Center for Food Integrity Brings Together Food Producers and Consumers

Anthony Aaron, partner and member of the agricultural law team at Ice Miller LLP, authored this blog.

By the year 2050, experts predict that the world's population will grow to over nine billion people and we will need to double food production. At the same time, many American consumers, particularly "early adopters" (thought and opinion leaders who seek information and frequently drive change) seem concerned that modern agriculture is not "farming" and express their preference for food produced locally, by organic methods or by other means that are not sufficiently scalable to feed the world.

On May 9 and 10, I attended the Center for Food Integrity's North American Strategy Conference on Animal Agriculture at Hamburger University in Oak Brook, Illinois. The conference brought together a group of organizations and companies who engaged with consumers, reporters and "mommy bloggers" to better understand their perspectives and how to bridge the gap. Many of the panelists were "early adopters" on food issues and expressed their preference for local or organic foods and for shopping at Whole Foods or farmer's market – in other words, food sources that many would not equate with "modern agriculture." At the same time, several panelists expressed a desire to feel a connection with their food by getting to know the producer personally at a farmers market, by having a garden or even visiting a farm.

Charlie Arnott, the CEO of Center for Food Integrity (CFI), also reviewed some of CFI's research on the attitudes of early adopters toward the food system. One of CFI's findings that left me deeply puzzled is that only half of early adopters are "very concerned" with having enough food to feed the U.S. and only 31 percent are "very concerned" with having enough food to feed the developing world. Yet, with the world's population headed to nine billion by 2050, and needing to double food production in the same time frame, we are faced with a choice of whether or not to produce enough to feed the world – and if we choose not to, the consequences could be dire.

The closing speaker was Ted McKinney, Elanco Animal Health's Senior Director of Global Corporate Affairs. He described affordable food, food choice and sustainable global food production as three rights that must be recognized in order to make the dream of providing nine billion people with safe, affordable and abundant food a reality. So, it seems that our challenge is to convince policymakers and consumers that we need to produce enough food to feed the world, while preserving consumer's right to choose the foods that fit their lifestyles and means. As Vanessa Druckman, one of the blogger panelists, put it, "We need to find food selections that work for the entire world, not just people like me who can choose to buy organic and grass-fed."

Ice Miller is a proud sponsor of many CFI events and routinely participates in its conferences to stay abreast of its research and information, as well as other research, information and policies affecting agriculture and agribusinesses. If you're interested in seeing more of the conference discussion, check out #CFI11 on Twitter.

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