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2011 Power 50: No. 49 Tom Vilsack

At a press conference held last month to introduce the U.S. Department of Agriculture's new MyPlate dietary guideline icon, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack discussed improving the nation's diet in terms of preventative health care, improved education results, economic competitiveness and even national security.

“You've got to invest in the future,” he said. “And what MyPlate is, as the First Lady [Michelle Obama] indicated, is an investment in the future, because it's a thing that youngsters can easily grasp and take with them for the rest of their life to make sure that they have healthy, balanced, nutritious meals.”

The USDA's many divisions juggle tasks as diverse as improving access to broadband Internet in rural areas and providing assistance to U.S. farmers struck by wildfires, floods and other natural disasters. But, the department's ongoing efforts to implement Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative have put the USDA front and center in the nation's fight against childhood obesity.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, passed in December, will give the USDA more tools for that fight. It benefits all of the department's child nutrition programs, and allows the agency the opportunity to reform school lunch and breakfast programs using improved nutritional guidelines.

And, under Vilsack's leadership, the USDA hasn't simply relied on federal largesse. He has also worked to make the agency more efficient. Last month, USDA announced that in cooperation with state partners, it had improved payment accuracy and program integrity for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Program payment accuracy for fiscal 2010 was more than 96%, representing a $356 million reduction in incorrect payments.

The agency has also demonstrated a great deal of creativity developing programs to address the dual problems of hunger and obesity. USDA recently announced $10 million in funding for the Farmers Market Promotion Program, geared toward establishing and promoting farmers' markets in neighborhoods where residents have limited access to supermarkets.

And, USDA worked with Washington State University to establish the People's Garden School Pilot Program, a Healthy Gardens, Healthy Youth program that will explore the impact of using gardens at elementary schools to teach healthy eating habits.

The agency is also doing its part to educate U.S. families about safe food handling in an effort to reduce cases of foodborne illness, joining forces with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to launch Food Safe Families, a national, multimedia public service campaign that reminds citizens how to prepare food properly and avoid cross-contamination.

Of course, as a regulatory agency, some of the USDA's programs and rules are not without controversy in the U.S. food industry. For example, USDA is responsible for several aspects of the federal ethanol programs that have pressured the price of corn higher and have been central to the ongoing food vs. fuel debate. And, the agency's Food Safety and Inspection Service recently gave meat and poultry producers a one-year deadline to include nutritional labeling on 40 of the most popular items in the meat case. Retailers will also be required to comply with point-of-sale signs and other materials at service cases.