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7.6 Trillion Meals Delivered a Year Through Innovation and Technology

[Lexington, KY] – The Great Debate held during The Alltech 28^th Annual International Symposium in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, hosted a panel of four of the sharpest minds representing all corners of the agriculture and food ecosystem. The debate cut through the hyperbole to get to the heart of what really matters when trying to feed a population of 9 billion people by 2050.

Presented in front of nearly 3,000 delegates from 72 countries and 42 U.S. states, the topics debated were: Feeding 9 billion people; Is Africa the new Brazil? What are the implications of the African land grab? What’s next for biofuels? Other topics included: Water — the fight for natural resources; protecting the rainforests; educating urbanites about agriculture; dealing with groups hostile to agriculture; solutions to obesity; organic labels; malnutrition; what ‘Local’ really means; what does the future hold for the four year-olds of today’s world.

Tom Arnold, CEO, of Concern Worldwide; Sean Rickard, senior lecturer in business economics, Cranfield University, United Kingdom; Dr. Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes, Former Minister of Agriculture and Food Supply of Brazil; and Tom Dorr, CEO of the U.S. Grains Council in Washington DC, USA each took to the stage to discuss their ideas on what the future of agriculture and food supply will look like.

Experts at the Great Debate unanimously agreed that world hunger has declined dramatically over the past two decades. Arnold summed it up by saying, “In 1969 the world had about 3 billion people and about 25 percent of those 3 billion people were hungry.  By 2004, the world had 6.3 billion people and 13 percent of that population were hungry.” Rickard agreed and explained that a key driver of meeting that world population food demand was the ability of getting science and farmers together.

Arnold used the phrase “Food is back.” He talked about how a large proportion of the world’s population has moved out of poverty. Rickard highlighted the policy practices which he referred to as “mad policies” such as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the European Union and the need to move towards smarter policies and polices that think through the implications.

Pratini de Moraes addressed the need to move away from protectionism and trade rules that effectively end up costing agriculture and consumers millions of dollars and eventually have a disproportionate effect on the availability of food.

Dorr suggested that the world should appreciate the fact that agriculture delivers over 7.6 trillion meals a year and suggested that agriculture may be where the information technology industry was at in the 80s.

Audience opinion was sought through a confidential electronic survey. Survey results were received from almost 600 delegates prior to the Great Debate. Of those surveyed, 52 percent resided in North America, 66 percent were feed focussed with 45 percent conducting business in the ruminant market. 

• Almost 50 percent of those surveyed felt that 9 billion people cannot be fed without using genetically modified foods (GMO’s) while in contrast 20 percent felt that the world can be feed without GMO’s.
• 75 percent of respondents think that emphasis should be placed both on food safety and in teaching people to better prepare their food.
• 33 percent of those surveyed believe that biofuels should be subsidized but only for a short time, while 39 percent disagree and believe that biofuels should not be subsidized having already received too much subsidization already.
• 88 percent believe that countries should be allowed to prevent imports of food based on sanitary standards. Half said “yes” with World Trade Organization approval and half said “yes” in all cases.

Experts at the Great Debate all agreed that the agricultural industry is here to stay, and that demand for its output will continue to grow. Commenting on the debate, Alltech Vice President, Aidan Connolly, summarized the key messages delivered, “Modern agriculture needs to continue to embrace technology, innovation and place an emphasis on education. We must recognize that we are going to face critical issues, particularly with regard to water shortages, and focus on the need for transparency.”

The Alltech 28^th Annual International Symposium is hosting nearly 3,000 delegates from 72 countries in Lexington, Kentucky, May 20-23, 2012. Keep up with the latest happenings through live broadcasts and watch recorded seminars on the Alltech Ag Network. Read blogs posts and interviews at www.alltech.com/blog. Join in the conversation on Twitter using the hash tag #agfuture. Photos, interviews and videos are available for download at www.alltech.com/press.