92 Forces Driving More
for the overall consequences. Letting others underwrite the costs of
growing corn or raising hogs through subsidies is just good business.
Polluting a stream or pumping methane into the air no longer carries
personal consequences. Helping uphold a sense of community is sec-
ondary. Business relationships with others are purely transactional.
Unsurprisingly, every so often—especially after social media reports
of abuse—the public rails against government subsidies and spending.
In the modern food system, much of that ire is directed at the United
States Department of Agriculture. As one who has worked for USDA,
I can report that being on the inside was both insightful and sometimes
frustrating.
Coming straight from Farmland Industries, I soon realized how
much I underestimated bureaucratic rigmarole. My new director,
who also came from industry, offered some advice. You will find two
types of people who work for the government, he told me as I came
on board: those who are doing something and those who are trying to
stop those who are doing something.
I worked with both. The “stoppers” ranged from administrative
gatekeepers to political appointees. They drained enthusiasm and
productivity. Fortunately, the majority of those I worked with were
consummate professionals, able to rise above the bureaucratic grind,
often arriving early and leaving late to complete the task at hand.
Although I was based in Colorado, I spent significant time in
Washington, DC, where I learned about the vast number of programs
within USDA. For every program, one or more interest groups were
lobbying Congress for additional funding or protection from budget
cuts. When budgets were generous, obliging each group was easy.
When budgets were tight, programs without well-connected lobbyists
were often the first casualties.
USDA is part of Lincoln’s legacy. In his last annual message to Con-
gress, Lincoln commended the department for advancing “a great and
vital interest,” writing, “It is precisely the people’s Department, in which
they feel more directly concerned than in any other.” USDA leveraged
the people’s goodwill to build the only department headquarters ac-
tually located on the National Mall. Only a last-minute intervention by
President Theodore Roosevelt kept the headquarters from being built
smack in the middle.