Jan Norris: Food and Florida

First Lady Michelle Obama breaks ground on the White House vegetable garden

The Daily Meal website has released its 2012 list of the most powerful people in food in the nation.

The list is all-encompassing – doctors, CEOs, chefs, TV personalities, farmers, the First Lady, lawyers, authors – all here.

These are the people who influence us as diners, cooks, shoppers, growers, voters and entertainment and health care consumers. In other words, they shape many of our everyday decisions and choices where food is concerned. It’s wise to learn who they are.

Here are the top 10:

Patricia Woertz, CEO Archer Daniels Midland

10. Patricia Woertz, Chairman, President, and CEO,  Archer Daniels Midland

9. Hugh Grant, Chairman, President, and CEO, The Monsanto Company

8. Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States and Dietary Activist

7. Michael Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

6. Jim Skinner, Vice Chairman and CEO, McDonald’s

5. Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo.

Mike Duke, Walmart CEO

4. Mike Duke, President and CEO, Walmart

3. Jeremy Stoppelman, Co-Founder and CEO, Yelp

2. Thomas Vilsack, Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture

1. Brooke Johnson, President, Food Network