"This country has forgotten rural America for far too long," said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Although the U.S. has had the best farm economy in the last 5 years, rural America hasn’t done as well, he said. This conversation with Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman involved the Farm Bill, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, GMO labeling and other economic tensions. “Our exports are driving about a third of our growth in this country right now,” Froman said, emphasizing the need to keep opening markets, ensuring level playing fields and enforcing our trade rights. But climate change presents problems for agriculture and trade that are intensified by growing populations. “We face a huge global challenge of increasing food production by 70 percent in the next 40 years with less water, with more intense weather patterns – it is going to require a global commitment,” Vilsack said. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack & U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on November 18, 2013

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