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On Saturday, June 29th the Iowa Green Party nominated
Brian Depew to run for state secretary of agriculture. Depew, a
northwest Iowa farmer and current Simpson College student, said, "
As corporate interests in agriculture continue to grow, it is more
important than ever for sustainable agriculture to be represented in the
political arena. I am delighted to be able to bring the Iowa Green Party
into the race for state secretary of agriculture."
Depew noted that he stands in great contrast to the two major party
candidates. "Patty Judge, our current Secretary of Agriculture, was
widely known to be in the pockets of the industrial pork producers in
the last election cycle. John Askew, the Republican candidate for state
secretary of agriculture is president of the Iowa Soybean Association.
We will not see any support for sustainable agriculture from either of
these two candidates," Depew said.
Depew listed; local control of confined animal feeding operations,
restoring full funding to the Leopold Center for Sustainable
Agriculture, and the exploration of alternative crops for Iowa as key
campaign issues. Furthermore, Depew notes that the issues in agriculture
are no longer a concern to only farmers. "We are talking about the
sustainability of our rural economy and the rural way of life. If the
current trends towards larger operations, and continued overproduction
continue we will face an extensive breakdown of the rural economy. I
plan to bring my campaign not only to concerned farmers, but also to the
urban population that has concerns about the environmental and economic
effects of our current agriculture system," said Depew.
Depew farms in northwest Iowa in the summer on his family's small,
diversified farm. Their farm is certified by the Animal Welfare
Institute, and they sell pork through Niman Ranch Pork company. Niman
Ranch is a group of farmers raising pigs in an environmentally and
animal friendly way. Depew manages the pasture farrowing operation on
their farm. During the school year Depew studies philosophy and
environmental science at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. He will be
senior this fall at Simpson. Depew joins Jay Robinson on the ballot this
fall. Robinson is the Iowa Green Party candidate for governor. The Iowa
Green Party has also nominated Holly Hart for lieutenant governor, Tim
Harthan for US senate, and Don Arenz for secretary of state.
http://www.greens.org/iowa/
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