Although former Gov. Tom Vilsack is likely to be confirmed by the Senate as secretary of agriculture after President-elect Barack Obama takes office, the Organic Consumers Association continues to hold out hope that they can derail the nomination before that happens.

While Vilsack has promoted respectable policies with respect to restraining livestock monopolies, his overall record is one of aiding and abetting Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) or factory farms and promoting genetically engineered crops and animal cloning. Equally troubling is Vilsack’s support for unsustainable industrial ethanol production, which has already caused global corn and grain prices to skyrocket, literally taking food off the table for a billion people in the developing world.

The group has started a petition that they hope will receive 100,000 signatures opposing Vilsack.