Local and regional food systems are about opportunity.

I think President Barack Obama is going to be treated very, very well by history in terms of his ability to save the economy. And that's certainly true in rural areas. The unemployment rate is substantially reduced, the poverty rate is down, and in large part because of the investments that were made during the Recovery Act and thereafter, historic investments.

Today, President Obama is making smart investments in clean energy - wind, solar, biofuels - as part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy that supports thousands of jobs, not in the Middle East, but in the Midwest.

Many young and beginning farmers start out in local markets. Some stay there, and some scale up.

If I had a rain prayer or a rain dance I could do, I would do it.

And sometimes people don't realize that 90 percent of the persistent poverty counties are located in rural America.

Every political race I've started, I've entered as an underdog and a long shot. This is certainly no exception. But I happen to be the best person for this job. Democrats need someone who can win. And there are two strategies for winning: You can energize the base, which is the strategy the party has used in the last couple of elections...unfortunately without success.Or you can energize and expand the base and bring the campaign to states where we've not had much success particularly in the heartland.