Make the USDA 'The People's Department' Again

Years ago, Robert Kennedy noted that progress is hard. “Progress is nice,” he said, “but its agent is change, and change has its enemies.”

Kennedy’s recognition that gutsy, honest leadership is necessary to confront wealthy interests and advance the common good directly applies to one of the most important Cabinet appointments that Joe Biden will make: secretary of agriculture.

This might surprise most people, because the media and all recent presidents have dismissed agriculture as a second-tier, low-visibility slot — one that is essentially “owned” by the giants of industr...