High-priority Research Approaches for Transforming U.S. Food Systems

Kate Clancy

doi:10.5304/jafscd.2013.034.021

Abstract

The number of agriculture and food research agendas published over the last 25 years would fill multiple shelves — and that's not counting the long lists within each of those agendas. There are so many research needs in every possible area of the food system that the catalog of topics begins to look random. A long-term overall decline in funding, coupled with funders' often narrow preferences and with the academic culture of freedom to choose one's own research interests, have made food and agricultural research feel chaotic. Priorities and strategies may guide research project choices within some categories, but don't seem to in most. In this context I want to highlight four different approaches and several projects that I believe are very high priority and are necessary to pursue if there is to be a chance of building a sustainable and resilient agrifood system for the future.

Highlights

The number of agriculture and food research agendas published over the last 25 years would fill multiple shelves — and that’s not counting the long lists within each of those agendas
She received her bachelors and doctoral degrees in nutrition at the University of Washington and the University of California Berkeley, respectively. She has studied food systems for over 40 years and has held positions in several universities, the federal government and two nonprofit organizations. Her present interests are regional food systems, food security, agriculture of the middle, and policies at all levels to encourage the development of resilient food systems
Priorities and strategies may guide research project choices within some categories, but don’t seem to in most. In this context I want to highlight four different approaches and several projects that I believe are very high priority and are necessary to pursue if there is to be a chance of building a sustainable and resilient agrifood system for the future. Most of these suggestions come from the National Research Council (NRC) publication, Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century, published in 2010. (If you haven’t read at least some of the report I beseech you to do so.) The report, a follow-up to the NRC report Alternative Agriculture published in 1989, “assesses the scientific evidence for the strengths and weaknesses of different production, marketing, and policy approaches for improving agricultural sustainability and reducing the costs and unintended consequences of agricultural production” (p. vii)

Summary

Introduction

The number of agriculture and food research agendas published over the last 25 years would fill multiple shelves — and that’s not counting the long lists within each of those agendas. Her present interests are regional food systems, food security, agriculture of the middle, and policies at all levels to encourage the development of resilient food systems. In this context I want to highlight four different approaches and several projects that I believe are very high priority and are necessary to pursue if there is to be a chance of building a sustainable and resilient agrifood system for the future.

Results

Conclusion