Farmers for Prosperity: Harnessing American Resources to Feed the World
By Alex Grant
Today, more than 800 million people across the world go to bed hungry every night. Hunger stunts economic growth and impacts child development, further perpetuating the cycle of global generational inequality. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, supply chain problems stemming from COVID-19, and the world struggling under escalating inflation, the global hunger crisis is even more dire.
This is why the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, in partnership with Cargill, has launched Farmers for Prosperity, a network of agribusiness leaders committed to harnessing American resources to feed the world. It’s more important than ever that farmers from across the heartland are advocates for American global engagement.
“Farmers are the center of many of these issues, and so it’s critical that their voice is heard, that we amplify those voices, and that we learn from them. They are the experts,” says Michelle Grogg of Cargill. In addition to farmers as the experts, they are not only feeding Americans, but the rest of the world. American agriculture exports of U.S. farm and food products to the world shattered records in 2021, totaling $177 billion and topping the 2020 total by 18 percent – clearly demonstrating the invaluable nature of American farmers to America’s economy.
Addressing hunger, poverty, and malnutrition globally also contributes to U.S. security and prosperity. History has shown that poverty and hunger push people to desperation and can exacerbate our national security. We also know that threats to crops such as climate change, crop disease, water scarcity, and others, do not respect country borders. Investing in agriculture today prepares the world for future challenges and encourages resiliency amid evolving threats, which also advances U.S. prosperity and security.
Listen below to the conversation between Michelle Grogg of Cargill, Doug Keesling, Owner of Keesling Farms, and myself that launched this program at the 2022 Global Impact Forum.