Agriculture Secretary-designate Tom Vilsack told a Senate panel Wednesday that he already has begun coordinating efforts within the incoming Obama administration to combat child hunger.

At a confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, Vilsack testified that he has met with Tom Daschle, President-elect Barack Obama ’s choice for Health and Human Services secretary, to align their agendas on nutrition. He also faced questions about farm subsidies and commodity farming.

Vilsack, a former two-term Democratic governor of Iowa, received a friendly reception from members of the committee, which is expected to endorse his nomination. He appears to be on the fast track for confirmation by the full Senate as early as Jan. 20, right after Obama is sworn in as president.

“It’s going to be important for us to promote fresh fruits and vegetables as part of our children’s diets. . . . That means supporting those who supply those products” and making it easier for consumers to buy locally grown products, Vilsack said.

Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin , D-Iowa, said reauthorization of a law (PL 108-265) governing school lunches and other child nutrition programs “is really the only thing that we have to do this year.”

Obama has set a goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015.

Vilsack was asked how he plans to juggle initiatives on nutrition, renewable-fuel production and rural development with such challenges as preserving farmer subsidies and keeping the marketplace competitive with foreign agriculture.

During the hearing, Harkin said he will propose that the Department of Agriculture use Institute of Medicine guidelines to set standards for junk food sold in schools. Current USDA school food standards exempt most snack foods, because they aren’t a part of subsidized lunches.

During the last renewal of the child nutrition act, then-Gov. Vilsack wrote a letter to lawmakers and the Bush administration expressing concern about childhood obesity and the problem of vending machine snacks that compete with school meals.

At the time, Vilsack backed limits on the kinds of snacks and beverages students can buy outside the lunch line. Nutrition advocates want junk food kicked out of schools, but many schools use the cash from sales to cover the rising costs of meal services.

Vilsack pledged at Wednesday’s hearing to administer nutrition assistance, farm supports, conservation programs and energy initiatives in accordance with the 2008 farm law (PL 110-246), though he admitted he has a lot to learn about the complex commodity payment provisions.

“I’m not going to tell you today that there might not be a disagreement from time to time, but if there is I will be available to talk,” he said. “I honestly don’t know as much as I need to know or as much as you know about this issue,” he told the committee’s ranking Republican, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, when asked about controversial subsidy limit rules the department published last month.

Farm Payments