Organic Report Fall 2021 - Flipbook - Page 20
JENNY LESTER MOFFITT UNDERGOES CONFIRMATION
I
n late April, President Joe Biden nominated Jenny Lester
Moffitt to serve as USDA’s Agriculture Under Secretary for
Marketing and Regulatory Programs. On July 15, she
underwent her confirmation hearing with the U.S. Senate’s
Agriculture Committee.
In her testimony, she talked about how she grew up and
worked on her family’s farm. “My roots are in agriculture,” she
said. “As a kid, I would walk the orchard with my dad after
dinner to change the irrigation system. I grew up spending
spring breaks painting the trunks of our young walnut trees to
prevent sunburn. I grew up raising market lambs in 4-H and
FFA, and planting buffer strips in our orchard to attract
beneficial insects.”
“We are working hard to protect the [organic] brand and
to expand a number of issues and opportunities for the
organic industry … We recognize the value-added
opportunities that it presents, and we think it is an
important — a very important part of the industry that
will help us to a much better, climate-friendly
agriculture.”
—Secretary Vilsack
Her family’s organic
walnut farm and processing
operation is Dixon Ridge
Farms, a member of the
Organic Trade Association
since 2004. When she was 12
years old, her father converted
to organic production.
After graduating from
Brown University, she worked
for the American Farmland
Trust. She later returned to the
family farm to help with sales and marketing, then went to the
California Department of Food and Agriculture first as
Deputy Secretary from 2015 to 2018, and most recently as
Under Secretary.
As a farmer and policymaker, she has engaged with
agricultural stakeholders on the critically important balance of
sustaining the environment, strengthening rural economics
and building healthy communities.
In her new role, she will focus on facilitating the domestic
and international marketing of U.S. agricultural products
including organic, ensuring the health and care of animals and
plants, and setting national and international standards.
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20
Organic Report • Fall 2021
