Food Tank

This piece is part of the weekly series “Growing Forward: Insights for Building Better Food and Agriculture Systems,” presented by the Global Food Institute at the George Washington University and the nonprofit organization Food Tank. Each installment highlights forward-thinking strategies to address today’s food and agriculture related challenges with innovative solutions. To view more pieces in the series, click here.

Dan Glickman has spent his career at the intersection of food, policy, and public service. As U.S. Secretary of Agriculture during the Clinton administration, a long-serving member of Congress, and later the head of the Motion Picture Association and a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, Glickman has seen firsthand how the food system has evolved—and where it still falls short. 

In this conversation with the Global Food Institute’s Priya Fielding-Singh, Glickman reflected on the shifting politics of food and agriculture, the critical role of science, and the urgent need to align food policy in the United States with public health and climate realities.

Looking back on your time as Secretary of Agriculture, what do you see as the biggest shifts in the food system since then?

The biggest change is that food issues and food policy have become much bigger topics of conversation among policymakers. Historically, agriculture and food weren’t part of everyday discussions the way the military and education were. That’s completely changed. Now we’re talking about things like dietary health, supply chain issues, fertilizer—things that used to hardly get any widespread attention at all.

What do you think is responsible for this change?

The focus on individual health has been a big factor. People really understand now that old expression—you are what you eat. And young people are growing up interested in these issues. They’re asking important questions, like, where is this food grown? Is it good for us? What are the additives? 

It’s a great thing that these issues have taken on a life beyond the traditional agriculture community. Napoleon once said, war is too important to be left to the generals. The same is true for food and agriculture policy: it’s too important to be left solely to people in the food and agriculture industry.

If you were Secretary of Agriculture today—in a moment when the climate crisis, nutrition security, and food safety are top concerns—what would your priorities be?

One priority would be making sure we don’t fall behind on doing the kind of good, thoughtful science we need to address key issues like agricultural productivity, nutrition, and the threats we’re seeing to modern agriculture. We don’t want to fall behind as leaders on these key issues, nor do we want to lose an important talent base of researchers.

I would also work to avoid turning food and agriculture issues into a political battle between left and right. Agriculture research is still very bipartisan, and land-grant schools get a lot of bipartisan support in both Congress and from industry. But we want a research portfolio that is broad enough to deal with the modern issues of our times—and I worry that issues like climate and weather variability have become increasingly political. 

The fact is that agriculture is more vulnerable to climate and weather variability than pretty much any other segment of the economy. Whether we’re talking about drought, heat, excessive rainfall, or related pests and diseases, the agriculture industry needs to deal head-on with where the threats are.

I’d also focus on continuing to improve school meals, which are—for the record—much better than they once were. When I was in school, we had roast beef for lunch, and it was sliced so thin and greasy you could see the colors of the rainbow in it. That’s changed—school meals now meet nutrition standards that exceed what many of us eat at home. And people are recognizing the importance of school meals as a nutritional foundation for a lot of kids in this country. 

In a world where you could remake the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), what would its charge be with respect to the food system?

There’s always a lot of discussion about whether the USDA should have jurisdiction over food safety versus the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. I won’t comment on that, but I will say that we need to pay attention to food safety, whether it’s fresh produce, processed foods, or meat and poultry. The USDA does a good job, but they’re not focused enough on what happens to food between processing and when it reaches the consumer. 

The USDA is also not particularly involved in education, marketing, and advertising, but they should be. I’m not saying we should regulate what people eat—but getting good information to consumers is important, and that requires cooperation between the government, private sector, nonprofits, and universities.

Finally, the USDA needs to be an active environmental agency. Today, anything that smells of climate creates an enemy. But climate impacts agriculture. The fact is that we need to grow different crops and livestock—and we need good science to understand how best to do it. 

There’s a lot of fear around GMOs (genetically modified organisms), CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats), etc. But I’ve never been afraid of those kinds of innovations. People take genetically modified drugs every day. We can’t be afraid of science in food and agriculture while embracing it in medicine.

When you think ahead to the next decade, what innovations do you think will matter most for the food system?

The first thing is precision nutrition. We’ll develop foods that can prevent or treat disease. There’s work being done to enhance nutritional value—not only in fruits and vegetables, but also in row crops and livestock. 

The second thing is water. In some parts of the world, we have more water than we need; in others, far less. Technology can help solve the problem of water utilization in crops and variability from year to year. We’ve got to figure out how to manage that variation better without depleting aquifers and groundwater everywhere.

Desalination is the final issue. We’ve never quite figured out how to desalinate water at scale because it’s very expensive and requires high energy use. In some places you can do it in small quantities, but scaling it up has been hard. The oceans offer all the water in the world—if we could figure out how to do it well!

Do you think our current food policies are aligned with our nutrition goals? What needs to change?

I’d give us a C-plus right now. We haven’t flunked, but we’re doing just okay. As a matter of national policy, the relationship between food, nutrition, and health has long been a low priority.

I give credit to Secretary Kennedy and his group for at least raising these issues. I don’t like a lot of their solutions, but they’ve recognized that there’s a problem. One issue is that our federal feeding programs have not historically been directed toward nutrition, though things have moved since my time at the USDA. Both WIC and School Meals have requirements to be updated to reflect the latest nutrition guidelines. But we can do more. For instance, nutrition may be the second letter of SNAP, but that’s not its main focus. 

It’s also worth noting that nutrition simply hasn’t gotten the national attention other public health issues have. The Advertising Council of America has covered high-priority public health issues—like seat belts, motorcycle helmets, and smoking—and that’s helped move the needle. But in the food area, there’s been nothing like that. 

What have you learned over the course of your career—working across politics, policy, and the private sector—about what it really takes to improve food and agriculture systems?

My mother used to say, you have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listening is a very good trait—and one I’ve used as much as possible throughout my career to get things done.

The second thing is that consumers have great power. They may need help, but they can significantly influence the policy debate. So when it comes to fixing the food system, it’s important to never underestimate what public demand can achieve.

Photo courtesy of David Trinks, Unsplash

The post From Capitol Hill to the School Cafeteria: Q&A with Dan Glickman on Fixing Our Food System appeared first on Food Tank.

In Morocco, the High Atlas Foundation is working with farming communities to preserve traditional crops by building nurseries for native fruit and nut trees. Through these efforts, they aim to promote women’s empowerment and food sovereignty.

The High Atlas Foundation (HAF) is a community development organization committed to helping preserve traditional crops across Morocco through participatory planning, community nurseries, women’s cooperatives, and youth engagement. By helping farming families shift from starchy staple crops to high-value heritage varieties including carob, almond, argan, and olive, HAF tries to protect agrobiodiversity, improve livelihoods, and strengthen long-term food and nutrition security.

The Foundation integrates fruit tree planting with initiatives that support literacy, women’s empowerment, cultural preservation, and youth opportunity. This model is designed to help farming communities grow crops while strengthening the social and economic systems that sustain them—and it is yielding lasting outcomes.

“We have seen rural agricultural incomes grow multiple fold as a result of our 25 years of planting trees,” says HAF President Yossef Ben-Meir, pointing to rising prices for olive oil and carob, which have doubled in recent years.

The tree nursery development projects begin with community-led decision-making during empowerment workshops that “assist local people’s confidence-building, self-discovery, and analysis of the social relationships, emotions, and key aspects of their lives,” Ben-Meir tells Food Tank. This approach, he says, helps participants define the initiatives they need most and “enhances the likelihood of sustainability and affirms the decision making of the local people.”

At the heart of HAF’s work is the planting of organic and indigenous seed varieties deeply rooted in their regions—chosen and cultivated by communities themselves. “The seeds of local varieties are native to their region and so there is a sincere appreciation of this important biodiversity element to the program,” says Ben-Meir. Alongside fruit trees, HAF supports the cultivation of local medicinal and aromatic plants, drawing on generations of knowledge in harvesting, drying, and selling them. This expertise, he says, “is based on their heritage.”

Fruit tree agriculture in Morocco has traditionally “been in the male domain of production,” Ben-Meir explains, so women generally have less direct experience with it. But women have long been stewards of wild medicinal plants, which play a vital role in their livelihoods and culture. As more women take on leadership roles in nursery management and crop cultivation, Ben-Meir sees that dynamic evolving.

To help overcome what Ben-Meir describes as the “gender division of production,” HAF helps connect rural women who have studied at public universities with young women in their home communities who haven’t had the same educational opportunities. These returning graduates collaborate with local women to develop agricultural enterprises—like tree nurseries or value-added products—that empower their peers and expand women’s roles in fruit tree cultivation. “This is key for our future,” he says.

But water scarcity remains a major obstacle to the success of these women and their communities. Water access and management “is by far the costliest input that communities and HAF are committed to implementing,” Ben-Meir explains. He adds that water scarcity “inhibits farming families from planting and diversifying their crop away from the barley and corn.”

To help farming communities out of poverty, Ben-Meir says, significant investment is needed in water infrastructure. This includes wells, basins, solar panels, pumps, piping, and the training required to maintain them. But limited financial resources and rising seed costs make it difficult to meet these growing infrastructure needs.

As these irrigation challenges intensify, Ben-Meir says that long-term resilience depends on the preservation of the genetic resources that underpin sustainable agriculture to safeguard biodiversity and prepare communities for future crises. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, “genetic resources are crucial to help agriculture cope with pests, plant diseases, and climate change.”

HAF works to formalize seed storage, but much of the current seed stock still comes from farming families. Their cuttings form the initial seed stock needed for reseeding local sustainable tree nurseries.

The Foundation looks to local partners including the Moroccan Jewish community, which lends unused land adjacent to their historic cemeteries at no cost for communities to build nurseries. Ben-Meir explains, “this kind of interfaith collaboration for fruit tree projects determined by local people enhances the interfaith partnership and the preservation of these cultural heritage locations.”

But preserving Moroccan crop varieties “is not dependent on one specific partner,” Ben-Meir tells Food Tank, “but really is an identity-based priority as an organization, and that is genuinely held by farming associations, cooperatives, and communities.”

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of High Atlas Foundation

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The state of Oklahoma recently passed the Food is Medicine Act (OK SB806), landmark legislation that recognizes the role of nutrition in preventing and managing chronic disease. Anti-hunger and public health advocates hope the new law will lay the groundwork for integrating fresh, locally grown food into clinical care by supporting produce prescription programs and encouraging healthcare payers to reimburse for food-as-medicine interventions.

FreshRx Oklahoma, a Tulsa-based nonprofit food prescription program, is already showing how this model can work in practice. Founded and led by Erin Martin, the organization works to deliver measurable health outcomes through their produce prescription program. They strive to help individuals managing chronic conditions like diabetes reduce A1C numbers, preserve the ability to work and live fully, and keep families and communities thriving. 

“If we say we care about equity,” Martin asks, “why would we give the communities with the worst outcomes the cheapest food?”

The program offers significant healthcare cost-savings, Martin says. “We’ve probably saved the state of Oklahoma over US$5 million,” she tells Food Tank, “while spending just a fifth of the typical cost to treat someone with chronic illness.” That’s important when the U.S. is experiencing what Martin calls a “financial crisis in healthcare.”

FreshRx creates trust by hiring from the community, including program graduates, and offering high-quality, locally grown food. In addition to receiving ingredients, participants are invited to take part in cooking demos and educational opportunities that are designed to be hands-on and culturally relevant. Martin explains that the participants are supported along their journey. 

Engagement rates have jumped from 15 percent to over 85 percent, she tells Food Tank. People are showing up, cooking, sharing, and  encouraging each other. “Food is our Trojan horse,” Martin tells Food Tank. “It brings people in. But what we’re really doing is healing.”

But systemic challenges remain. Funding can be inconsistent and insurers are sometimes hesitant to support the program, Martin explains.  But that’s beginning to change as organizations like FreshRx Oklahoma prove that Food is Medicine initiatives yield tangible results. 

With the passing of the new Food is Medicine Act, FreshRx Oklahoma is hopeful that more states will follow suit. “Having the legislative backing, having the hard conversations will eventually get [us] over that hill,” Martin tells Food Tank. From here, “we can get additional metrics [and] as that ramps up, we’re going to see more and more insurers adopt this.”

Listen to the full conversation with Erin Martin on “Food Talk with Dani Neirenberg” to hear more about the work of FreshRx Oklahoma, how to make the case for Food is Medicine to policymakers, and the benefits these programs offer to farmers.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Negley Stockman, Unsplash

The post Rooted in Health: How FreshRx Oklahoma Is Redefining Healthcare through Food and Community appeared first on Food Tank.

A recent analysis from the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts examines how food deserts in the United States are defined and how well common metrics capture the realities of food access. Drawing on federal and nonprofit data, Escoffier finds that widely used measures like Low-Income, Low-Access (LILA) scores and the Retail Food Environment Index (RFEI) values offer an incomplete picture, overlooking key drivers of food insecurity and health outcomes.

Escoffier uses data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Feeding America to examine how geography, infrastructure, and income shape food access and health—and how accurately LILA scores and RFEI values reflect those outcomes. Their key finding: food deserts are not a strong predictor of poor health outcomes.

Although the term “food desert” remains widely used by media, researchers, academics, policymakers, advocates, and public health agencies, the USDA has moved away from the term. Since 2013, the agency’s Economic Research Service has instead used “low-income, low-access” to describe areas with limited access to healthy food.

According to Escoffier, 18.8 million Americans, or about 6.1 percent of the U.S. population, live in LILA tracts, where residents are both low-income and geographically distant from a grocery store. But the analysis found little national correlation between LILA scores and public health outcomes.

Meanwhile, food insecurity—which Escoffier defines as limited or uncertain access to enough food due to economic constraints—meaningfully correlates with diabetes and obesity, suggesting that the ability to afford food may matter more than physical proximity to it.

Geography, an incomplete lens according to Escoffier, also doesn’t reflect whether people have the means of reaching nutritious foods, even if stores are nearby. The study scrutinizes RFEI values, a measure that compares the density of fast food and convenience stores to that of supermarkets and grocery outlets.

While LILA scores highlight geographic isolation, RFEI values reflect abundance—specifically, an oversupply of poor-quality food. A widely cited measure of the quality of food options, according to Escoffier, RFEI values show little correlation with LILA scores, meaning they often describe different places entirely.

Escoffier points to the presence of independent restaurants and access to fresh produce as more reliable indicators of a robust food ecosystem. But even these factors show limited connection to health outcomes—highlighting the complexity of the issue.

“Ultimately, our findings suggest that the reality of food deserts is far more complex than a simple lack of grocery stores—and that meaningful solutions would require an equally layered understanding of food access, affordability, and community context,” the analysis concludes.

By unpacking the interplay between infrastructure, income, and food culture, Escoffier’s findings underscore the need to move beyond outdated metrics in favor more nuanced, context-specific responses to food insecurity.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Marcela Laskoski, Unsplash

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Yerba Madre, a yerba mate beverage company, and Guyra Paraguay, a conservation nonprofit, are promoting shade-grown yerba mate to help restore South America’s Atlantic Forest and support rural communities. Drawing on traditional cultivation methods, they encourage growing yerba mate beneath the forest canopy rather than in industrial monocultures. The two organizations first partnered in 2007, and Guayakí’s model helped inspire Guyra’s now-independent initiative in Paraguay.

Yerba Madre is a certified B Corporation and 100 percent of their yerba mate is Regenerative Organic Certified. “Our mission has always been rooted in the visionary idea that yerba mate can regenerate both people and planet,” Rocio Bermudez-Pose, a Senior Manager of Impact at Yerba Madre tells Food Tank.

The yerba mate tree is native to the Atlantic Forest, which covers swaths of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. Tea made from the yerba mate leaves is a cultural and economic staple of the region, and Indigenous communities have long cultivated the plant in the shade of the forest ecosystem. Today, it is often grown under the sun in intensive monocultures sprayed with agrochemicals, according to Guyra.

Inspired by their work with Yerba Madre, Guyra launched their own shade-grown yerba mate initiative in 2016. Their work, which is supported by funding from the Darwin Initiative, focuses on the San Rafael region of Paraguay.

Both organizations help producers transition to shade-grown methods by providing tools, training, and fair-trade market access. They also support producers who are already growing yerba mate under shade.

“By cultivating shade-grown mate—either in remnant forests or within agroforestry systems—we’re helping to conserve what’s left of this fragile biome and actively restore what’s been lost,” Bermudez-Pose tells Food Tank. According to the World Wildlife Fund, more than 88 percent of the Atlantic Forest’s original area has been deforested, largely to make way for intensive agricultural production of soy, timber, and cattle.

One of Yerba Madre’s longest running partnerships is with the Aché Kue Tuvy Indigenous community in Paraguay.

Fabiana Pose, Vice President of South America at Yerba Madre describes the “powerful transformation” they have witnessed over their 20 years of partnership with the Aché Kue Tuvy. “Producing an export-quality product brings a deep sense of pride and has allowed the community to reinvest in local projects and initiatives,” she says.

With the profits, the community invested in a new well and water filtration system to secure a safe water supply. Additional financing from Yerba Madre, the World Bank, and the Paraguay Ministry of Agriculture also allowed the community to install a new yerba mate processing facility that increased their efficiency twelve-fold.

Pose says that the project has become self-sustaining thanks to the community’s own plant nursery, which produces 40,000 yerba mate seedlings annually.

The company lifts up what it calls Market Driven Regeneration, which refers to “reversing the flow of capital from philanthropy and donations to truly integrating impact into the business model by providing sustainable sources of income for the people behind our yerba mate and other ingredients,” says Bermudez-Pose. This aspirational business model aims to apply “the principles of regeneration across the company’s entire operation and supply web.”

Guyra concentrates its efforts in the second largest remaining fragment of the Paraguayan Atlantic Forest. They partner with 137 rural families and two Mbya Guaraní Indigenous communities—around 500 people—to plant yerba mate trees in degraded forest areas alongside other native tree and plant species.

“One of the very important things has been the dignification of the work of the peasant producer to improve working conditions. It is not the same to be working in a monoculture field with agrochemicals as to be working in a forest with shade free of poisonous chemicals,” Rodrigo Zárate, Head of Conservation at Guyra, tells Food Tank.

According to the U.N. International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), 63 percent of Indigenous children were living in extreme poverty in 2022, compared to 8.5 percent of children overall. Zárate says that poverty has forced some farmers to resort to illegal activities—namely the cultivation of marijuana.

As an alternative, Guyra helps producers earn an income not only through yerba mate cultivation, but through cultivation of other products like petitgrain (an essential oil) and medicinal herbs. They provide seedlings and technical and financial support, strengthening the capacity of farmers to organize and negotiate with buyers for the best fair price. With the support of Guyra, at least 45 farms have diversified their incomes with these products.

Zárate says that while Guyra has helped organic producer associations get on their feet, “[the producers] have walked and built it on their own.” Today, Zárate says, the children of the producers are managing the finances.

Both Guyra and Yerba Madre are working to scale up their impact. “We’re committed to advancing conservation and restoration efforts beyond our own supply chain, helping bring more global attention to the Atlantic Forest—one of the most threatened yet overlooked ecosystems on Earth,” Bermudez-Pose tells Food Tank. Guyra aims to scale their reach from 137 families to 500 by 2050.

“At the heart of this vision are thriving, prosperous, and empowered communities—especially family farmers and Indigenous and other historically marginalized or underrepresented peoples,” says Bermudez-Pose. “When more people have the power to steward their land, protect their culture, and build generational livelihoods, we all benefit.”

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Photo courtesy of Yerba Madre

The post Under the Canopy: Shade‑Grown Yerba Mate Heals Lives and Land appeared first on Food Tank.

This piece is part of the weekly series “Growing Forward: Insights for Building Better Food and Agriculture Systems,” presented by the Global Food Institute at the George Washington University and the nonprofit organization Food Tank. Each installment highlights forward-thinking strategies to address today’s food and agriculture related challenges with innovative solutions. To view more pieces in the series, click here.

Last summer, I visited one of North America’s most sophisticated vertical farms: Avery Family Farms, owned by the Peters family in rural British Columbia (BC). 

Most of North America’s vertical farms produce baby lettuce and microgreens, but Avery specializes in head lettuce. Their quality is unparalleled and costs of producing each head of lettuce are coming down. They use almost no land and are extremely water efficient, pesticide free, and have a nutritional profile that surpasses comparable products on the market. And because BC’s electricity is mostly renewable, their carbon footprint is low. 

The hitch? An eye watering price tag: one of these ‘plant factories’ cost about $30 million to build. When I asked the founder, Garry, why they spent so much to build a box that produces tasty leaves, he pondered for a moment and provided two answers.

The first was seemingly simple. His forecasting predicts that this heavy investment will provide a return within 5 or 10 years—a straightforward incentive but notably fast for agricultural ventures. 

The second reason was more layered. Garry thought it crazy for BC to depend on greens from water-starved California. He noted that the quality of supermarket lettuce isn’t all that good, and that unless people like him invest in agri-food innovation, the food system might not work for another generation. It’s fraught to depend on global supply chains for food security given trade wars, geopolitical upheaval and climate chaos.

By, of, and for the local

Two months before my trip to Avery farm, I found myself observing a different part of the world’s food system. 

I was helping with a project aimed at boosting the resilience of food systems in Sierra Leone, Malawi, and Ethiopia. We travelled into the countryside of Sierra Leone to see how farmers were coping with climate change, the aftermath of COVID and Ebola, and the recent civil war. Dr. Patrick Kormawa, a former U.N. official whose now directs programs from the President’s office on food security and climate change, took us to see two fish processing facilities. 

The first was local, small scale and humble—barely a cluster of cinder block buildings with some charcoal fires under wracks of fish. The other was a multimillion-dollar investment sitting behind tall brick walls. 

Patrick wanted us to see that the multimillion-dollar facility was idle, mothballed, and had barely seen any use. The small facility, however, was at full capacity and bustling seven days a week. 

Why? The big project had become mired in governance problems, rumors of corruption, and required massive catches of fish to operate. In short, it was out of scale with the community’s needs. The local one was what the entrepreneurs required because it filled a hole: what to do with the relatively small quantities of fish local fishers were catching. In the small facility, fishers were able to preserve their catch and add value to the harvest, insuring their families against shocks. In doing so, the humble facility was creating resilience. 

Entrepreneurship for resilience

What links these two vignettes—one in Canada and the other in West Africa—is the idea that local entrepreneurship can build resilience. Across the world, from high-tech vertical farms to community-organized facilities, the roots of many solutions to today’s food system crisis lie in the hands and minds of local innovators. 

Much like in many regions, where I live in Canada, we depend on small businesses that contribute an upwards of 75 percent of our agricultural GDP. So while big businesses sometimes capture most of the attention, supporting small enterprisers is key to reaching this sector’s potential.

To be resilient, we must nurture agri-food entrepreneurs, especially when they emerge as newborn companies. We need to train the next generation not only to be excellent scientists and farmers but also innovative and entrepreneurial systems thinkers. And we need to reduce the risk of investing in this sector, using models like Avery Family Farms to encourage private capital to invest in agricultural spaces.

Amid growing calls to transform food systems into engines of sustainability and economic growth—and ongoing global debates about the ups and downs of international trade—local food enterprises have a vital role to play. When well-resourced, tech-enabled, and responsive, these businesses can significantly improve food security for everyone. That’s something worth remembering—and investing in.

Photo courtesy of Evan Fraser

The post From Scarcity to Abundance: Unlocking Solutions to the Food Crisis appeared first on Food Tank.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) recently released its 2025 Global Food Policy Report, outlining key priorities for transforming food and agriculture systems through 2050. The report delivers a forward-looking, evidence-based global food policy roadmap for breaking down silos across climate, health, and agriculture.

“There’s unprecedented urgency around issues that were obscure in 20th-century crises,” Christopher Barrett, the Chair of IFPRI’s Strategy and Program Council, tells Food Tank. He highlights the growing threats of the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, zoonotic diseases, obesity, and the rise of ultra-processed foods. “Yet despite these new challenges, there are important similarities,” he adds. “What feeds urgency among policymakers is largely high food prices and the prospect of mass food insecurity and the sociopolitical instability it too often fosters.”

For 50 years, IFPRI has shaped how the world thinks about food policy. IFPRI has published 4,000+ journal articles, and its datasets were downloaded over 2.2 million times in the last ten years. The new report outlines six global priorities to guide food systems research and action.

These priorities include strengthening resilience and inclusion, especially for vulnerable groups and conflict-affected regions. Additionally, IFPRI emphasizes improving diets and nutrition by tackling the root causes of poor food environments. Other focus areas include employing technology wisely, such as artificial intelligence and digital tools, while ensuring fair and equal access to them.

This a global food policy roadmap also calls for greater involvement from the private sector to support innovation across food value chains. It pushes for reforming public spending to better align with goals for nutrition and sustainability. Finally, the report highlights the need to dismantle silos between agriculture, health, environment, and trade in both research and policymaking.

But long-term goals are hard to achieve in a short-term world, according to Barrett. “In most of the world, policymakers and business leaders have grown more short-term-oriented than ever before,” he explains to Food Tank. “That makes it all the more important to seize opportunities when and where they emerge in crises to enact changes that can both solve short-run emergencies and help us embark on the sorts of systemic changes that are essential to reduce the frequency and severity of future crises.”

In response to recent food price spikes, for example, many countries imposed trade restrictions or subsidies to protect consumers. These short-term actions offer relief but disrupt global markets and discourage investment in sustainable agriculture needed for long-term resilience.

Researchers and governments are now asking how to make food systems and agriculture more resilient, especially in fragile, conflict-affected regions. As food insecurity and climate shocks often bring social unrest, the path forward is not always clear. “We don’t yet have a great, science-based understanding of what builds food systems resilience in conflict-affected regions,” says Barrett. “The most obvious, and hard-to-achieve solution, is lasting peace.”

The report emphasizes the role of science in helping reduce the risks that come with high food prices, land and water scarcity, and rising climate threats. Supporting this kind of research, however, requires time, trust, and funding—resources that Barrett tells Food are often under pressure. Short funding cycles, shifting ideological pressures, and the “rising prevalence and celebration of scientific illiteracy” all threaten IFPRI’s work.

IFPRI hopes the report will serve as a foundation for future collaboration and evidence-based action. “The coming decades will require bold ideas, new partnerships, and rigorous research to support the transformation of food systems that nourish people and the planet,” says Barrett.

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The latest United Nations report on hunger and nutrition reveals that the total number of people experiencing hunger in the world fell in 2024. But progress is uneven, with some regions seeing food insecurity rates growing and disparities are worsening. 

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, released annually by five U.N. agencies, estimates that 8.2 percent of the population, representing between 638-720 million people, faced hunger last year—down from 8.5 percent in 2023 and 8.7 percent in 2022.

These improvements can be attributed to strides being made in South-eastern and Southern Asia as well as South America. Brazil, for example, invested in farmers and food access to lift 40 million people out of hunger in two years.  

But in Western Asia, hunger is on the rise. The same is true in most sub-regions of Africa, where an affordable healthy diet is also increasingly out of reach. In the last five years, the number of eaters who cannot afford a nutritious diet on the African continent rose from 864 million to over 1 billion. 

The figures in the report “are not just numbers. They represent lives, futures, and communities at risk,” says Bob Rae, President of the U.N. Economic and Social Council.

Women and rural communities continue to bear the brunt of this crisis. Food insecurity is still more prevalent among adult women than men in every region of the world. Although the gap seemed to be closing in 2022 and 2023, the latest data suggests that it is worsening once again. Hunger rates also remain higher in rural areas than urban ones for another year. 

“The world is veering dangerously off track, leaving the poorest and more vulnerable behind,” says Emily Farr, Oxfam’s Food and Economic Security Lead.

Read more about the latest findings on food and nutrition security and the solutions that can lift all communities out of hunger in a new piece on Forbes by clicking HERE. 

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Photo courtesy of EqualStock, Unsplash

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The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is working with farmers in Ethiopia to restore soils and protect farmland for future generations of food producers.

Many conventional practices are “not friendly,” to the natural environment, leading to soil degradation, Moti Jaleta, a Senior Agricultural Economist with CIMMYT tells Food Tank. 

That’s why CIMMYT is working to introduce the idea of sustainable intensification, an approach that increases productivity while bringing positive social and environmental impacts. Minimal or zero tillage, crop rotation, and intercropping can all help farmers prevent soil erosion.

“We are trying our best to introduce conservation practices that help farmers reclaim their lands and also bring back soil fertility and then make it more sustainable for use for the next generation,” Jaleta says. 

In addition to crops, farmers in the Highlands typically raise animals as part of an integrated crop-livestock system — one that CIMMYT wants to help optimize. “They’re interdependent,” Jaleta tells Food Tank, explaining that crop residue can be used as animal feed. “They are supporting each other.” 

Listen to the full conversation with Moti Jaleta on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear more about the sustainable practices that CIMMYT is helping farmers adopt, the impact of declining development assistance on the future of agricultural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa, and the AI tools that are helping food producers adapt to changing weather patterns. 

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The agency that’s supposed to keep our food safe is being stretched too thin. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is facing budget cuts—meaning there are fewer inspectors, fewer checks, and fewer chances to catch problems before someone gets sick.

These cuts aren’t just numbers on a page. They affect real people—including you.

In Philadelphia, PA food isn’t just a necessity, it’s part of our culture. Whether it’s a hoagie from the deli or groceries from the corner store, we trust that food is safe. For years, we could eat those meatball subs from the store without worry—because one of the city’s countless health inspectors had checked to make sure it was safe. But that system that has kept us safe for so many years is quietly breaking down.

No one would knowingly eat something dangerous. But without strong oversight, contaminated food can end up on our plates, often without warning and without the protections we assume are in place.

The FDA has long been an invisible safeguard of public health, working behind the scenes for more than a century, from preventing widespread foodborne illness to responding quickly when something goes wrong. That could mean someone getting sick from contaminated chicken, a child having an allergic reaction to an undeclared allergen, or unsafe imported snacks hitting store shelves. In moments like these, the FDA acts fast to keep people safe. Inspectors, scientists, and public health experts show up every day to protect our food system. This isn’t about a lack of commitment. It’s about giving the system the support it needs to do its job well. But without adequate funding and staffing, even their best efforts can only go so far. I saw the consequences firsthand.

In 2018, my uncle Paul started forgetting words and losing track of conversations. At first, we thought it was stress. He worked in a meat processing plant and already had some health issues. But after a stroke landed him in the hospital, doctors diagnosed him with prion disease, a rare, incurable illness that causes rapid neurological decline and is often linked to eating or handling meat containing infected brain or spinal tissue. Around the same time, two of his coworkers were diagnosed with the same disease. There were no confirmed outbreaks or inspection issues at the facility, and we never got clear answers about how they contracted it. I’m not saying it was caused by the job—but when something that rare happens more than once in the same place, it’s hard not to wonder. I still do.

We watched him fade, his memory slipping, his personality dimming. Watching someone disappear like that is something you don’t forget. At the time, I was a public health student learning about foodborne illness and zoonotic diseases, the kinds that spread from animals to people. I remember sitting in class thinking, this could be one of those cases. That moment changed how I saw my work. Because food safety isn’t just about regulations we often take for granted. It’s personal. It’s about people like my uncle, families like mine and maybe yours, too.

Most people who eat beef will never get prion disease. But that’s not the point. The point is no one ever talked to my uncle about the risks, not even the rare ones. And not just as a patient, but as an employee. He deserved to know what he was handling.

More recently, we’ve seen outbreaks of Salmonella in cantaloupe and onions, Listeria in deli meats and cheese, and other recalls on food sold across the country. These aren’t flukes. They’re failures of a system that works, until it doesn’t.

And the threats aren’t slowing down. Bird flu, especially the H5N1 strain, is spreading in animals and raising concerns about illness through contaminated meat. While it doesn’t easily spread between people, it can still cause serious illness and shouldn’t be ignored. If an outbreak like that spreads further, we’ll need the FDA more than ever. But right now, the very system meant to protect us is being weakened.

If we want a stronger, safer food system, we have to urge lawmakers to fund food safety programs, back policies that prevent illness before it spreads, and stay informed about who’s responsible and what happens when protections fall short.

It also means showing up in our own communities. Talking to neighbors about food safety. Reporting unsafe practices. Supporting the workers who grow, cook, and serve our food. And paying attention to public health decisions like how the city funds inspections, how often restaurants are checked, or how quickly violations are addressed. In Philadelphia, that could mean following Health Department updates, attending hearings, or speaking up when policies affect how food safety is enforced in our neighborhoods.

Food safety is not just a government issue. It’s a family issue. A worker issue. And when it comes to the food on our plates, whether it’s from a processing plant, a restaurant, or a corner store we all have a role to play in making sure the protections we count on are there when we need them.

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This piece is part of the weekly series “Growing Forward: Insights for Building Better Food and Agriculture Systems,” presented by the Global Food Institute at the George Washington University and the nonprofit organization Food Tank. Each installment highlights forward-thinking strategies to address today’s food and agriculture related challenges with innovative solutions. To view more pieces in the series, click here.

Despite the central role nutrition plays in preventing and managing disease, U.S. medical schools currently devote, on average, fewer than 20 hours to nutrition education over the course of four years. This limited exposure stands in stark contrast to the outsized impact that diet has on health; indeed, diet-related disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. This educational gap is one of several systemic barriers that limit physicians’ capacity to effectively address diet-related diseases and promote healthy eating habits among their patients.

But that is starting to change. 

In recent years, the concept of Food Is Medicine has gained rapid momentum across the U.S. health care sector and beyond, broadening understanding of the critical role that nutrition plays in maintaining health, preventing illness, and treating many chronic conditions.

No longer a niche interest, Food Is Medicine’s core interventions—medically tailored meals, prescriptions for produce, enrollment in assistance programs, and nutrition education—have captured the zeitgeist. 

Instacart launched a mission-driven arm that embraces Food Is Medicine interventions and is championing nutrition access, resources and education. advocates for nutrition policies. Private and public sector organizations have committed nearly US$10 billion to change the trajectory of diet-related disease and hunger in the U.S.

And earlier this year the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and nonprofit health system Kaiser Permanente founded the Food Is Medicine National Network of Excellence to establish standardized approaches for integrating food-based interventions into health care systems and communities. The first members of the network, some of the biggest names across health care touching millions of lives—Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, CVS Health, Devoted Health, Elevance Health, Geisinger, and Highmark Health—are all in on Food Is Medicine.

But even with these developments—and while health systems, clinicians, academic researchers and others have been building a substantial evidence base that demonstrates Food Is Medicine’s potential to improve and save lives—Food Is Medicine is still reaching relatively few people. 

One of the greatest hurdles to scaling is integrating food and nutrition into the normal course of providing and receiving health care. It continues to be seen primarily as an intervention for serious illnesses or following a hospital admission. 

Getting there will require an expansive reorienting on the part of clinicians, whose advice Americans trust more than almost any other profession, and on the part of patients, whose definition of “medicine” will have to expand beyond the pharmacy window. The vast systems change this will require is one of the reasons why so many health care organizations have joined the National Network of Excellence.

So how do we get to a future state where food and nutrition are as much a part of health care as a blood pressure check? 

One path is training the next generation of physicians to embrace Food Is Medicine as a foundational part of how they provide care. The Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, for example, in addition to 12 hours of dedicated nutrition education, has intentionally woven it throughout the curriculum to underscore its importance across health. This includes emphasizing the connections to food when teaching about metabolic disorders, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, endocrine disorders, pregnancy, heart disease, and many other topics. Students receive instruction on related fields including scientific approaches to nutrition, food insecurity, and policy-levers to address diet-related disease; and the school offers intensive instruction through a culinary medicine elective that dedicates 120 hours to topics in nutrition and culinary literacy for the many students who want to deepen their knowledge to apply in their future practice.

Among the goals of a holistic education in Food Is Medicine strategies is to move past a model where physicians sound like chemists when discussing diet with patients, focusing on nutrients rather than providing practical counseling on meal planning and healthy eating. 

This means care teams should be attuned to the wide variation in how people come to food: variables such as a person’s ability to cook or not cook; accessibility of grocery stores; whether they experience food insecurity; dietary restrictions and allergies; and traditional foodways. Then, they must employ low-barrier approaches to help patients implement lifestyle changes. 

It means knowing under what circumstances a prescription for medically tailored meals, groceries or produce—often combined with nutrition education and a culinary medicine course —is likely to positively impact clinical outcomes.

And, it means grappling with the fact that food insecurity is consistently the top social health need that Americans experience, and that assistance programs like SNAP, WIC, and Summer EBT are still not reaching everyone who would benefit from them.  

The good news is that we are on our way. Because of the growing enthusiasm for Food Is Medicine and the promise it shows to keep people healthier while reducing health care costs, we are on a path to achieving this reorienting in the next 5 to 10 years. 

We can make that future a reality by investing now in the people who will be caring for patients tomorrow. By making nutrition curriculum and food security support a core component of medical education, we can ensure physicians have the tools and perspectives needed to unlock the evidence-based potential of food as an integral part of healthcare delivery that saves lives, reduces costs, and improves health outcomes for generations to come.

Photo courtesy of Taylor Kiser, Unsplash

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By centering family farmers and food access in its hunger policies, Brazil has lifted 40 million people out of food insecurity in two years, representing one of the fastest recorded improvements in the world, the new State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report reveals. IPES-Food panel experts say the achievement offers a blueprint for the bold government action needed to end global hunger and proof that a future free from hunger is within reach.

The SOFI report, released annually by five United Nations agencies, shows that Brazil’s undernourishment rate fell below 2.5 percent between 2022 and 2024. This prompted the country’s removal from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Hunger Map, an interactive tool presenting the latest global estimates on the prevalence of undernourishment, and moderate or severe food insecurity.

The 2025 SOFI report notes that the world is far from eradicating hunger and food insecurity, and not on track to end malnutrition, by 2030, citing persistent food price inflation as a major barrier. But Brazil is making rapid progress in reducing hunger.

After national food insecurity spiked between 2020 and 2022, the Brazilian government launched an initiative to eradicate hunger in 2023 called Brazil Sem Fome (BSF), which translates to Brazil without hunger. BSF’s approach emphasizes coordinated public action and civil society engagement, and centers access to nutritious foods over agricultural productivity.

Policies include school meals sourced from local and agroecological producers, higher minimum wages, support for smallholder and Indigenous farmers, expanded food banks, and legal recognition of the right to food.

The number of people in Brazil experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity fell from 70.3 million in 2022 to 28.5 million in 2024, SOFI data indicate. The number of people unable to afford a healthy diet dropped 20 percent, while the portion of the Brazilian population facing severe food insecurity has been reduced by two-thirds—from 21.1 million to 7.1 million.

The latest SOFI report also confirms that Brazil has achieved BSF’s first goal of getting the country off the FAO Hunger Map.

Elisabetta Recine, head of Brazil’s National Food and Nutrition Security Council and IPES-Food expert, credits the country’s success to concerted political action and policies that put “people, family farmers, Indigenous and traditional communities, and access to good local food at the centre—and by including those most affected.”

Brazil’s progress shows that effective solutions to hunger are neither new nor out of reach. What’s missing, according to Jennifer Clapp, a Professor, IPES-Food expert, and Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security and Sustainability, is the political will to confront its root causes.

Policies that work—like supporting family farmers rather than agribusiness and investing in public programs like school meals—are effective, proven, and widely available, says Raj Patel, an IPES-Food member and research professor at the University of Texas. The only question that remains, according to Patel, is whether other governments will act with the same courage as the Brazilians and make the choice to implement those proven tools.

Despite gains, the SOFI report and public health experts caution that rising food prices, new tariffs, and further looming tariff threats continue to threaten food access, including in Brazil. “We must stay the course,” Recine says, “because the cost of inaction is measured in lives.”

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Dr. David Nabarro, a physician and lifelong advocate for public health, has passed away at the age of 75.

Called “a giant in the world of food security, nutrition advocacy, and global health,” by Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, CEO of Mercy Corps, Nabarro was deeply passionate about ending hunger and malnutrition. 

In 2009, Nabarro was appointed as Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Food Security and Nutrition. The following year, he became the first Coordinator of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, where he worked to reduce childhood undernutrition and stunting in the first 1,000 days of life. Four years later, more than 50 countries had joined the Movement and endorsed nutrition-related laws and policies.

“David inspired generations to act and put nutrition at the center of development,” writes  Luz Maria De Regil, Director of Nutrition and Food Safety at the World Health Organization. 

In 2018, Nabarro was named the World Food Prize laureate for his global leadership on maternal and child undernutrition.

He also helped lead the response to some of the greatest public health crises. Throughout his career in the United Nations system he tackled diseases including malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis, and bird flu. In 2014, Nabarro provided strategic guidance to contain the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. And at the start of 2020, Nabarro was named one of six Special Envoys on COVID-19, providing advice and disseminating information on the coronavirus pandemic. For this service, King Charles III knighted him in 2023.

Nabarro’s commitment to service began at an early age. At 17, he spent nine months running Youth Action York, a volunteer movement that aims to improve the lives of local poor, elderly, and disabled people. And shortly after receiving his medical degree, he joined Save the Children in northern Iraq, where he provided health services to children affected by war. 

Most recently, Nabarro served as the Strategic Director of the 4SD Foundation, a social enterprise that he co-founded to help emerging leaders push for equity, justice, and regenerative futures. In 2018, 4SD was invited to curate Food Systems Dialogues, designed for diverse stakeholders to explore priorities for the future of food and agriculture systems. 

Nabarro saw these dialogues as a way to foster collaboration among different groups: “Even if people have radical disagreements, if they come together in a space where they are respected…they will form a coherent whole,” he told Food Tank. 

Since Nabarro’s passing, friends and colleagues are remembering not only his wisdom, but the generosity, warmth and conviction that he displayed throughout his life. “His strong voice, leadership and genuine passion in these strange times will be sorely missed,” says Gunhild Stordalen, Co-Founder of EAT. “No one can fill his shoes, but we can keep walking the path he cleared with such courage and conviction.”

Nabarro is survived by his wife Florence; his children, Tom, Ollie, Polly, Josie, Lucas; and seven grandchildren.

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Photo courtesy of DFID – UK Department for International Development

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Our food systems are at a breaking point, with climate change putting lives and livelihoods at risk. While Europe and the United States are sweltering in unprecedented heatwaves, smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, who grow up to 70 percent of the region’s food, are battling temperatures higher than in any year since the dawn of agriculture over 10,000 years ago.

The global funding context has also dramatically altered, with official development assistance under strain and geopolitical tensions shifting donor priorities towards defense.

The first U.N. Food Systems Summit four years ago laid out an ambitious vision for transforming how countries grow, process, and consume food—making social and environmental concerns as important as productivity and nutrition. Against a backdrop of pressing global challenges, next week’s summit in Ethiopia will take stock of how far we’ve come—and where we go next.

Despite the headwinds, I am optimistic. There is no single blueprint for food systems transformation, but there are common levers of progress. One of the most powerful of these is innovation. When combined with other key levers—smart investments and increased political will—we will see impact for farmers at scale.

Innovation is not a luxury. Accelerating access to innovation for smallholder farmers must be a priority. Ensuring they get the tools and technologies they need will enable them to grow more food, earn more income, and protect the land they depend on while limiting harmful environmental impacts.

Nowhere is this more urgent than in the production of staple crops. Demand for cereals in sub-Saharan Africa is projected to triple by 2050 as the population soars. Unless farmers can rapidly and sustainably increase their yields, the only alternative to import dependency will be massive expansion of cropland, with devastating effects on biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions.

Taking a food systems approach—a holistic view that includes every aspect of food, from farm to table, and its connection with health, the environment, and the economy—requires investing quickly in a new generation of technologies and practices. This includes, for example, Fast-tracking improved crop varieties and livestock that are more resistant to drought, heat, and pests, and shifting to naturally resilient crops like millet and sorghum; unleashing the power of AI to deploy next-level mobile phone-based advisory tools and weather forecasting to help farmers judge what and when to plant; and accelerating the adoption of green fertilizers to restore soil health.

Ethiopia proves climate-smart farming pays off. In the country, innovation is already driving progress at the field level. One example is the Farmer.Chat app. Powered by AI, it allows extension agents to share highly personalized information and advice with farmers, including on the use of fertilizer and water and pest control. It works in local languages and has the preferences of women farmers baked into its design.

Impact studies have shown that its fertilizer advice alone increased crop yields by 38 percent, without increasing the amount of fertilizer used, and cut the cost of agricultural extension tenfold. The government is now scaling the tool through four states.

Importantly, global political will is aligning with opportunity: We’re seeing political will to prioritize innovation, as governments recognize the need to do more with less.

In January, African agriculture ministers adopted the Kampala Declaration, committing to mobilize a total of US$100 billion in public and private sector investment in African agriculture and food systems by 2035, including funding agricultural research and development to the tune of 1 percent of AgGDP. And at the World Bank- IMF Spring Meetings last April, finance ministers signed up to the IMF’s prescription for economic growth, which highlighted mobilizing innovations and technology adoption, alongside a better environment for business by removing excessive regulation and fighting corruption.

The next frontier will be to finance and scale. For innovation to drive lasting, systems-level change, including transforming policy frameworks and other underlying structures, we now need to unlock financing and scale it up.

Private sector capital will be critical, as will climate finance directed towards adaptation. Currently, food systems receive only 4 percent of climate finance, and only 1 percent of total climate finance goes to smallholder farmers. For many African governments, high debt-servicing costs leave little fiscal space for public investment, even when political will is strong.

COP30 in Brazil will be a key moment. The “Baku to Belém Roadmap” includes a commitment to identify how to scale up climate finance from $300 billion to the estimated US$1.3 trillion needed. However, with persistent disagreement at the Bonn climate talks over inadequate funding for loss and damage and the role of public versus private finance in meeting shortfalls, followed by many leaders opting not to attend the Financing for Development Conference, current efforts are not encouraging.

What matters now is finding common ground to turn commitment into action and ensuring food systems are at the center of the conversation. The promise of impactful new technologies, as Ethiopia is already demonstrating, provides an important key towards finding this common ground.

This is a critical juncture for global food systems. Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are operating in uncharted territory. But with the right investment in innovation—adapted to context, accessible to all, and supported by smart policy—they can be at the forefront of food systems transformation.

UNFSS+4 is our chance to turn momentum into sustained progress through greater investment and a bold commitment to innovation.

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This October, the World Food Prize Foundation will formally award Dr. Mariangela Hungria as the recipient of the 2025 World Food Prize. Hungria is being honored her work on work on nitrogen fixation, soil health, and crop nutrition.

Hungria, a researcher with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), is credited with helping Brazil become an agricultural powerhouse. But her methods weren’t always widely embraced.

The World Food Prize laureate attended school in the 1970s, a time when when crop yields were seeing dramatic increases as a result of the Green Revolution, characterized by the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides. But Hungria was interested in microorganisms, and she believed they offered a solution that didn’t require farmers to rely so heavily on synthetic chemicals. She called it a micro green revolution.

The pushback that Hungria received from her teachers and peers was significant. “Everybody said that I had no future with biologicals,” she tells Food Tank. But Hungria persisted. In her research, she proved that it was possible for farmers to apply less fertilizer, thereby cutting greenhouse gas emissions, while also improving their yields and livelihoods.

And through her career, farmers remained central to her work, Hungria says. “Every research that I did, it was because a farmer came to me to talk about something. It was because a farmer came [to me] or I met a farmer in the field, and he told me what he wanted and what was happening, and that gave me ideas to do my work.”

Read more about Mariangela Hungria’s work in a new piece on Forbes, and watch or listen to a conversation with the World Food Prize laureate on a new episode of “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg.”

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Recent cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid will result in substantial job loss and declining state revenues for years to come, according to researchers at George Washington University.

In anticipation of the budget reconciliation bill, the researchers ran an economic modeling system to estimate the effects of federal funding cuts for Medicaid and (SNAP) on state economies. Their model projects a myriad of economic ramifications for Americans, including about 1.3 million jobs lost nationwide in health care, food related industries, and other sectors. The cuts will also result in lower state gross domestic products (GDPs) — amounting to US$113 billion in losses.

President Donald Trump signed the tax and spending bill into law early July despite pushback from anti-hunger advocates and community leaders. The bill includes reductions of more than US$1 trillion between Medicaid and SNAP. These cuts will result in about 5 million people seeing reduced SNAP benefits. Additionally, 11.8 million Americans may lose their health insurance according to estimates from  the Congressional Budget Office.

“These cuts are bad for families, bad for businesses, and bad for the economy as a whole,” Crystal FitzSimons, President of the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) tells Food Tank. “SNAP is one of the strongest tools we have for keeping people fed and supporting local economies, especially in rural areas. Every SNAP dollar generates up to US$1.80 in economic activity during a downturn, supporting everyone from farmers and truckers to grocery store clerks and small businesses.”

States are already grappling with how to balance budgets and are beginning to cut other critical programs such as the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program which provides free lunches to school-aged children. Without these systems in place FitzSimons warns that, “families will once again be left to make the impossible choice between paying for groceries or paying the rent. No one should have to make that choice.”

SNAP benefits, historically funded solely by the federal government, will now be shifted to state contributions. States must contribute to SNAP benefits in relation to error rates, the higher a state’s error rate, the higher amount of contributions it must make. Additionally, states will be required to cover 75 percent of administration costs and new work requirements will go into effect.

According to research from George Washington University and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, work requirements fail to lead to increased employment. Instead, they “push even more families off [SNAP benefits] and deepen rural food insecurity.” FitzSimons tells Food Tank.

“Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP have drastic repercussions for the states and have economic effects that ripple out beyond healthcare and food,” Dr. Leighton Ku, Director of the Center for Health Policy Research at George Washington University and one of the lead researchers on the report, tells Food Tank. “The cuts are deep and harm state economies, employment, and state and local tax revenues.”

The modeling from Ku and his colleagues is based on the original House bill, and they are currently working on a revised analysis that takes into account the detailed provisions of the law. But, Ku tells Food Tank, he expects the general effects will not differ greatly, noting “the overall impact is similar with more [than] $1 trillion in cuts over a decade.”

GWU’s model reveals a multiplier effect: Every dollar cut from SNAP and Medicaid will lead to a larger negative impact on the economy. Health care providers such as hospitals, doctors’ offices, pharmacies, and nursing homes, as well as grocery and food stores will likely see lower revenue as eaters’ spending falls. Employer income loss can lead to reduced salaries, cuts in staffing, and job loss. State and local government revenue will drop as well due to reduced sales, income, and property taxes. Ultimately, the researchers show that states’ economies will suffer.

“Not only do [SNAP and Medicaid] directly support major parts of the health and food economy in each state, they are counter-cyclical programs, designed to provide more aid when the economy is weak and there are more poor people,” Ku explains to Food Tank. “Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP have drastic repercussions for the states and have economic effects that ripple out beyond health care and food.”

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Each week, Food Tank is rounding up a few news stories that inspire excitement, infuriation, or curiosity.

U.N. Food Systems Summit Stocktake Kicks Off in a Few Days

From July 27–29, the second U.N. Food Systems Summit Stocktake will convene in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Four years after the inaugural summit launched a global push to transform how food is produced, distributed, and consumed, more than 3,000 delegates from around the world will assess whether those efforts are translating into meaningful change.

Co-hosted by Ethiopia and Italy, the meeting—referred to as UNFSS+4—will examine national progress on food systems transformation in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 2: ending hunger, improving nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture.

While over 120 countries have now developed national pathways, advocates express concerns about the  slow pace of implementation. Food and agriculture systems “are finally on the global agenda,” Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, CEO and Managing Director of Food Systems for the Future, tells Food Tank. But heading into this year’s Stocktake, she says, “progress remains too slow.”

The summit arrives amid growing criticism. Civil society groups are boycotting the event, citing concerns over corporate influence and a lack of focus on urgent humanitarian crises. But FAO’s Corinna Hawkes hopes the Stocktake offers a crucial opportunity for solidarity, learning, and renewed commitment and hopes UNFSS+4 will create a greater sense of solidarity between countries.

Indigenous Vegetables See Greater Demand in Kenya

Kenya is experiencing a resurgence in demand for indigenous vegetables. Long marginalized and once dismissed as weeds, these nutrient-rich crops are now gaining recognition for their health benefits, climate resilience, and cultural importance.

A resurgence began in the early 2000s, as rising food prices, malnutrition, and concerns over chemical inputs led researchers and activists to investigate the nutritional and ecological benefits of indigenous crops. Studies highlighted their nutritional value, pest-resistance, low input needs, and climate resilience. Kenya also launched national initiatives to inventory traditional foods and document indigenous knowledge and practices.

Demand grew, farmers responded, and efforts to preserve traditional foodways took root. In 2021, the country was acknowledged by UNESCO for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.

Today, indigenous greens are more popular than imported varieties, despite higher costs, a restaurant near Nairobi tells BBC . Horticulture professor Mary Abukutsa-Onyango says production of these vegetables has doubled in the past decade, reaching 300,000 tons last year.

But efforts to scale up indigenous vegetable production in Kenya face legal hurdles. A law—introduced in 2012 to protect farmers from poor quality and counterfeit seeds—criminalizes the sale or exchange of uncertified seeds, carrying penalties of up to two years in prison or a US$7,700 fine, or both. Wambui Wakahiu, who trains farmers on seed conservation, tells the BBC that such policies do not support efforts to save indigenous crop varieties, as their seeds are not available in farm-supply shops.

But farmers are taking action. 15 smallholder farmers petitioned the High Court to challenge the law, arguing it makes seed access unaffordable. Meanwhile, chefs, farmers, researchers, and vegetable vendors see the demand and the benefits and they are committed to helping more eaters enjoy these once-overlooked crops.

Tanzania Launches a Digital Agricultural Extension System

Tanzania’s Ministry of Agriculture has launched e-Kilimo, a digital platform designed to help farmers—particularly in rural and remote areas—connect with certified extension officers for real-time, location-specific technical advice.

Accessible via a mobile app, the platform aims to improve productivity and enhance public sector responsiveness by bridging gaps in farm-level support. The system also includes a registry of agricultural input suppliers, enabling the government to trace product distribution and crack down on counterfeit seeds and agrochemicals.

To improve service delivery, e-Kilimo incorporates a performance evaluation system for extension agents, including mandatory feedback forms and annual reviews. “This is about protecting the farmer and safeguarding our national food security,” the Minister of Agriculture says.

Despite its promise, national adoption may face challenges. According to the International Telecommunication Union, only one-third of Tanzanians are online, and 75 percent live in rural areas where internet and smartphone access remains limited. Still, the government says it is optimistic and working toward wider platform uptake.

EPA Plans to Close its Scientific Research Arm

The U.N. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will close the Office of Research and Development (ORD), the arm of the agency that is responsible for providing scientific expertise for environmental policies and regulations.

The Office analyzes dangers posed by hazards including toxic chemicals, the climate crisis, water pollution, soil pollution, smog, wildfires, indoor air contaminants, watershed destruction, and drinking water pollutants. The Associated Press reports that as many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists could be laid off.

The news has been expected since March, when the New York Times first reported on a leaked document calling for the closure of ORD. And in May, EPA said it would shift its scientific expertise and research efforts to program offices that focus on major issues like air and water.

Former EPA and ORD scientists argue that dismantling ORD will “jeopardize human and environmental health” and “weaken American science and global competitiveness.” They write that the Office “provides the scientific backbone for response and recovery—safeguarding human health, the environment, and the economy.”

And U.S. Members of Congress Chellie Pingree and Jeff Merkley writes that eliminating ORD will “have devastating consequences.” The decision, they say, “will weaken scientific oversight, eliminate critical regulatory safeguards, and give polluting industries unchecked influence over environmental policy and ultimately human health.”

In ORD’s place, the agency is creating a new Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions. Officials say that once fully implemented, it will save the EPA nearly US$750 million.

New Report Reveals Insufficient Progress to Reach Global Nutrition Targets

A new report from the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the World Bank reveals that there has been significant progress made in the last decade, but we are “still far from a world without malnutrition.”

The Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), released annually, track global trends in child stunting, overweight, underweight, wasting, and severe wasting. The latest edition of the JME show that wasting—the most life-threatening form of acute malnutrition—has declined from 50.9 million cases in 2012 to 42.8 million in 2023.

But rates of stunting, a condition where a child’s height is significantly below average for their age, remain high. There are 150.2 million children affected and just over a quarter of countries are on track to halve the number of children affected by stunting in 2030. And child overweight continues to affect nearly every region, with 35.5 million children under five classified as overweight—an increase of 2.2 million since 2000.

The agencies cite challenges in data collection and monitoring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflict, and declining development aid. In 20 percent of countries, there is insufficient data to assess progress. Without reliable data and sustained investment, the report stresses, countries risk reversing gains in child health and nutrition.

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The new Food Security Leadership Council (FSLC) led by 2024 World Food Prize Laureate Cary Fowler aims to align American policy, science, and action to solve global hunger.

The council will spotlight the impact of U.S. policies on global food systems and craft a forward-looking blueprint for U.S. engagement on food and nutrition security. Their work will focus on six interconnected themes: food and agricultural innovation, multilateral policy, public data and early warning, trade, international agricultural development, and humanitarian response.

More than 700 million people face hunger in the world, according to the United Nations, with numbers expected to rise in the coming decades as the climate crisis, soil degradation, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss worsen.

“What really keeps me up late at night is the combination of factors. It’s not just the effect of climate change on food production. It’s the effect of climate change plus soil degradation plus problems with aquifers that are supplying irrigation water,” says Fowler. “We’re going to be seeing the effects of all of these factors combined.”

U.S. policy decisions are exacerbating these challenges. The closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Fowler writes, has “changed the world.” The effects of the sudden termination of agricultural research and humanitarian aid programs are only beginning to reveal themselves, but as experts shape a response to these changes, Fowler warns that “restoration of what came before is unrealistic, unwise and unnecessary. We seek transformation, not a return to the status quo ante.”

FSLC is drawing on the expertise of two advisory groups that will guide and support the organization’s work as they try to chart a new path forward. A team of Distinguished Fellows include Food Tank Board Member Bill Burke, former USAID Deputy Director Jerry Glover, Rosamond Naylor of Stanford University, Roy Steiner of The Rockefeller Foundation, and Arun Baral of HarvestPlus.  A second group, referred to as Members, include Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, Chef Dan Barber, 2022 World Food Prize Laureate Cynthia Rosenzweig, and former U.S. Senator Jon Tester.

“We have an unprecedented opportunity to reset and rebuild our policies, investments, and institutions to meet this challenge,” says Fowler. “The FSLC intends to develop a blueprint to do just that.”

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Photo courtesy of Elisa Kerschbaumer

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World Food Program USA launched a new campaign that will leverage the arts and the power of Gen Z to mobilize a new generation of anti-hunger advocates. 

Through custom artwork Fill the Silence is highlighting the futures that are unlocked when communities have access to nutritious food—and the potential that is lost when it’s inaccessible. A series of pieces by artists Brandon Breaux and Indie184 serve as anchors of the campaign. They convey eight stories of people facing food insecurity around the world, while remaining hopeful and action oriented.

The works are designed to change the dominant narrative around hunger, which advocates say is no longer inspiring action. “Dire photos and desperate pleas—nothing seems to shock or move us anymore. The world’s hunger crisis is blurred in our minds and getting tuned out,” says Brandon Rochon, a World Food Program USA Board Member. 

With the campaign, the organization hopes to encourage a “mindset shift” in Americans, says Jessamyn Sarmiento, World Food Program USA Chief Marketing Officer. “We want them to see the limitless potential of the hungriest people and understand the critical, doable, available solutions that can make a difference,” she tells Food Tank.

World Food Program USA aims to convert new attention into action, raising funds to support families around the world who are experiencing hunger. They also hope to recruit members for the Zero Hunger Generation, a new program for grassroots advocates passionate about creating a world where everyone is nourished. 

The Campaign comes at a time when funding for food aid is on the decline, which the World Food Programme says they have been forced to scale back and even halt some operations. Reduced assistance “could amount to a death sentence for millions of people,” the organization says. And according to an analysis in Nature, the cuts for global nutrition funding could result in an additional 369,000 child deaths each year that would have otherwise been preventable.

“We are at an inflection point in the global hunger crisis,” Sarmiento tells Food Tank. “There’s a rising tide of interest in global hunger issues—and because of the news coverage around funding cuts, more people are talking about it than ever before. We’re leaning into this elevated awareness to harness it and mobilize action.”

World Food Program USA wants to show that hunger is a human-made crisis, with solutions available to solve it. And they believe Gen Z will play a critical role in sharing this message.

“Our research shows that global hunger is the number one issue that Gen Z cares about,” Sarmiento says. “They have a vested interest in improving this world they will inherit and one day lead. Gen Z is also a tremendous influence with other generations; they have the passion and charisma to persuade others to take on the mission of creating a hunger-free world.” 

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Image courtesy of Indie184 for World Food Program USA

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The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently released a report entitled “Transforming Food and Agriculture Through a Systems Approach.” Published ahead of the U.N. Food Systems Summit +4 Stocktake (UNFSS+4), this food systems transformation report tries to lay the groundwork for governments to make unified, strategic efforts in addressing mounting food security challenges globally.

The report, authored by Corinna Hawkes, Director of the Agrifood Systems and Food Safety Division at the FAO, aims to demystify an interconnected approach to transforming food and agriculture. Hawkes argues that systems thinking isn’t a buzzword; it’s a necessary shift if the world hopes to solve overlapping food, health, and environmental challenges.

Hawkes links this call for transformation to her high expectations for the upcoming UNFSS+4. This year’s event provides an opportunity for countries to reflect on progress since the 2021 U.N. Food Systems Summit and first Stocktake in 2023, and align on next steps for food system reform.

UNFSS+4 “will create a greater sense of solidarity between countries,” Hawkes tells Food Tank. She also shares that, “at a deeper level, this is what I believe is key to multilateralism: a sense, a feeling that it’s better to work together on issues of common interest, and there is so much that can be learned from each other.”

This spirit of collaboration and shared learning is at the heart of “Transforming Food and Agriculture Through a Systems Approach.” The report argues that real progress requires interconnected, system-wide solutions. And it highlights case studies, called “pockets of progress,” from around the globe to show where this is already happening.

Ethiopia, for example, has brought different ministries together to create a holistic plan that improves food systems, health, and sustainability since 2021. Supported by cross-ministerial coordination and monitoring aligned with national, regional, and global goals, the country is now sharing lessons learned from the process. And in Switzerland, the government worked to improve agrifood policy by applying true cost accounting to expose hidden social, environmental, and economic costs—fostering transparent, evidence-based decisions across sectors.

This food systems transformation report highlights six core elements to help policymakers and practitioners think, organize, and act differently. These include systems thinking, systems knowledge, systems governance, systems doing, systems investment, and systems learning.

The approach the report advocates for begins with systems thinking, Hawkes writes. Practitioners start a systems approach by identifying how different parts of agrifood systems connect and who needs to be involved. It helps build a shared vision and pinpoint key opportunities for change. Systems thinking relies on systems knowledge, which draws on diverse evidence to uncover root causes, anticipate impacts, and support better decision-making.

Effective systems governance coordinates sectors, shares leadership, and addresses power imbalances to unite efforts and ensure equity. Furthermore, systems doing focuses on aligning actions, policies, and programs to work together smoothly, maximizing impact rather than working in silos. Systems investment can provide the long-term funding needed for transformation. And systems learning embeds ongoing monitoring, adaptation, and knowledge-sharing to improve strategies over time. This can help governments respond to the ever-changing complexities of agrifood systems.

Overall, the six elements aim not just to inform, but to guide concrete, coordinated action. And Hawkes believes that the momentum to employ this systems based approach is growing. “Countries are not about starting from the beginning – they are already making the shift, as the examples in the report show,” she tells Food Tank.

Hawkes emphasizes that she wants to see the report support that shift in mindset and action: “I hope this report stimulates policymakers and practitioners to ask the question: What does taking a systems approach mean for what we need to do differently? What does it mean to me?”

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