USDA secretary fills key posts in department
Janey Thornton, a former school nutrition director in Kentucky, will serve as deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has filled several key posts in his department, including aides who will focus on nutrition programs and rural development. Vilsack appointed Janey Thornton, a former school nutrition director in Elizabethtown, Ky., as deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services.
FNS manages the food stamp, school meal and commodity distribution programs that spend about $80 billion per year, two thirds of the agency's $120 billion budget. Vilsack said Thornton, a former president of the School Nutrition Association, will provide policy direction for the FNS and the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. Thornton will report to the undersecretary for FNS, a position not yet filled by President Obama.
Vilsack also appointed Cheryl Cook, a former National Farmers Union official and deputy secretary in the Pennsylvania Agriculture Department, as deputy undersecretary for rural development. Cook will report to the undersecretary for rural development. Obama has nominated Dallas Tonsager, a Farm Credit Administration board member, to that post, but Tonsager has not had a Senate confirmation hearing. Vilsack also appointed Doug O'Brien, a former Senate Agriculture Committee counsel, as chief of staff to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. O'Brien has also served as an adviser to Iowa Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, and has been an assistant secretary in the Ohio Agriculture Department. The appointments were announced late Friday.