The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) has adopted the following mission statement:

The mission of the Michigan Department of Agriculture is to serve the people of Michigan by providing leadership in the development and implementation of responsive and innovative policies and programs which protect consumers and preserve, promote, and enhance Michigan's food and agricultural industry. The department is committed to assuring a viable rural economy in Michigan for present and future generations; to assuring the consumer a safe, high quality supply of food and agricultural products; to protecting the public, the food supply, and the environment against toxic substance contamination; to protecting and enhancing the agricultural soil and water resource base; to promoting the development of food and agriculturally based businesses and markets; and to protecting the consumer from economic deception.

In reality, however, the Department actively pursues projects--many of them wasteful and unnecessary--unrelated to the purposes described in its mission statement.  As a modest initial step toward civil society, the Department should return to its original goal of promoting consumer safety, while abandoning many of the unnecessary and sometimes counterproductive programs it has adopted, such as: the Grant program, the Marketing and Market Development program, and the Racing and Native American Casino Promotion program.