In an op-ed appearing in the Huffington Post, former USDA Secretary Dan Glickman describes the partisan split between rural and urban America, and how it jeopardizes in significant ways the bipartisanship needed to pass omnibus bills – such as the Farm Bill – that support agriculture, rural development, public nutrition and global food security programs.

Glickman writes:

“The last farm bill demonstrated how tenuous the nature of this coalition has become and the vulnerability of numerous important legislative initiatives on these issues. The future of American leadership on nutrition, farming and hunger is in jeopardy without positive action to rebuild and maintain these bipartisan coalitions.”

Glickman suggests that President Barack Obama should reach out to rural America. He cautions about the dangers the nation faces if the divide persists, saying:

“Historically, food, farm and rural development legislation including national nutrition programs and global food security measures have required a national bipartisan support base. This coalition involved lawmakers representing urban, suburban and rural communities creating a national policy on food issues. The last farm bill demonstrated how tenuous the nature of this coalition has become and the vulnerability of numerous important legislative initiatives on these issues. The future of American leadership on nutrition, farming and hunger is in jeopardy without positive action to rebuild and maintain these bipartisan coalitions.”

Historical Note: The urban-rural divide has been a source of tension in American political, economic, and sociocultural life throughout much of our nation’s history. In the early 20th century, President Theodore Roosevelt convened the Country Life Commission, which sought to address some of the same urban-rural issues Glickman discusses in the Huffington Post. Travis Koch has written a wonderful piece about the Country Life Commission and urban-rural tensions for Stanford University’s Rural West Initiative website.