Chris Jones, Democratic Nominee for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture
Part of a series "Portraits of Democracy in Action"
This column is also posted at Jason Walsmith’s Substack, The Racontourist. Please consider subscribing to The Racontourist. Jason is a member of the celebrated Des Moines band, the Nadas. He’s also a professional photographer. If you value his photos and can afford it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to The Racontourist or buying him a cup of coffee here.
With “Portraits of Democracy in Action,” Jason and I continue our collaboration, highlighting Iowans from different walks of life.
Jason and I attended the Iowa State Democratic Convention in Des Moines on Saturday, June 13, where we spoke with attendees and Jason shot photographs. We began our series “Portraits of Democracy in Action” with interviews and photographs of three members of the Iowa Creator Corps, and today we will continue with the first of several candidates for office and other people at the convention.
Our first interview was with Liz Fleming, aka “Liz from Iowa,” and can be found here. The second interview, with Maddie Houser Webb, is here. The third interview with Jen Geigley can be found here.
Today’s interview is with Chris Jones, a former University of Iowa water quality researcher and chemist who is running as a Democrat to be Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture. His opponent is Republican incumbent and former Monsanto lobbyist Mike Naig.
I wrote the narrative, and Jason did the photography and photo captions.
The brief audio is followed by a lightly edited transcript. Please consider listening if possible. I can sense Chris’ frustration with the status quo. Perhaps you can too.
Me: Okay, Chris, I want you to paint two scenarios for me. The first scenario is, let’s say, 20-30 years from now. We go the same route we’re going now with Iowa and our crop production system. Everything that we’re doing now, we just keep on that path. Now, if you’re elected the Secretary of Agriculture and you can turn the ship, it’s going to take a lot of people to turn the ship. If we turn the ship, what does Iowa look like 20 or 30 years from now?
Chris: Well, let’s talk about the second thing first. What I want to do is to help Iowa agriculture diversify its farming systems. And so we need a greater assemblage of crops. We can’t get the water quality or the environmental outcomes that we want when we only have two species of plants on the landscape.
So we need a diversity of crops, things like vegetables and fruits, but also oats, forage crops for cattle like clovers and alfalfa. We should make Iowa the top state in the country for local foods. Let’s do that. We hear how Iowa agriculture talks about “we feed the world.” Well, we don’t even feed Polk County. And so let’s feed Iowa. You can’t feed the world until you feed Iowa.
So I want to make Iowa the number one state for local foods. And so that’s my vision for Iowa agriculture. Now, people will tell me, well, that’s going backward, right? And I would say, well, maybe, but what’s going forward look like from this system?
And I would say that to me it looks pretty bad, because to me it looks like robots farming 10,000 acres of flat Iowa farmland in northern Iowa, or someone sitting with a laptop in Mumbai, India, farming that land from India that’s owned by oligarchs and hedge funds. And so, is that what we want for rural Iowa?
Is that what we want for Iowa agriculture? I would suggest that it is not. And so, we need to diversify Iowa agriculture. With that, I think we’ll rekindle economic activity in small-town Iowa. We can start keeping our young people in small-town Iowa. I think that’s a much better vision than what going forward from this system looks like.
Me: Is there the potential for the collapse of the ethanol economy?
Chris: Well, I mean, would anybody be surprised if Donald Trump woke up tomorrow morning and said we’re not doing ethanol anymore? I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s certainly done some crazier stuff than that. And so I would say there is a potential for it to collapse, but what we need to talk about is a strategic retreat from ethanol. And so we know that 30 years ago, coal was dead. We knew that.
But we look at West Virginia; they clung to coal to the bitter end. What happened to the state? They lost a third of their population. They are the poorest state in the country. So we need to think about the potential negative consequences that might come from clinging to ethanol to the bitter, bitter end. And so let’s talk about some other alternatives. We have 70% of our corn going to ethanol.
What else can we do with those acres that would make farmers more prosperous and deliver better environmental outcomes for Iowa citizens?
This is me again:
Iowa’s poor water quality and high cancer rates are central to the political stage as we approach the midterms. Most Iowans are now aware of these problems and want something done.
A mix of factors has led to increased awareness that may well impact the election and Iowa’s future. Generations of individuals and environmental and other progressive organizations have laid the groundwork. So have conservationists, sportsmen and women, and remarkable environmental groups and the press.
I’m not going to name organizations or provide a long list of individuals who helped because I will leave out too many people and organizations that deserve to be recognized, and because I don’t know enough.
I will say, however, that I believe that without Chris’ relentless pressure on both political parties—driven by his powerful writing, speaking, and the truths he lays out in his book, The Swine Republic: Struggles with the Truth about Agriculture and Water Quality and his Substack The Swine Republic, I’m not sure water quality, agriculture, and cancer would be at the center of political debate today.
Chris’ decision to run for Secretary of Agriculture (his campaign website is here) successfully forced these critical issues into every contested race, demanding a discussion of values and policy from the top of the ticket on down.
We Iowans should vote like our lives depend on it, because they do. Our children’s and grandchildren’s lives do too.
My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.
I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.
And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.
And hey, please consider joining Jason and me in September at Lake Okoboji, at Julie Gammack’s wonderful Okoboji Writers and Songwriters Retreat. We’d love to see you there!
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No partisanship, no bluster, no lies, just straight truth from a person who knows what they’re talking about. This has never been Democrat v. Republican, urban v. rural, it’s about right v. wrong, past v. future, life over death. We need Chris Jones now as much as we needed Jonas Salk half a century ago.
Great candidate and a great interview. One suggestion: Chris should continue to lead with his positive vision before contrasting it with what's gone wrong. People are more likely to stay engaged when they first hear what he's for, not just what he's against. I'd also like him to talk about reviving small towns, not simply repopulating them.
We have a powerful Iowa story to tell. Forty years ago, leaders like David Osterberg, and others helped pass laws that placed fees on agricultural chemicals, rewarded reduced use, and invested the proceeds in education and better farming systems through the Leopold Center. Gov. Branstad signed that legislation. We've done bold, bipartisan reform before. That history shows Iowa can do it again under Chris's leadership.