December 2009

Greetings:

Feeding the world with safe and nutritious food requires a robust food supply system. Local food production, regional food trade, and global supply chains all play a part since no country can provide all the foods demanded by its people. Food trade began with the dawn of civilization, with salt and spices, grain and wine. Through the centuries, global trade expanded to allow countries to share the unique crops of certain areas. These same food systems must be flexible to accommodate the vagaries of crop yields, regional preferences for different products, and the acute shortages that accompany natural disasters. Servicing markets beyond local and regional demands can be used an as impactful economic development tool for underdeveloped and developing economies looking to the future, we need robust food supply systems, locally, regionally and internationally.

Over the last three months GIFSL has supported robust food systems through leadership development for emerging food safety leaders in the Americas, expanded understanding of the policy process at local levels, provided experiential learning programs about food systems in Uruguay, and developed an international exchange program to share ideas among food safety officials in government and industry in China, the Netherlands and the U.S. Bringing together public and private sectors with academia and civil society provides ideas, energy and momentum for the transformational changes needed to meet the challenges facing our food supply systems.

For more information on our skill-building and experiential learning activities, visit our programs page.