Director of child nutrition foundation says farmers can combat global hunger

ST. LOUIS - Arlene Mitchell has spent her professional career fighting hunger and improving nutrition. “Hunger is horrible,” and “takes a toll on people who aren’t hungry, too,” with the latter affected by humanitarian aid, higher health care costs and lost education and productivity, she said. But farmers and others can combat the problem in many ways, said Mitchell, executive director of the Global Child Nutrition Foundation, which promotes school feeding programs in developing countries.
She spoke July 27 in St. Louis at the National Press Foundation fellowship on the Future of Food and Agriculture. Mitchell, raised on a family farm in Michigan, assumed her current position in 2014. Before that, she served as deputy director for access and markets in the agricultural development program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; was an executive in the United Nations World Food Program in Rome, where she led the global school feeding effort; managed international technical assistance and training activities for the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and served as both volunteer and staff with the U.S. Peace Corps. She identified 10 ways in which farmers and others can tackle global hunger: Reduce food waste. A third of what’s produced is wasted. Improve transportation and storage. Make food safety a global priority. Involve women “equitably” in food production. Help more young farmers to succeed aging producers. Fix “broken” and “unfair” market systems, in part by encouraging small-scale producers. Study and address crop and animal diseases, pests and threats. Sync up agriculture and nutrition goals, policies and programs, in part by encouraging production of more-nutritious foods. Protect biodiversity and explore unfamiliar plants and animals. Promote greater collaboration between agriculture and health. One of Mitchell’s frustrations is the longstanding difficulty of getting food to people who need it. “We can get around on Mars and negotiate rivers, sand dunes, ice and snow, but fresh produce rots before getting to markets that are just a few miles away,” she said. The International Fund for Agricultural Development has more information on rural poverty worldwide and efforts to help farmers in those areas at ifad.org.ST. LOUIS - Arlene Mitchell has spent her professional career fighting hunger and improving nutrition.“Hunger is horrible,” and “takes a toll on people who aren’t hungry, too,” with the latter affected by humanitarian aid, higher health care costs and lost education and productivity, she said.But farmers and others can combat the problem in many ways, said Mitchell, executive director of the Global Child Nutrition Foundation, which promotes school feeding programs in developing countries.
She spoke July 27 in St. Louis at the National Press Foundation fellowship on the Future of Food and Agriculture.Mitchell, raised on a family farm in Michigan, assumed her current position in 2014. Before that, she served as deputy director for access and markets in the agricultural development program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; was an executive in the United Nations World Food Program in Rome, where she led the global school feeding effort; managed international technical assistance and training activities for the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and served as both volunteer and staff with the U.S. Peace Corps.She identified 10 ways in which farmers and others can tackle global hunger:Reduce food waste. A third of what’s produced is wasted.Improve transportation and storage.Make food safety a global priority.Involve women “equitably” in food production.Help more young farmers to succeed aging producers.Fix “broken” and “unfair” market systems, in part by encouraging small-scale producers.Study and address crop and animal diseases, pests and threats.Sync up agriculture and nutrition goals, policies and programs, in part by encouraging production of more-nutritious foods.Protect biodiversity and explore unfamiliar plants and animals.Promote greater collaboration between agriculture and health.One of Mitchell’s frustrations is the longstanding difficulty of getting food to people who need it.“We can get around on Mars and negotiate rivers, sand dunes, ice and snow, but fresh produce rots before getting to markets that are just a few miles away,” she said.The International Fund for Agricultural Development has more information on rural poverty worldwide and efforts to help farmers in those areas at ifad.org.