By Megan Schnell, BS Candidate, Agriculture and Biological Systems Engineering, Iowa State University, and 2016 Next Generation Delegate
Attending the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Global Food Security Symposium as a Next Generation Delegate was an absolute honor. It was very exciting to talk with numerous esteemed leaders and grow from their knowledge and expertise. Since I do not come from an agricultural background, it is always enjoyable to attend food security events to learn more about the different efforts to end world hunger by 2050.
This past year, I was a sophomore at Iowa State University studying Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering. Since I was a freshman, I have been working as an undergraduate researcher for Dr. Kurt Rosentrater. Under his guidance and mentorship, I learned more about food quality and food safety through an aquaculture project while providing my insight and understanding to the work as well. My research mostly focuses on trying to find alternatives, like corn and soy, to fish meal and oil for fish food. This project surfaced due to the fact that the capture of the fish used to make fish food has leveled out while worldwide fish consumption has increased by over 20 million tons in 10 years. By adding corn and soy as alternatives, it provides a different method to produce fish food and creates economic stability for farmers who are growing those crops. Using corn and soy will also increase the protein content in fish, which will allow fish to be a good food source worldwide. One of the companies we have worked with is SeaWorld and they have used the new fish food to feed sea bass and cobia fish. Although these fish are not native to the United States, they have adjusted to the food very well and still have fast feed conversion ratios. This issue is important because it can help to add more protein to people’s diets while also providing a new market and better investment opportunities for corn and soy farmers. I hope to see this research move to developing countries as it could prove to be very beneficial in fighting food insecurity.
One of my favorite parts of the symposium was when Chris Policinski, CEO and President of Land O’Lakes, Inc., spoke about how his company was investing in younger generations. He believes this is the next step in ending world hunger by 2050 because the youth will bring new perspectives and innovative ideas to the table. The Global Food Challenge Emerging Leaders for Food Security program is an internship that Land O’Lakes implemented about two years ago. It is a yearlong fellowship that allows 10 or more students from five different universities to come together and try to solve this huge problem. Luckily, I was chosen for this amazing internship and have the opportunity to learn more about agriculture from both domestic and international perspectives. Some of the ways Land O’Lakes invests in the Global Food Challenge students is by taking us to Africa, Washington D.C., and rural coops throughout the United States. During those trips, we are able to learn more about agriculture by talking to smallholder farmers in Kenya and Rwanda, working with policymakers in Washington, and viewing larger farms at the different coops. In addition, we have the chance to put our knowledge to the test and work on real agricultural projects related to improving food security.
We must continue to work towards ending world hunger as it is such a large problem. We need everyone to come together to think of every solution possible since one idea is not enough. It will take hard work and cooperation, but we are definitely on the right track.
Read previous posts in the Next Generation Delegation 2016 Commentary Series: