Food Democracy Now, the folks who brought us the unsuccessful petition for a more sustainable Secretary of Agriculture, have developed a list of 10 suggested policies that they hope the Obama Administration enacts in the first 100 days.  They have developed a set of steps that can be taken immediately to build "a 21st century food and agriculture system guided by sustainable farm and food principles".  The list was compiled with the input of leading advocates for sustainable agricultural values, all of which are consistent with the Rural Agenda laid out by presidential candidate Barack Obama.  They are:

1. Create a Local School Lunch Program that incorporates healthy and nutritious local fruits and vegetables purchased from area farmers.
2. Include emergency funding to fully fund the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) feeding program from funds allocated by the economic stimulus bill.
3. Fully fund and implement the Conservation Security Program (CSP) to provide farmers and ranchers the resources to implement sustainable environmental planning and best land management practices.
4. Implement payment limitations of $250,000 per farm operation as promised by Candidate Obama, closing loopholes, including significant holes in the requirement that payments go to working farmers only, which mega farms manipulate to their benefit, creating an unfair competitive advantage that harms independent family farmers.
5. Create an American Food Policy Council to focus on rebuilding our nation’s local and regional food systems, concentrating on infrastructure programs, growing the number of farmers markets in urban and rural areas while encouraging producers, processors, distributors and marketers to implement organic, sustainable and humane practices across the board.
6. Launch a National Soil Restoration Effort to restore the health of our nation’s soil, incorporating legislation and research grants to fund best practices in an effort to build a healthy soil future for our nation’s farmers, ranchers and growers.
7. Eliminate EQIP Funding for industrial CAFOs, shifting Environmental Quality Improvement Program (EQIP) resources to farmers who raise livestock sustainably, in harmony with nature, including farms with animals in pasture, free range or in bedded hoop houses or barns.
8. Initiate a National Transition to Organic Program that provides tax incentives to farmers who want to move to organic production, using the Woodbury County, Iowa model as an example.
9. Pass a Transparency in Food Labeling Act that informs American citizens of what is in their food and how it is produced, including how animals are kept, what chemicals, additives and/or hormones are used to grow and produce the food.
10. Hold a Rural Summit in the first 100 Days following the Inauguration in Iowa.

If you agree or just want to learn more, head over to the site and sign the petition.