Reuters: Politics: USDA's No. 2 official quits; she promoted local food, small farms

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USDA's No. 2 official quits; she promoted local food, small farms Mar 15th 2013, 15:16 Tweet Share this Email Print Analysis & Opinion Obesity and the unhealthy economy The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seen in Washington, March 18, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Gary Cameron WASHINGTON | Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:16am EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Kathleen Merrigan, who made promoting farmers markets and local food a top priority, has resigned as deputy agriculture secretary, a job that put her in charge of day-to-day operations of the mammoth federal department from 2009. There was no immediate word on Friday on a successor on Friday. The post requires Senate confirmation. Merrigan, 53 announced her decision on Thursday evening with no word of her future plans or her departure date. In 2010, Merrigan, who has a doctorate in environmental planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was listed among Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World." Merrigan spearheaded the "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" initiative at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to encourage local food production and marketing. Earlier, she had a leading role in developing national organic food-labeling rules. Mainline farm groups have said the USDA's promotion of small farms and local food production, and Merrigan's prominent role in it, was a sign of hostility to the so-called production agriculture that produces most U.S. food. Merrigan was director of a food and environment program at Tufts University before she was appointed deputy secretary. She headed the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service from 1999-2001 and as a Senate Agriculture Committee staff worker worked on the organic-food labeling law. (Reporting by Charles Abbott; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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