| Last Friday, when Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed, I was busy in Rochester with some of my very favorite people:
Yes, the organic farmers of NY were all gathered for a spectacular conference....
Now, I expected that the choice of Congresswoman Gillibrand to take Hillary Clinton's Senate seat would be all the buzz at dinner-- after all, as a Freshman in Congress, Gillibrand had requested a seat on the Agriculture Committee, and served very ably on the Horticulture and Organic Agriculture subcommittee, too. She is a favorite of that crew. But, there was an even bigger, better surprise in store for the hundreds of people gathered together there: we were to be joined on that day by our OTHER representative to the House Agriculture Committee, new Congresscritter Eric Massa. |
Given the nature of Massa's district, and former Congressman Randy Kuhl's seat on the House Ag Committee, it was a natural that Massa would ask for that appointment. His requested subcommittees give a bit of a better glimpse into his interests in this area, though... here's a quote from Buffalo 14228 on that:
Congressman Eric Massa was named to two important subcommittees as part of his assignment to the Agriculture Committee. With Agriculture being the biggest business in New York's 29th Congressional District, Rep. Massa's assignment to this committee will be key to representing his constituency.
Rep. Massa was appointed to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research as well as the Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture. These Subcommittees are significant because they will deal with issues such as soil, water, resource conservation, energy, biomass production, agricultural research and education among other issues.
I had the good fortune to be able to sit at Congressman Massa's table for dinner, as well as enjoy his after-dinner speech to a very enthusiastic and supportive crowd. I was again impressed with his very evident sense of responsibility-- Gillibrand's appointment had only just been announced, but, already Massa was talking about how, now that he was NY's only rep on the Ag Committee, he needed to change his approach so that he was more able to represent the needs of all of NY's farmers. He promised to visit members of the audience at their farms-- and scores of them came forward after his talk to give him their contact info so he could do that.
Massa admitted openly to knowing little about agriculture-- as he said, "We don't grow much corn on battleships." But, he pointed out, this means he comes to the task without preconceptions, willing to learn, and not beholden to big ag interests. The organic farmers in the room were very, very happy to hear that message. Massa spent a lot of time talking with NOFA-NY members before, during and after dinner, and his agriculture aide gave out his contact info left and right.
Here's to a long, in-depth and fruitful conversation about NY's (and the nation's) farm and food issues. This is SUCH an improvement over Kuhl, I can't even count the ways. |
