Vilsack, USDA Featured On New South Park
October 2, 2014 
USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (right) appeared on last night’s South Park.
It has been called by some past recipients the highest honor in pop culture. Others in show business have said it is truly when you know you have made it.
And last night, one of U.S. agriculture’s biggest and most recognizable names surprisingly accomplished the rare feat, joining the likes of Paris Hilton, Kanye West, Tom Cruise, George Clooney and countless other public figures.
Yes, USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was parodied on the new episode of South Park. (That’s a sentence this lifelong South Park fan never thought he’d type)
In the episode, titled “Gluten Free Ebola,” the boys are shunned by classmates after ditching school in the previous episode to launch a start-up company that failed miserably. Promising their classmates a party with “all the pizza kids can eat” and “20 different types of cake,” the boys plan for redemption is soon foiled when guidance counselor Mackey’s gluten-free lifestyle catches on with the rest of the town and South Park becomes the first town in America to ban gluten.
The USDA and Vilsack enter the picture when the episode cuts to USDA headquarters, where they quickly come to the realization that, based on the now-defunct Food Pyramid that USDA introduced in 1992, the agency had been recommending Americans consume large amounts of gluten on a daily basis for years, and hilarity ensues.
If you have not watched the episode yet, it can be viewed on-demand now at SouthParkStudios.com, and I’d highly recommend you take a look if you’re in the mood for a good laugh this morning.
From South Park Studios press release
The consequences of eating gluten are dire on an all-new episode of “South Park” titled “Gluten Free Ebola” that premiered Wed, Oct. 1 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central.
In the episode, Mr. Mackey is now gluten free and everyone is annoyed when he won’t quit preaching about how great he feels. But, after witnessing a disturbing demonstration of what happens to your body when you do eat gluten, South Park becomes the first town in America to go gluten free.
The all-new episodes from this season are available in HD exclusively on Hulu and South Park Studios the day after they premiere.
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