Global leaders, scientists, diplomats, and celebrities are gathered in Des Moines, Iowa, this week, for the 40th annual World Food Prize and accompanying Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue. Here’s a taste of Tuesday’s conversations:
1. Who Grew Your Food?
Actor, author, humorist, and woodworker Nick Offerman grew up on a homestead in Minooka, Illinois, surrounded by a family of farmers.
Have we have forgotten to care who grew our food and where it came from? Are we being good citizens? And if you don’t know where your stuff is coming from, you’re probably not, because somebody is cutting corners, somebody’s making it less healthy for profit. And that’s the trap that we’re deep in. The way that you maintain the health of soil or a community is by human care, by affection and attention…. This has come up with the pandemic and with climate change. We’ve got all these food deserts and if something goes down, we actually are not equipped to feed ourselves because we’re flying our blueberries in from Peru.
2. Destruction by Design
Mary Berry is an eighth-generation Kentucky farmer and executive director of The Berry Center. The nonprofit carries on the work of Berry’s father, writer and farmer Wendell Berry, promoting regenerative practices and advocating for small farmers.
What has happened to our rural places, our farms, our rural communities has not been inevitable. It has been destruction by design. In 1967, a report from President Johnson said the biggest problem in American agriculture was that we had too many farmers. By the 70s, [Agriculture Secretary] Earl Butz was saying,’ Get big or get out.’ They didn’t value farmers’ knowledge or their communities. You can’t feed the world by destroying the world.
3. Local Is Key
James Rebanks is the author of three best-selling books about agriculture. He farms 500 acres in northern England’s Lake District and teaches other producers techniques to restore soil and native habitats while maintaining productive and profitable farm businesses…