***ACTION ALERT***

***ACTION ALERT***
MICHAEL POLLAN for U.S. SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE
WHAT: Get Pollan appointed United States Secretary of Agriculture
WHEN: Immediately
HOW: Through our U.S. Representatives and Senators

ACTIONS:
1. PLEASE CALL your Representative and two Senators. Ask for the Agriculture Aide. Speak to the Aide (leave a message if you have to) and say:

"My name is _____ and I live in your district. I want to see Michael Pollan appointed Secretary of Agriculture. I respectfully request that Representative______ [Senator_____] contact Mr. Obama and ask him to appoint Michael Pollan Secretary of Agriculture. Pollan's unique understanding of Agriculture makes him the best choice for Secretary. In his open letter to the next "Farmer in Chief," published in the New York Times magazine (on October 12), Mr. Pollan shows his understanding of the deep connections between farming and health, our economy, our environment and our national security.

I will be extremely dissatisfied if Mr. Obama appoints anyone other than Mr. Pollan as Secretary of Agriculture.

Thank you for speaking with me.

2. Please follow up your phone call with a fax (faxes are more effective than emails).

Your Representative: http://www.house.gov/
Your Senators: http://senate.gov/

BACKGROUND: A huge bi-partisan movement of support to appoint Pollan for Secretary has been gaining momentum, with almost 8000 signatures on the petition so far (sign the petition: www.pollanforsecretaryofagriculture.com/ ). An internet search on Pollan + Secretary yielded 168,000 results.

Why do we want Michael Pollan as Secretary of Agriculture? Pollan, in his best-selling books "Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food," in his open letter to Obama--the next "Farmer in Chief," (http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=97 ), in many other writings and in his life, has lifted the rock on the agricultural-industrial system. Through his academic lectures and papers, published books and articles Mr. Pollan has proven capable of gathering wide-ranging research, organizing it into a coherent whole and reaching non-biased conclusions. This research has provided him a unique understanding of the history, development, and contemporary practices of U.S. Agriculture and its relationship to the health of the citizens of The United States. He is singularly qualified to identify inefficiencies and present improvements in production, nutrition, and our problematic reliance on petroleum and petro-chemical based fertilizers, for the benefit of food producers and consumers both.

President Elect Obama says that he is for change. Let us make sure it happens.

Our U.S. legislators influence Cabinet appointments and through them we can reach President Elect Obama.

Please call your legislators TODAY.

See www.pollanforsecretaryofagriculture.com/ for more information and to sign the petition.

(The 111th Congress will be sworn in January 6, 2009. Please contact both if your representation will be changing. (www.congress.org/election/guide )

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT Blane Friest, lobbyist for the movement: bfriest@pollanforsecretaryofagriculture.org





Blane Friest
Pollan for Secretary of Agriculture
www.pollanforsecretaryofagriculture.org
917-418-8625