The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto,fiat panis,translates to "let there be bread". It was founded on 16 October 1945.
Ann Margaret Veneman is an American attorney who served as the fifth executive director of UNICEF from 2005 to 2010. She previously served as the 27th United States Secretary of Agriculture from 2001 to 2005,and was the first,and to date the only,woman to hold that post. Veneman served for the entire first term of President George W. Bush,and she left to take the UNICEF position. Appointed by the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on January 18,2005,she took over the post on May 1,2005. A lawyer,Veneman has practiced law in Washington,DC and California,including being a deputy public defender. She has also served in other high level positions in U.S. federal and state government,including being appointed California's Secretary of Food and Agriculture,serving from 1995 to 1999.
The United States National Agricultural Library (NAL) is one of the world's largest agricultural research libraries,and serves as a national library of the United States and as the library of the United States Department of Agriculture. Located in Beltsville,Maryland,it is one of five national libraries of the United States. It is also the coordinator for the Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC),a national network of state land-grant institutions and coordinator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) field libraries.
Quality Assurance International (QAI) is a U.S.-based international organic certification company that is authorized by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as "a USDA-accredited certifying agent that operates globally to certify organic operations to National Organic Program standards." It is a for-profit corporation,established in 1989,and headquartered in San Diego,California. It is one of the world's largest certifiers,operating in the United States,Canada,Latin America,European Union,and Japan. It is owned by public health and environmental organization NSF International.
The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University brings together biomedical,nutritional,clinical,social,and behavioral scientists to conduct research,educational,and community service programs in the field of human nutrition. Founded in 1981,the school's mission is to generate trusted science,educate future leaders,and produce real world impact in nutrition science and policy. The Friedman School is one of the eight schools that currently comprise Tufts University. Although originally split between the university's Medford/Somerville campus and the health sciences campus in Boston,almost all of the school's facilities and programs now share the health sciences campus with the School of Medicine and the School of Dental Medicine. The Jaharis Family Center for Biomedical and Nutrition Research,which opened in 2002,houses most of the nutrition school. The school currently enrolls over 200 masters and doctoral students.
Food policy is the area of public policy concerning how food is produced,processed,distributed,purchased,or provided. Food policies are designed to influence the operation of the food and agriculture system balanced with ensuring human health needs. This often includes decision-making around production and processing techniques,marketing,availability,utilization,and consumption of food,in the interest of meeting or furthering social objectives. Food policy can be promulgated on any level,from local to global,and by a government agency,business,or organization. Food policymakers engage in activities such as regulation of food-related industries,establishing eligibility standards for food assistance programs for the poor,ensuring safety of the food supply,food labeling,and even the qualifications of a product to be considered organic.
American Farmland Trust (AFT) is a non-profit organization in the United States with a mission to protect farmland,promote environmentally sound farming practices,and keep farmers on the land. AFT is staffed by farmers,policy experts,researchers,and scientists,and governed by a board of directors. It's headquarters are in Washington,D.C.,and it has regional offices throughout the country. AFT also runs the Farmland Information Center,an online collection of information on farmland and ranchland protection and stewardship established as a public-private partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The Under Secretary for Research,Education,and Economics is a high-ranking official within the United States Department of Agriculture that provides leadership and oversight for the Agricultural Research Service,National Institute of Food and Agriculture,Economic Research Service,National Agricultural Library,National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Charles Franklin "Chuck" Conner is a former United States Deputy Secretary of Agriculture.
The Food,Conservation,and Energy Act of 2008 was a $288 billion,five-year agricultural policy bill that was passed into law by the United States Congress on June 18,2008. The bill was a continuation of the 2002 Farm Bill. It continues the United States' long history of agricultural subsidies as well as pursuing areas such as energy,conservation,nutrition,and rural development. Some specific initiatives in the bill include increases in Food Stamp benefits,increased support for the production of cellulosic ethanol,and money for the research of pests,diseases and other agricultural problems.
The agricultural policy of the United States is composed primarily of the periodically renewed federal U.S. farm bills. The Farm Bills have a rich history which initially sought to provide income and price support to US farmers and prevent them from adverse global as well as local supply and demand shocks. This implied an elaborate subsidy program which supports domestic production by either direct payments or through price support measures. The former incentivizes farmers to grow certain crops which are eligible for such payments through environmentally conscientious practices of farming. The latter protects farmers from vagaries of price fluctuations by ensuring a minimum price and fulfilling their shortfalls in revenue upon a fall in price. Lately,there are other measures through which the government encourages crop insurance and pays part of the premium for such insurance against various unanticipated outcomes in agriculture.
The term food system describes the interconnected systems and processes that influence nutrition,food,health,community development,and agriculture. A food system includes all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population:growing,harvesting,processing,packaging,transporting,marketing,consumption,distribution,and disposal of food and food-related items. It also includes the inputs needed and outputs generated at each of these steps. Food systems fall within agri-food systems,which encompass the entire range of actors and their interlinked value-adding activities in the primary production of food and non-food agricultural products,as well as in food storage,aggregation,post-harvest handling,transportation,processing,distribution,marketing,disposal,and consumption. A food system operates within and is influenced by social,political,economic,technological and environmental contexts. It also requires human resources that provide labor,research and education. Food systems are either conventional or alternative according to their model of food lifespan from origin to plate. Food systems are dependent on a multitude of ecosystem services. For example,natural pest regulations,microorganisms providing nitrogen-fixation,and pollinators.
The U.S. Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition,Specialty Crops,Organics,and Research is one of five subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture,Nutrition and Forestry.
Dr. Simin Nikbin Meydani,D.V.M.,Ph.D.,is an Iranian-American Nutrition Scientist,Professor and the currently the Vice Provost of Research at Tufts University.
The Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA),located in Boston,Massachusetts,is one of six human nutrition research centers in the United States supported by the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. The goal of the HNRCA,which is managed by Tufts University,is to explore the relationship between nutrition,physical activity,and healthy and active aging.
Brian Baenig is an American government official who served as Chief of Staff for Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack from 2013 to 2015.
Rosemary R. Haggett,Ph.D.,is the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Student Success for the University of North Texas System. She was the second woman to serve as a dean of a college of agriculture in the U.S.
Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle is a French agricultural engineer. Ministerial Delegate to the Minister of Agriculture and Food since July 2018. Between 2013 and 2018 she was Under Secretary of State for the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
Ann Tutwiler is a Senior Fellow with Meridian Institute and serves as a Senior Advisor to the Food Forward Consortium and formerly was the senior advisor to the Just Rural Transition. She also chairs the Expert Review Committee for the Food and Agriculture Benchmark for the World Benchmarking Alliance. Previously,she was the Director General of Bioversity International from July 2013 to February 2019 and the first woman Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) from January 2011 to November 2012. In 2022,she has been awarded the John Knox Batten Teaching Fellowship in Public Policy at Davidson College in North Carolina where she taught two undergraduate classes in food systems transformation.
Tambra Raye Stevenson is an African-American entrepreneur,nutrition educator,public speaker,policy advisor,inventor,and food justice activist. Stevenson founded WANDA and NativSol Kitchen. She is a Nutrition and Health Co-chair for the DC Food Policy Council,a Committee member for the National Agricultural Research,Extension,Education,and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board,and was named National Geographic Traveler of the Year in 2014.
