Young: Food, National Security Linked
Published: Friday, April 26, 2019
Last Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), newly appointed Ambassador and U.S. Representative to the Untied Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture Kip Tom, and Kassie Tom Roland met to discuss global food security at Huntington University.
The discussion was hosted by Farm Journal Foundation. The nonprofit is dedicated to agriculture and the ability to meet the needs of a growing population. There are estimates that by 2050, the world's population will reach about 10 billion people. That is an increase of over 2 billion. Agricultural production will need to grow by 70 percent in order to feed the world, according to the Farm Journal Foundation.
"To me, this comes down to an issue of national security," Young said. "It invokes our basic American values. We are a beacon of hope and hopefully a light to the rest of the world. By feeding others, feeding our fellow human beings, I think we live up to our values through our generosity."
Young added that when people starve, people flee. This often leads to migratory and refugee challenges around the world. If people are starving, they are more likely to radicalize, he said. Young also added that when other countries are thriving, they are more likely to invest in products from the U.S. Therefore, devoting time and money into feeding the world will benefit the global economy.
The number of undernourished people in the world reach about 821 million in 2017, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. Most of those undernourished people are small farmers who can't grow enough quality food to feed their families and earn an income.
"The time for strong U.S. leadership in these global food security challenges and agriculture development has never been more pressing," said Kip Tom. "Most often times a lot of these places that are food insecure, nearly 80 percent in fact, are in the midst of a civil conflict. Severe hunger and poverty effect nearly a billion people around the world. Ironically, most of these people are farmers."
Tom added that helping countries help themselves leads to new markets for U.S. farmers. Tom's daughter, Kassie Tom Roland, is a partner and works on Tom Farms, where she also grew up. She has a variety of roles on the farm and is passionate about fighting world hunger.
"As a Christian, we are called by Jesus to care for the poor and feed the hungry," said Roland. "We believe in taking care of our neighbors here at home, however hunger and poverty are vastly different in places around the world. As a farmer, it's appalling to me to see these people go hungry when they are already farmers."
There are 500 million smallholder farms in the world and many break even, barely Roland said.
Agriculture technology is a contributor to fighting food insecurity. GMOs are tools that help crops strive. However, many people are resistant to this science that holds the potential to make a big difference in their lives. Young said culturally specific education programs that are related to GMO crops may be one solution to remedy the resistance.
"Whether it's aquaculture or agriculture, there are incredible opportunities here," he said. "But there are real barriers. It's not just in the developing world to adoption of these things (GMOs)."
Adapting the message to fit the audience is a great way to get the information across, he added. When seed is provided to other countries, it is essential to work with the farmers and educate them about the product.
Although global hunger was the focus of the meeting, the issue of trade could not be ignored. Farmers are still anxious about the future. Without sustainable income on their own farms, many U.S. farmers may not have the ability to contribute to foreign farmers and the hungry around the world.
Young said the administration is attempting to bring China and other trading partners into better behavior in order to have free and fair trade. He credits the administration for elevating predatory economic practices that the Chinese and some other countries partake in. Young said entering more trade agreements may help the U.S. come to an agreement with China.
"The bilateral tariffs have hurt our farming community," he said. "In fact, there are some young farmers and small farmers around this state who aren't in business anymore, or who are soon no longer going to be in business, because they just can't cash flow with the current situation. It's a very, very sobering and a serious a situation that I hope gets resolved soon."
According to Young, the Chinese economy has been adversely impacted and is hurting even more than the U.S.
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