The U.S. Department of Food?

Whether or not you agree with him, Nicholas Kristof has a compelling read in The New York Times today about what he believes should be a major transformation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He thinks it should be called "The Department of Food," and go with a mission that isn't led by large corporate farm interests.

Here is Kristof:

A Department of Agriculture made sense 100 years ago when 35 percent of Americans engaged in farming. But today, fewer than 2 percent are farmers. In contrast, 100 percent of Americans eat.

Renaming the department would signal that Mr. Obama seeks to move away from a bankrupt structure of factory farming that squanders energy, exacerbates climate change and makes Americans unhealthy — all while costing taxpayers billions of dollars.