A vote against the USDA

Yglesias on why we don't need a USDA:

The USDA’s activities fall into four broad groups:

1) Things that have nothing to do with agriculture (USDA grad school).
2) Farm subsidization that we shouldn’t be doing.
3) Food safety stuff that could be merged with FDA.
4) Nutrion assistance stuff that could be done by HHS.

I would posit that locating programs aimed at 3) and 4) in a bureaucratic structure dominated by 2) winds up undermining their mission. Food producers, rather than food eaters or social service recipients, are the main “client” of the USDA in a way that compromises the priorities of some of its component agencies.