The Shopping Cart Economist

Mr. President, I’d like to take a moment to welcome you to your first day on the job. You’ve had the position for less than 12 hours, and already, you’ve delivered several speeches that spoke of your goals for the nation, and the world around us.

In all honesty, though I did not vote you into your new position, even I can appreciate the magnitude of the mess you are walking into today. The economy is in a shambles. The stock market fell even as you celebrated. Once strong retailers like Circuit City, which laid off 34,000 people this week (as you prepared for your new job), are now defunct and on their way to becoming a case study in a business textbook. As the wife of a soldier facing a deployment this spring, I can hope that you’ll take care with our military and guide them out of the Middle East safely.

But as you enjoy what has been an impressive first day, and as you prepare for the overwhelming challenges of the coming months, I hope you’ll keep your eye turned to the parts of government that might be easy to overlook in the face of multiple, mounting crises.

The famed chef Alice Waters implored your wife to consider an organic vegetable garden at the White House. While Ms. Waters dedication to healthy eating is to be commended, tilling up the White House lawn to plant a garden would be a token gesture. I would ask that you look at the broader issues surrounding food and agriculture policy for the country.

In this term, government agencies like USDA and the FDA need your attention. Our US farmers are struggling terribly right now. The change in the economy is threatening our food production. The average age of a US farmer is between 60-65. A younger generation needs to be encouraged to farm and be rewarded for the thankless task of feeding this nation. Economic policies should be reflective of individual efforts by non-farming Americans to grow food for themselves, their families, and their community.

Reuters News Service reported last month that one in 10 Americans is participating in the food stamp program. More than half of the nation’s children require food assistance through child nutrition programs. In my state of Oregon, we have some of the country’s highest levels of hunger. The Oregon Center for Public Policy’s 2003 survey found that one in five with hunger insecurity will consider suicide as an alternative to going without food. One could presume that statistic is not an anomaly to my state alone.

As a nation, we cannot expect to go forward from today and continue to be a consumer society. We’ve learned the hard way that our need for material goods has been our Achilles heel. We’ve lost our manufacturing capabilities in most market sectors. Food production is still the one thing we do well. In your speech today, you reflected that we will help the world’s poor to farm and clean their water.

Sir, please understand that while 10% of our country requiring government aid for food pales in comparison to the need in third-world countries, we’re walking down a path with our food policies and lack of support for our food agencies that could have devastating results. Our own struggles with water are on the horizon. California farmers are already preparing for a less productive harvest this year due to anticipated water shortages. Our challenge won’t just lie in teaching our neighbor in another country to farm his land, but if we cannot continue to produce and export our agriculture products, our neighbor will surely starve, and many Americans will starve beside him.

President Obama, while financial crises, mortgage meltdowns and a war on two fronts will be top of mind for you tomorrow, please remember that a “back to basics” mindset will be what pulls this country up out of the mire. A child cannot learn and become the next great inventor, businessman, or leader if he sits in his chair at school hungry. Back to basics in 2009 should include funding and building agricultural infrastructure and developing food policies that will sustain my children and the global neighborhood for years to come.

I wish you good luck today as you start your new position. I hope that when 2012 rolls around, you’ll have delivered the hope and change you promised. Your daughters, my sons, and the world will depend on it!