Ina speech before congress this week, President Barack Obama called outthe factory farming industry, saying, "We will end subsidies to largeagribusiness that don't need them."  Industrial agriculture and otherswho profit from the unhealthy status quo are responding. The WallStreet Journal reports, “Industries from health care to agribusiness tomining that stand to lose under President Barack Obama's policy agendaare ramping up lobbying campaigns to derail or modify his plans.”

Inthe coming months, citizens will need to be engaged to promote policiesthat are consistent with their own values and interests. Access tohealthy, affordable food should be a right, not a privilege. Organic(especially ‘veganic’) farmers who grow produce should be supported,while those who abuse animals, destroy the environment and sell foodproducts that contribute to heart disease, cancer, obesity and otherserious health risks, should be cut off. Ironically, the livestockindustry has received billions of dollars in public support. Thatapproach is dead wrong. We need to move away from industrial animalagriculture and toward growing fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains andother plant foods. Such a shift would not only prevent animalsuffering, but it would also be much more economically and ecologicallyefficient, and it would help to improve the heath of our nation’scitizens.

In his classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, JohnSteinbeck laments the hardships of family farmers pushed off the landby greedy interests, including “land and cattle” companies. And hewrites about the injustice and arrogance of agribusiness wieldingexcessive influence and seeking profit above all else, regardless ofthe harm caused to others: “There is a crime here that goes beyonddenunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize.There is a failure here that topples all our success. The fertileearth, the straight row trees, the sturdy trunks and the ripe fruit.And the children dying…” Steinbeck continues, “…and in the eyes of thepeople there is a failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is agrowing wrath. In the souls of the people, the grapes of wrath arefilling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.”

Sadly,the decline of small farmers and the destruction of rural communitiesat the hands of agribusiness make Steinbeck’s warning as prescient asit is relevant, even today.   Our animal centered food system has grownincreasing wasteful and sick, along with the state of our nation’shealth. But it doesn’t have to be this way. With citizen involvement,we can reform farm policy to place the public good above the interestsof the greedy. And as consumers, we can improve our own health and sendan important market signal to agribusiness every time we eat byeschewing meat, milk and eggs, and by choosing organic produce instead.

The new USDA Secretary recently announced his intention to create community gardensat every USDA facility around the world. This is a great start, but wehave a very long way to go. Still, with patience and persistence,change is inevitable. Recall the message of Cesar Chavez, a vegan andthe founder of the United Farm Workers, who said, “Si Se Puede” (Yes WeCan).