"When you’ve paid your debt to society, you need to be reconnected and re-engaged in society." ― Tom Vilsack Topic(s): Experience More From Tom Vilsack "Food during my early years was a very difficult issue for me. I grew up in an addictive family. My mother had serious problems with alcohol and prescription drugs. I was an overweight kid. I can remember back in those days there weren’t the strategies that there are today to deal with those issues." "You know, rural Americans are a special people. Their labor puts food on our table and fuel in our gas tanks. Their service in our military sets a powerful example of leadership, honor and sacrifice. Their spirit of community inspires us all." "At President Obama’s direction, the U.S Department of Agriculture is working hard to unleash the power of America’s innovators and entrepreneurs to build a green energy economy." More In Experience "The collective experience of watching a great film together in a room is a transcendent moment that will never die."― Gael Garcia Bernal "I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do, provided he keeps doing them until he gets a record of successful experience behind him."― Eleanor Roosevelt "There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate, upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard."― George Washington