The ChainLetter

Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year to each of you. May 2011 bring you peace, happiness and accomplishment!

This will be another busy year for IFAMA with an outstanding 2011 Frankfurt Global Conference; the innovative IFAMR with new recognition; a revised Chain Letter; new Chapters starting; website discussion groups; a C-Level Council; special one day conferences on single topics; the first Strategic Alliance underway with PMA; a ma-jor push on adding new individual and industry, academic and other members; and the development of the Human Capital program.

The global conference in Frankfurt, Germany, is shaping up very well. Gerhard Schiefer and Josef Haber are Co-Chairs of the Forum and their committee has constructed a new approach that will be very high level, with an increased amount of audience interac-tion. Melanie Fritz and Jay Lillywhite have had a record number of submissions for the Symposium, and Case Conference Co-chairs, Jose Boccherini and Melanie Lang are busy reviewing teaching case studies for the 2nd annual Harvard style showcase. Eluned Jones and Greg Baker are again taking the lead to develop an engag-ing Student Case Competition and student/industry networking opportunities. Frankfurt 2011 will be worth your time: mark your calendar now.

Often, as we work on recruiting new members we are asked, What’s IFAMA about? The following is a brief summary that I call our

‘Elevator Discussion’ which succinctly describes IFAMA. What’s IFAMA about? It’s about the security and sustainability of the food supply between now and 2050. From the current world population of 6.9 billion, even with a declining birth rate, the population by 2050 is estimated to be between 8 to 10.5 billion, a gain of 3.1 billion or 45% more people to feed. With a smaller percentage of the population involved in farming, and the need for substantially more acres of croplands, trees and animals, how will we feed everyone?

IFAMA is a clearinghouse for agribusiness, academia, NGOs and others who work together to help food producers feed the world now and in the future. The IFAMA network gathers expertise from around the world at its annual conference, disseminates leading edge research through its academic journal, and spreads its find-ings through its global network. IFAMA’s mission is to improve the strategic focus, transparency, sustainability, and responsiveness of the global food and agribusiness system. With over 700 members in 50 countries, IFAMA is in a position unlike any other organization in the world to provide bridges among the many drivers and par-ticipants in the farm-to-consumer chain to set the global stage, to identify ‘game changers,’ and to shape how food and agribusiness goes forward in a new era where increased farming, processing and distribution will become more critical.

Sustainability

Agriculture’s Many Faceted Jewel 4See page 6

IFAMA President ReportPaul T. Jasper, CEO Covered Logistics Transport, LLC

January 2011Volume 10, Issue 1

The ChainLetterInternational Food & Agribusiness Management Association Newsletter

IFAMA’s President’s Report.........................................................................1 Thank You 2010 Conference Sponsors.................................................. 2 IFAMA News.....................................................................................................3.2011 Conference Updates..........................................................................4

Sustainability: Agriculture’s Many Faceted Jewel By Linda Smith........................................................................... 6

Executive Interview: Carole Brookins By Oriana Lisker........................................................................... 9

First Global Summit on Metropolitan Agriculture By Sander Mager.......................................................................11

5th International European Forum (Innsbruck-Igls)........................12

Inside This Issue

How does IFAMA fulfill this role?

1. An annual international conference consisting of an academic Symposium, Case Studies, and a Forum of leading industry, academic and government leaders in food and agribusiness.

2. A renowned academic journal, the IFAMR, presents peer reviewed global research on critical food and agribusiness issues. 3. The ChainLetter, a bi-monthly newsletter.4. Local Chapters consisting of industry, academia, government, and students meet quarterly to discuss food and agribusiness issues impor-

tant to their local or regional areas as well as national and global food system concerns. 5. Online forums and discussion boards discuss topical issues. 6. One-day conferences address specialized topics.7. IFAMA facilitates business-student interactions and networking opportunities; provides mentor and internship opportunities; develops

courses for new managers; promotes food and agribusiness as an industry of choice; and brings about employment opportunities for food and agribusiness students by bringing new talent to IFAMA’s members.

8. Strategic alliances between IFAMA and other organizations in the food and agribusiness industry are designed to provide insights into the future; access and input into those who formulate policy, decide strategy and set research agendas. Alliances facilitate an open exchange of information and view points.

9. Interaction among members occurs daily.

IFAMA works with real issues in the real world with input from leading thinkers and doers.

If you only want to go up a couple of floors on the elevator, here it is in one sentence: IFAMA is a global clearinghouse for food and agribusiness industry, academia, government and others dedicated to the sustainability, expansion and ability to feed the growing world population.

We hope to see you in Frankfurt! Tuck Jasper, President IFAMA

The Chain LetterJanuary 2011

Thank You 2010 Conference Sponsors and Supporters

Presidential Message-Continued from Page 1


Page 3

Introducing New IFAMA Online Focus Groups

IFAMA has launched an online discussion forum in order to provide members another method to connect with each other in an open exchange of ideas, knowledge, and solutions. You are invited to contribute to a current discussion thread or initiate one on a topic of choice related to the global food system. Members of Focus Groups can jump in and out of discussions or just be a spectators. Discussion threads will be disbanded upon the conclusion of a topic. Two current Focus Groups posted include:

Biotech ForumAs an adjunct to the Biotech in Agriculture Focus Group, the Biotech Forum offers an online location to discuss the creation, growth, application and logistics of enhanced biological products. Specific topics anticipated for discussion include GMO’s (as well as the latest advances in genetically novel organisms), novel uses of biomass in industrial products, financing agriculturally focused biotech endeavors, employment policy and requirements, and the application of external biotech products to existing crops and agribusiness products (such as the use of vaccines generated from GMO).

Women in Agribusiness One area IFAMA wants to support and needs your help is on the topic of women working in agriculture. The purpose of this discussion thread is to begin a dialog for information exchange and become a source for further program development for women. Here are some possible topics for discussion:

4What are some of issues that need to be addressed with respect to women working in agriculture?4What are some ways women can mentor women who are contemplating a career in agriculture or who are new to the industry?4What kinds of opportunities are available to women in this industry? What type of education or skill sets are needed?4What kind of jobs or opportunities are readily available for women in this field?4How can a women living in a LDC (Less Developed Countries) plug in and gain access to opportunities in the Ag industry?

IFAMA Publications Now Available in Digital Magazine Format

The ChainLetter and the IFAMR are now available in a digital magazine format. Get the paper-like reading experience with these interactive features including key-word search, video, and social media. Visit the ChainLetter and IFAMR homepages to view : ChainLetter: https://www.ifama.org/publications/chainletter/Default.aspx. The IFAMR: https://www.ifama.org/publications/journal/vol13/V13I4.aspx

IFAMA Chapters Take Shape

IFAMA’s first local chapter is now active in the Southwestern USA. This chapter is spearheaded by Troy Lapsys of Incitor, Inc., from Albuquerque and Professor Bill Gorman from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. A committee of IFAMA members including professors from the University of Georgia are working to form an Atlanta, Georgia, Chapter and Professor, Francesco Braga is working IFAMA members in Canada to form one at the University of Guelph.

Other IFAMA members have indicated an interest in starting chapters in St. Louis, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Spain. IFAMA has identified Chile, The Netherlands, Poland, India, China, Australia, and New Zealand as likely locations for city and university chapters and is looking for mem-bers in these countries interested in taking the lead. To learn more about how to start a chapter, please see the IFAMA website at:www.ifama.org. Chapter information is located under the GET INVOLVED tab or contact Michael Lapsys of IFAMA at: [email protected].

How to Join a Focus Group

1. Visit our website: www.ifama.org. 2. Select the GET INVOLVED tab located at the top of the

homepage. 3. Click through to Focus Groups and select the Discus

Discussion Boards button. 4. To join IFAMA forums, you will need to login. If you have

not previously logged in, click the “Register” link and follow the instructions. If you encounter difficulties, please see the Faq link (Frequently Asked Questions) or contact the IFAMA Business Office.

We hope you will help us make this new membership benefit a success.

IFAMA News

IFAMA Publications now Available in Digital Magazine Format

Symposium organizers have received over 250 scientific paper proposals for the 2011 conference. Research papers, cases, discussion sessions and posters provide the intellectual foundation for discussions which occur during the Forum. IFAMA is changing the days in which the conference is scheduled for 2011 so that it coin-cides with a traditional business work-week thus better serving the needs of conference attendees. The Symposium will kick-off on Monday-Tuesday, followed by the Forum on Wednesday-Thursday.

The Forum: June 22-23, 2011The theme of 2011 is how business opportunities of the future can be found through taking the lead in ensuring a sustainable global food chain. It will highlight sustainability as a business approach and showcase some of the long-term thinking and strategies that leading food and ag finance companies are employing for the future. Other topics will include the issues of volatility and commodity prices, private standards, and ethics in sustainability, value creation and innovation.

The second day of the conference will explore sustainability as a policy and governance issue through the challenge of globalization-small and medium stakeholders, food safety, land management and efficiency. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will again offer a compelling presentation for 2011 that builds upon a topic they introduced during the 2010 IFAMA conference in Boston. How are small and medium firms dealing with the same supply chain management, logistical, quality assurance and innovation challenges faced by European and North American firms but on a smaller scale and in a business climate that makes it difficult to compete on supply price alone?

Both days will utilize concurrent breakout sessions following the keynote presentations for greater audience par-ticipation and feedback. These sessions will be facilitated by sector experts and designed to stimulate small group discussions and further solution oriented problem-solving and application. This approach has proven to be both stimulating and engaging for conference attendees.

Building upon the success of 2010 conference, Novus International will host a Student-Industry breakfast and lunch during the 2011 conference. Students will receive a case/problem two weeks prior to the event in which they can research the issue, the company, and prepare for group discussions. Informal discussions will occur during a hosted breakfast and a formal discussion will ensue on the mini-cases during a Tuesday lunch. More information will follow.

The Symposium: June 20-21, 2011The deadline for authors to accept the invitation to present during the Symposium is March 1, 2011.

Best Paper Competition

The Symposium will offer it’s fourth year of the “Best Paper” Competition which is made possible through the IFAMR’s Editorial Team and over 60 reviewers that volunteer to provide in-depth and double blind peer reviews of each manuscript entered in the competition. Winning manuscripts are judged on quality and address the confer-ence theme, communication, innovation or relevance to managers and executives in the global food system. The deadline for submitting full manuscripts to the Best Paper Competition is February 1, 2011.


Page 42011 Conference UpdateConference Co-Chairs : Josef Haber, BASF and Gerhard Schiefer, University of Bonn

THE ROAD TO 2050SUSTAINABILITY AS A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

2011 Conference Update-Continued from page 4

Case Conference

The Case Conference is directed at a broad audience of professionals who are interested in developing effective agribusiness cases and using them as learning tools, as well as those interested in specific case topics.

The Case Conference is showcasing four unique teaching cases that utilize the Harvard style teaching format. These sessions are hands on and designed to stimulate small group discussion and solution oriented problem solving and application.

Student Travel Grants

Student travel grants are available to help undergraduate and graduate students defray registration and travel costs to attend the 21st Annual Forum and Symposium in Frankfurt, Germany.

Candidates must be able to demonstrate a professional interest in food and agribusiness and must be currently enrolled as a full-time student in an agricultural program, or related field of study.

Student travel grants are awarded on a competitive basis. The total number and dollar amount of awards depends on sponsorship funding received by IFAMA. Conference registration fees will be de-ducted from the grant and the remainder provided in US Dollars on the last day of the conference. Travel grant recipients must attend two mandatory meetings at the conference and complete a student project during the conference to receive their funds. The deadline for Travel Grant applications is January 19, 2011.

Student Case Competition

IFAMA is now accepting applications for participation in the 2011 Student Case Competition. The competition is part of the IFAMA Annual World Symposium, which will be held on June 20-21, 2011.

The Student Case Competition provides students an opportunity to showcase their skills to industry participants and gives universities a venue to showcase their students. The competition consists of teams who simulate a fast turn-around analysis and presentation to a senior manage-ment team on a corporate hot topic. Teams are limited to 4-5 participants. The deadline for team registration is March 1, 2011. For more information and an application, please visit our website: https://www.ifama.org/events/conferences/2011/Default.aspx

The conference venue is at the Frankfurt Marriott. Hotel and conference information can be found on our website: https://www.ifama.org/events/conferences/2011/Default.aspx. Speaker information, session descriptions and conference registration will be available early February 2011. If you have any questions any of the details related to Frankfurt 2011 please do not hesitate to contact the IFAMA Business Office at: [email protected] or + 1-979-845-2118.

DEADLINES

Student Travel Grant Applications Due: January 19, 2011.

Best Paper Competition Submit full manuscript: February 1, 2011.

Student Case Competition ApplicationsDue March 1, 2011.

Accept invitation to present in Frankfurt Symposium March 1, 2011.


Page 5

Look for the Conference Brochure and registration information in February

Global agriculture is a complex system, encom-passing input suppliers, producers, processors, transportation, financiers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers. Each of these players in the food chain has a vision of their role in feeding the world as its population climbs relentlessly toward 9.2 billion people in 2050. At every step, we hear the term sustainability.

There are many definitions of agricultural sustainability but the substance is production that can be continued in the long term without degrading the planet on which we live -- not treating the Earth as a business in liquidation, as so eloquently said by Herman Daly, an eco-logical economist at the University of Maryland in 1991.

“Agricultural sustainability has as many facets as it has constituents: efficient use of ever-cost-increasing inputs such as fertilizer and fuel, con-servation of water, best use of land, protection of biodiversity, a proactive approach to climate change, respect for animals, and recognition of human culture and tradition, to name a few. It includes sustainable growth of food volume, quality and safety and accessibility and afford-ability of the products to consumers--implying appropriate governmental policies, open trade and logistics and transportation, “ said Hans Johr, corporate head of agriculture for Nestec Ltd., in Switzerland.

Attitudes toward these facets have evolved from thinking of them as challenges to thinking of them as responsibilities and, ultimately, business opportunities. Changes already are underway even as more research is being undertaken.

Companies Take the LeadCorporate giants are rewriting their mission statements to reflect tomorrow’s world. Two years ago, for example, Monsanto made a pledge to “help farmers produce more using less and improve the lives of small farmers.”

“There are only so many natural resources. This issue has nothing to do with government

or nongovernmental organiza-tions and everything to do with companies. Government credits for environmental responsibility are nice but we can’t wait for that. If companies don’t maximize what is available, we won’t be able to attain growth,” Rick Fra-zier vice president for product integrity at Coca-Cola Co. said at the 2010 IFAMA Forum.

“Coke has made the decision to become water neutral. The company uses 300 billion gallons of water a year--half the annual use of the city of Atlanta--in operations in 205 countries.” It is seeking to reduce its packaging through lighter weight bottles and reduce the environmental impacts of its vehicle fleet as well.

Likewise, Craig Watson, vice president of ag-ricultural sustainability for the food-company giant, Sysco, in Texas, reported it began an integrated pest management project in 2004, which led to a reduction in active ingredient pesticide use of 1.3 million pounds in the past three years. Additional results realized during the IPM 2009 Growing season include 222 million tons of water reused and 146 thousand tons of recycled products.

Sysco also is reducing its power use through motion, and alternative lighting systems, which saved 34 million kilowatt hours in the past twelve months, and a 8.5% reduction in distribution miles, he said.

Nestle is investing in cocoa plant breeding to boost yields and develop varieties for new areas of production; training 30,000 farmers over a 10-year period to boost efficiency, to name just one of its sustainability initiatives. In develop-ing countries, in particular, the continuity of

small farms is considered crucial because

of social, politi-cal and business

reasons. This will require appropriate

policy, availability of informa-tion and education. In some cases, they

will need new models of operation, such as co-ops or clusters that aggregate supply and demand. Bottom-up leadership is needed.

AssessmentSetting standards and then verifying they are being met remain a challenge, Watson pointed out. “Seafood is an example; we don’t have a standard for sustainability. We are trying to identify appropriate practices by working with powerful nongovernmental organizations such as World Wildlife Federation. But once the standards are set, we will need a way to verify that our suppliers are meeting those standards.”

“You cannot impose mechanized agriculture in countries where 70% of the population lives on the land,” Sunny Verghese of Olam from Singapore told the Forum.

ResearchAdvances in plant breeding already are reduc-ing pesticide use and boosting yields. “We have data that genetically-modified traits that we already have favor sustainability,” said Kent Bradford, professor of seed biotechnology at the University of California-Davis. “Between 1996 and 2006, Bt corn and Cotton reduced pesticide use by 30%, saved fuel and reduced carbon loss,” he noted.

Ed Price, director of the Borlaug Institute at Texas A&M University, reported that research is underway to convert plants from the C3 to C4 photosynthesis pathway, which allows them to fix more carbon. Also in work is nitrogen fixation for non legumes, reducing the need for added fertilizer; and plants that use water more efficiently.

By Linda Smith, Markets Editor, DTN/ The Progressive Farmer - A Telvent Brand

“You cannot impose mechanized agriculture in countries where 70% of the population lives on the land.””

-Sunny Verghesee

Sustainability: Agriculture’s Many Faceted Jewel The Chain LetterJanuary 2011

Page 6


Page 7

Changes in cropping systems also are underway, reported Sara Scherr, CEO of Ecoagriculture Partners. These include conservation measures, minimum tillage, cover crops, living fences/windbreaks, intercropping, and more growth of perennial crops such as trees, grasses, palm, and bamboo. WaterWater is the limiting production factor in many countries and as hu-mans require more, agriculture often gets less, as evidenced in Colorado and California, where some growers have had to reduce acreage due to lack of water. In a survey commissioned by IFAMA, Zogby International found that 48% of U.S. adults rate a plentiful and clean source of water as the most important factor in providing sustainable conditions for food production.

“Seventy percent of the purchase price of almonds in Australia and Cali-fornia represents the cost to secure permanent water rights,” Verghese told the Forum. “China imports 20% of its water requirements [through purchases of agricultural products]. India’s situation is far worse.” There will be significant impacts as climate change takes place, he warned. “A 2.5 degree increase in temperature would mean a 30% production loss in India, and a 1 meter rise in ocean would exponentially increase the salt water marshes in the Mekong Delta, for example.”

Rise of Metro FarmsIt is no secret that in many countries, production and consumption of food have been decoupled. However, because by 2050, 70% of the population will live in cities compared with 50% today -- and there may be 200 megacities topping 10 million in population -- the importance of metropolitan agri-culture could grow exponentially. “The logistics of moving food to the cities will become more complex and expensive as cities expand and petroleum

supplies decline,” Henk van Latesteijn, CEO of TransForum in the Netherlands, said at a special session on Partnering for the Agriculture Agenda before the 2010 Forum.

TransportationHuge investments are needed in transportation infrastructure to make it more efficient, added Mark Palmquist, chief operating officer of CHS, a co-op with 52,000 farmer members. He pointed out differences in transportation mode and cost in Brazil, Argentina and the U.S.

Economies of WasteThe problem is not to just produce more, but to consume everything more efficiently, professed Eduardo Jasson, an engineer at York University in Canada.

“We need to consume more productively.” This means all along the food chain, he added, citing closed systems such as cattle operations in Argentina, where they grow the grain they feed to the cattle and then use the manure from the cattle for power via a methane digester as one example. Another example further up the food chain would be meat trimmings at restaurants or using cooking oil for fuel, he says.

SummarySustainability of food, feed, fiber and fuel concerns everyone, including policy makers, nongovernmental organizations, researchers, companies, producers and consumers. Much already is being done but far more is needed. To learn more and to participate in moving this far-reaching need forward, attend IFAMA’s 21st annual World Forum and Symposium, “The Road to 2050. Sustainability as a business opportunity,” June 20-23 in Frankfurt, Germany.

Linda H. Smith is Markets Editor for DTN/Progressive FarmerShe can be reached at [email protected]

Transportation Mode DifferencesBrazil Argentina USA

Roads 60% 82% 16%

Rail 33% 16% 23%Waterways 7% 2% 61%Average freight cost $1.82 $.45 $.71[Percentage of ag products moved in USD.]

Sustainability: Agriculture’s Many Faceted Diamond-Continued from Page 6


Page 8Sustainability in Today’s Agri-food System An Executive Interview with the Honorable Carole L. BrookinsBy Oriana Lisker, Graduate Student, University of California-Davis, USA

Carole Brookins is an international consultant and served as the U.S. Executive Director to the World Bank from 2001 to 2005. While U.S. Executive Director, Ms. Brookins was a leading figure for developing collaborative partner-ships between the public and private sectors to create and improve infrastructure in the world’s poorest countries. Currently, she is the Managing Director of Public Capital Advisors. Additionally, she is on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Climate Exchange and Zogby International, and sits on the North American Agribusiness Advisory Board of Rabobank International. She is a member of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations and the Bretton Woods Committee. Ms. Brookins is also the Chairman of the North American Advisory Board of NTR plc, an international renewable energy and sustainable waste management firm.

Editors Note: This Executive Interview is the first in a two-part series conducted with Carole Brookins by Oriana Lisker as part of IFAMA’s Student Travel Grant Program during IFAMA’s 2010 World Forum and Symposium in Boston, USA in June 2010. Part1 focuses on the complexity of sustainability as it relates to food and Part 2 discusses private-public partnerships and the role of government. Oriana Lisker is working on her Masters in Agricultural and Resource Economics with a Focus on Food Policy at the University of California-Davis USA. You may contact her at: [email protected]

The challenge is whether our food and agricultural sector, in cooperation with governments and universities, has the vision and commitment to affordably feed the world’s population healthy diets, while best preserving our natural resources—land and water in particular.

Carole Brookinss

Background

Sustainability is a hot topic, although the term lacks a consistent or widely-accepted definition across the agri-food industry. While many believe sustainability means balancing three objectives: People, Planet, and Profit, just how each objective is achieved is often unclear. Nevertheless, sustainability has tremendous potential for the agri-food industry. Consumers are increasingly demanding food products with specific social and environmental characteristics, e.g. free-trade coffee and grass-fed beef. Companies that are able to adjust their processing, sourcing and distribution methods to accommodate such consumer demands will no doubt capture increased market share of these early-adopting consumers. Further, while the government has yet to formally regulate “sustainability,” there are increasing rules surround-ing carbon output and environmental impacts. Formal regulation of sustainability is likely in the near future, and companies that are ahead of the rule-making curve will be able to help drive regulations.

From a global perspective, the world’s population is expected to reach 9 billion people within the next few decades, and agricultural produc-tion must increase accordingly. Sustainability is a key driver in the potential of agriculture to manage land and water resources responsi-bly, while still maintaining productivity.

In this report, the Honorable Carole L. Brookins shares her perspective on current challenges for sustainability in the food and agricultural industry.

Q. How do you define sustainability in relation to the food and agricultural industry?

A. Firstly, it is important to understand the definitional information of how people view the term “sustainability.” Today, “sustainability” is

all the buzz, but it means different things to different people. Some interpret the term on a regulatory and rule-making basis, for example, in terms of the new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) report-ing guidance for corporations on how they are managing the impacts of climate change for their business. Others interpret the term in relation to the broad range of issues that fall under the banner of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The well-known United Nations (UN) Brundtland Report broadly defined sustainable development as “meet-ing the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” But, when you get beyond this generic definition, there are a wide range of issues, and advocates for special interests keep moving the goal post and putting more and more issues under the sustainability “tent.”

Clearly, the natural resource base is core to economic, social, and environmental “sustainability.” Namely, agricultural production and land management are front and center. We have been dealing with sustainability in regulations from both the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—from conservation measures to managing chemical nutrients and livestock. There is an ongoing debate over whether high-input, intensive agricul-ture contributes more to sustainability than organic agriculture, which I won’t get into now. The sustainability agenda also brings opportuni-ties for agriculture in terms of carbon management (e.g. no till/low till, rangeland soil management, livestock emissions), where farmers have


Page 9Carole Brookins-Continued from page 8

“I believe that we have within our knowledge, research, and innovative drive the ability to feed more and more people better diets that are also affordable. ”

already started to earn offset payments by re-ducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With the emergence of renewable energy—from biofuels to wind—agricultural land is reducing demand for fossil fuels in both the electrical grid and transportation sector. I’ve always believed that you can’t manage what you don’t measure, and sustainability is just a word unless there are metrics involved. One example of a quantifiable sustainability standard is the Sustainable Asset Management (SAM) fund, which uses research and metrics to benchmark companies with a focus on the triple bottom line. SAM statistics show that companies that have a real mission and set quantifiable goals for their social and environ-mental performance are the best performers on the balance sheet as well.

We are in a very important time period. Some people believe that our existing system works just fine—whether it is our political, energy, financial, or agricultural policies—whereas other people think our system is broken. We are moving forward on a broader basis to improve resource management in our soci-ety—in a sense moving from disposability to sustainability. When you take climate sustain-ability as one specific topic, think about this: there is the broad movement to reduce GHG emissions and shift to less polluting energy sources, but there are special interests that link climate sustainability to their “pet” issues, like population control or animal welfare. On the latter point, some of those animal welfare folk want everyone to become a vegan because livestock emits methane, when the real issue is how to manage methane emissions, e.g. anaerobic digesters. Further, others now call for people eating only local fresh foods because shipping causes GHG emissions; but, these people are really part of the natural food movement that wants to put limits on commercial, intensive agricultural production. In short, it is critical to focus on the real issues involving sustainable business management, including all resources and inputs, in order to meet the criteria of a triple bottom line.

Additionally, if you are focused on national security, as Pentagon officials are, you are also concerned with the impact of environment and social disruptions on national security; if cli-mate change produces more weather extremes, crop production will be in jeopardy, water supplies are likely to become a battleground, and massive floods or droughts will displace millions of people.

Moving up along the food chain, agriculture’s future will be determined by official regula-tions and consumer preferences. The more that sustainable agriculture becomes a con-sumer priority, food processors and retailers will send signals back to the farm gate of what products and production techniques are most in demand. For example, I used to go to the supermarket and occasionally saw a carton of free range eggs; now, virtually all cartons are labeled either “free range”, or “natural”, or “no animal feed.” Industry practices are driven by consumer perceptions of what is safe and healthy, which includes the consumer view of what is “sustainable.” We already have government regulations on organic standards, and will have more and more calls for labeling

that give the consumer increased information about how and where a product is produced, and the social, environmental, and economic factors of that product.

There are those who, under the banner of “sus-tainability,” want to turn the clock back and erase all the gains we have made in dramati-cally raising crop yields using a range of tech-nologies. We are going to need all those tech-nologies, and much more, to feed and clothe double the world’s current population on the same land base. I don’t agree with Rachel Carson’s view of a shrinking planet. Rather, I believe that we have within our knowledge, research, and innovative drive the ability to feed more and more people better diets that are also affordable. That is what sustainability really means to me: the challenge of whether our food and agricultural sector, in coopera-tion with governments and universities, has the vision and commitment to affordably feed the world’s population healthy diets, while best preserving our natural resources—land and water in particular.

Q. Advocates of genetically modified (GM) crops promote GM seeds as a key technology to promote more sustainable food production, as GM crops require fewer pesticide applications and have increased yields. However, there is significant misinfor-mation in terms of health concerns surrounding GM crops, especially in the EU. Would reduced GM patent regulation lead to more develop-ment of GM crops?

A. GM crops are not well understood. Some people in rich countries believe everything should be “natural”; they don’t understand that the foods they eat have been bred and cross-bred throughout centuries from their original “natural” form. We are seeing people demanding organics as well as “locatarians” (those who will only eat seasonal, un-traded products) who reject GM products. We will not have a sustainable world, especially given


Page10Carole Brookins-Continued from page 9

the water and climate threats we face, if we do not improve yields, improve the ability of plants to thrive in adverse climatic conditions, and breed for traits that enhance nutrition or improve the energy output. EU officials have slowed the introduction of GM crops, but they are allowing cloned animals in order to be more competitive in their livestock herd’s uniformity of production. Should we label GM products and let people make decisions about what they want to eat? Of course. Are barriers to entry slowing the critical development of GM varieties? Of course. Are there issues that must be addressed and regulated regarding intellectual property rights (IPR) and seed variet-ies for farmers? Of course. Else, there are adverse impacts for farmers when spores from GM varieties blow with the wind to a non-GM field. However, these are specific issues to be managed and mitigated. We are at a new place in agricultural genetics, just as we are with human genetics. If we put a stop to this technological innovation, as a society we may not be able to sustain ourselves on this earth. There are of course economic, ethical and scientific issues in relation to GM that will have to be addressed as we go forward. But, I would like you to consider: where we would be today if we hadn’t had the financial crisis in 2008-2010, oil prices had continued to rise to well over $200 per barrel, and the adverse weather patterns in Australia, Europe, South America, Asia and the U.S. had continued another year? My guess is that Europe would have thrown out their opposition and let in GM seed and products.

As an example, GM wheat hasn’t been commercialized because it is a food crop. If we are losing crops from global warming and there are more climate extremes due to climate change, then we will start to examine what is needed—through conventional plant breeding and GM—whereby we can manage stress in the wheat crop. Crisis will trigger further acceptance of biotechnology’s benefits.

Q. In a discussion I had recently with the Sustainability Manager of a university dining services program, she said the primary challenge she faces regarding how to increase the amount of sustainably-produced food Din-ing Services serves is financial; Sustainably-produced food - which usually falls under labels of “local”, “free-range”, “organic”, etc. - is often more expensive than conventional, highly-processed foodstuffs. How do you think industry can cater to consumer demands for more sustainable products while also maintaining a relatively competitive price? Can sustainability and cost efficiency be rationalized?

A. Sustainable doesn’t mean the food is local or organic. It sounds like she is confusing organic, natural, and seasonal eating with sustainabil-ity. Sustainability means managing land, water and other inputs to optimize the amount of yield and produce enough to feed consumers.

Food Alliance, a sustainability certification organization, is one group of people with a view on sustainability. An alternate view is that certi-fication is expensive and if products are more costly then people can’t eat these foods. For the sustainability manager, the higher cost may have to do with her purchasing chain. For example, fruit in farmers’ markets is often less expensive.

It is important to define what people mean by sustainability, and realize how this is a relative concept. Real non-sustainable agriculture may be in parts of Africa where trees are stripped for firewood. Sus-tainability can mean a soy and corn rotation, no-till or low-till cultiva-tion, or anaerobic digestion of dairy manure to make power. There is more to be learned here to understand the relative costs and benefits.

Q. There are many niche food movements - Slow Food, Real Food, organics, locavorism, etc. - that are gaining publicity, but nevertheless represent only a small piece of total U.S. food demand. Are niche food markets tan-gential or integral in creating a more sustainable food industry?

A. Some of the support for these movements comes from people saying that conventional tomatoes don’t taste like tomatoes. Con-ventional producers will change production methods and genetics once consumers stop purchasing their tomatoes. It is important to understand the impact and buying practices of other food movements, namely institutional buyers, e.g. hotels, restaurants, schools, hospitals, etc.

A lot of different issues become wrapped up in sustainability. I look at sustainability as a triple bottom line issue. By and large, institutions and corporations have the intention to do the right thing because their brand is at stake. Every day, science finds something different, for ex-ample DDT used to be high technology. We used to sit out on our front porch waiting for the DDT truck to come by and spray our neighbor-hood because it stopped earlier diseases. There are a lot of issues in the balance here. Life changes every day, bringing us new challenges and opportunities. Today we can measure, thanks to information technology, the amounts of virtually anything in our lives yet have no idea what “x” parts per billion really means; it just sounds scary. We need to be informed and aware, and prepared to engage emerging technologies and food system practices in a responsible way.

Part 2 of this series will publish in the March 2011 issue of the ChainLetter.

Summit RecapFirst Global Summit on Metropolitan Agriculture Sander Mager, Vice-president, TransForumAbout a year ago, the Metropolitan Agriculture Innoversity was conceived by TransForum and Reos to be a new action-learning network dedicated to initiating the processes necessary to create meaningful change in the agricultural and food sectors. Its objective was to provide a forum for knowledge-sharing and co-creating the Metropolitan Agriculture vision and practice around the world. It would deliver three sets of results at both global and local levels--initiatives, capacity-building, and relationships.

Since that time, the Innoversity has convened multi-stakeholder teams from across the food system in six cities worldwide, to begin taking concrete steps towards more sustainable agriculture in cities. The Global Summit in Rotterdam from September 28-30, 2010 was de-signed to bring teams together with others who are also involved with these issues and forge new relationships, learn from each other and to serve as a reflection and inflection point, the summit had a unique participatory design.

A Metropolitan Approach

Metropolitan agriculture which takes place in a metropolitan environ-ment, is a much broader defined area than just the physical boundaries of the city. This is an important distinction from urban agriculture. The metropolitan environment is characterized by high degree of urbanization, most of the land being cultivated, a lot of consumers, strong competition for space, and strong competition for resources. For agriculture to be economically viable in such an environment it has to be innovative (creating new value propositions), efficient (in terms of resource use) and effective (in terms of explicitly meeting consumers/citizens needs – needs which are very diverse).

The projects presented at the Global Summit illustrated the potential to create new connections between agriculture and this metropolitan area. These new connections act as a rich source of inspiration for innovation, are profitable, respect the environment and improve the welfare of both human beings and animals. New alliances between often unlikely allies are crucial for these innovations. All participants and the Summit agreed that the urbanized environment in fact offers great opportunities for the more sustainable development of agricul-ture. And that, conversely, agriculture is indispensable for the more sustainable development of those urban areas. Since values and needs of consumers differ, solutions in MetroAg show rich diversity – from high tech to high touch, from large scale to small scale, from mainstream to niche. Metropolitan agriculture thus covers many different kinds of agricultural activity and ways in which the

agro-production chain can be organized (such as agroparks, vertical farming, but also care farming and alternative forms of distribution to help commercialize that sustainable value).

The Summit created a lot of energy and really deepened the theory and practices of metropolitan agriculture. It was unique because it created an intensive and constructive dialogue between stakeholders across the whole agricultural spectrum; from industrial agricultural to urban agriculture. Several follow-up activities have been identified, among others the 2nd Global Summit that will take place early 2012 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

More information can be found at www.metropolitanagriculture.com You may contact Sander Mager directly: [email protected]

Metropolitan agriculture reconnects citizens to agriculture. Through the establishment of intelligent links among producers, sectors, raw materials, energy, waste flows and stakeholders the ever growing met-ropolitan population can be fed with fresh, healthy and sufficient food.


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Announcing: Call for Program Reviewers

Academic Program Review and Assessment of the Armenian State Agrarian University Agribusiness Teaching Center Program

Supported by the Caucasus Agricultural Development Initiative of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and managed by Texas A&M University.

A program review will take place in Armenia with an eight-day assignment sometime shortly after spring semester classes end in May or June 2011 depending on the schedule of the selected review team members. There is an honorarium, plus travel expense reimbursement.

To submit an application please provide the following information:

aName aEducational BackgroundaAcademic Institution Affiliation aCurrent biographical curriculum vitaeaCurrent Position

Also include a short response to these areas: Send Information to: 1. Experience in Agribusiness Program Teaching and Administration Kerry Litzenberg, Presidential Professor and Regents Professor2. Experience in Academic Program Reviews (Regional/National/ Department of Agricultural Economics, MS 2124 International) Texas A&M University3. Any other information to be considered College Station, Texas 77843-2124

For more information or questions, contact: Principle Investigator, Kerry Litzenberg at Texas A&M University for more information. [email protected] or 1+ 979.845.7624.

Contribute to the Chain Letter

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