Cargill Executive Chairman maps path for global food security

Cargill Executive Chairman Greg Page urged attendees of the Global Food Security Symposium to be mindful of four principles that can help ensure a food-secure world.

Noting the symposium’s focus on leveraging the global food system to fight malnutrition and improve health, Page said Cargill has a role to play in ensuring access to enough food for the undernourished and in bringing healthier foods to the market to help improve diets and health.

Executive Chairman names four principles to improve food security

Page named four key areas that should be considered to ensure global food security:

• Appreciating the importance of price

Page said there needs to be a greater appreciation of the value of prices to signal to the world’s farmers what to produce. “We saw this in 2012 when, in the face of a severe drought in the U.S. Midwest, prices motivated farmers from South America and Central Europe to increase production, ultimately mitigating the drought’s impact on global food production and ensuring people’s access to safe, affordable, nutritious food,” said Page.

• Honouring the principle of comparative advantage

Page noted it will be increasingly important to honour the principle of comparative advantage in food production: “To produce the food the world will need in the most economically and environmentally sustainable way, we need agriculture and trade policies that encourage farmers to cultivate the crops best suited for their growing conditions and then trade the surpluses with others.”

• Embracing the power of emulation

Page also said that the cumulative effects of individual behaviors can be a powerful force for improving food security and fighting malnutrition. “The Chicago Council’s Healthy Food for a Healthy World report acknowledges the power of emulation in its findings that women – in part because of their influence over their families’ diets – will be critically important to combatting malnutrition,” said Page.

• Ensuring society’s comfort with the science of producing food

Expanding on this point, Page said food industry leaders need to enlist and engage consumers in understanding the role of science in the food system, both nutritionally and environmentally. “Science and technology are important not only to producing more food in a more sustainable way, but also to our ability to improve food safety, reduce food waste and make food more nutritious and healthful,” he said.

“Finding solutions to end hunger and reverse the consequences of poor nutrition requires trust, transparency and collaboration,” said Page. “We look forward to being part of this important work.”

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