U.S. Pledges $10 Billion to Food Security at UN Summit

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. is committing $10 billion to improve food systems in our country and across the globe as part of the United Nation’s Food Systems Summit. The funds will be split equally between domestic and international efforts.

Vilsack also lists supporting greater resiliency in local and regional supply chains as a major investment area along with supporting school nutrition.

Globally, the U.S. plans to support work to reduce poverty by 20 percent over the next five years. “We look forward to helping the world advance our common goal of reaching global food security and ending hunger,” said Vilsack. Efforts will also address food waste which accounts for about $1 trillion today and a third of the food currently produced. “It’s a whole lot easier to save food that’s already being produced than it is to necessarily change the methods of production,” he says.

Dairy industry leaders are praising summit officials for their work creating positive global food system discussions and supporting sustainable production based on science.

EDITOR’S TAKE:

Efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate hunger are always a good idea. Similarly, investing in reducing food waste is clearly one of the fastest and quickest means to achieve that overarching goal. Ultimately, the goal should be the creation of an economic system that establishes and maintains jobs and builds wealth. That, of course, is a much greater challenge because it requires solid education, cohesive family units coupled with the freedom to pursue opportunities unimpeded by overbearing government rules and programs that create dependency and stand in the way of helping people out of the poverty trap.