New think-tank to focus on global food policy

Washington, D.C. – This week a new initiative designed to tackle long-term food and agricultural policies worldwide, was launched by a dedicated group of U.S. charitable foundations.

The new think tank is armed with the mission to nurture dialogue among diverse stakeholders on agriculture issues, something that it says is necessary considering the estimated 38-per-cent increase in population that is predicted over the next 40 years. Other future challenges will include access to arable land and freshwater quality and supply.

According to AGree, the initiative will fill a void in current discussions and research, especially when it comes to considering solutions that overlap several different areas of concern, including the environment, energy, rural economies and health. The group also wants to ensure that food and agricultural policy remains a national and global priority.

Leaders of the new initiative are Dan Glickman, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under President Bill Clinton; Gary Hirshberg, chairman, president and CEO of organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm; Jim Moseley, former deputy secretary of the USDA under President George W. Bush; and Emmy Simmons, former assistant administrator for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade at the U.S. Agency for International Development.

AGree is funded by the Ford Foundation; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation; the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; the W.K. Kellogg Foundation; the McKnight Foundation; the Rockefeller Foundation; and the Walton Family Foundation.