implementin... ...read about the number of ways in which USDA gathered feedback about the Nationa... ...Then it comes to the staff of both USDA and HHS [Department of Health and Huma... ...guidelines for school lunches. USDA goes through all of those comments? ... ...that debate from your vantage point at USDA about why that debate exists ove... ...say, “Hey, this is outrageous. It's the Department of Agriculture , but all that money is going for thes... ...as you came into the position at USDA . Wou said in 2011, “We're no... ...people you mentioned, they worked for USDA and their job is to identify food stam... ...six or seven months to say, “Well, does USDA really honor that?” Well, they actuall... ...met President Obama during your time at USDA . I did. I did. I mean, we go... ...Consumer Services at the United States Department of Agriculture from 2009 to 2017. This is a secon... ...meals for students, healthier USDA -purchased foods that were part of th... ...partner in what you wanted to do at USDA differently after they—after you... ...the Food and Nutrition Service in the Department of Agriculture . Actually, industry, generall... ...programs, during your time at USDA ? And do you think that the way tha... ...programs changed during your time at USDA ? I think it came along. To you... ...out in your mind still that you saw USDA in one way when you worked at the stat... ...of the act. Now, when I came into USDA , I had just come fresh from havin... Show more... Julián Castro ...Housing Administration] and the USDA [United States Department o... ...and the USDA [United States Department of Agriculture ] or FHFA [Federal Housing Financ... Kathleen Sebelius ...you more proactively look at this. The Department of Agriculture doesn't have nearly enough inspectors... ...it's split. And I would say that the Department of Agriculture maybe sees themselves more as ... Tom Harkin ...Secretary Vilsack, who was head of the USDA [United States Department o... ...who was head of the USDA [United States Department of Agriculture ] for the entire Obama administration... ...what way did Secretary Vilsack, and the USDA through him, broaden its idea abou... Cass Sunstein ...of cabinet agencies and the like; the Department of Agriculture , Health and Human Services, Veteran... 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