Publications

The Last Hunger Season, Part 1 – The Expanding Possibilities of Family Farmers

Zipporah Biketi was living in a shrinking world when I first met her back in 2011. Her imagination rarely stretched beyond the boundaries of her small family farm in western Kenya. She could barely think beyond the next hour and the next meal, if there was to be one. She and her family were in the midst of the hunger season – the food from the previous meager harvest had run out and the next harvest was still months away. How could anyone have grand thoughts of thriving when struggling so mightily to merely survive?

Liberal Arts and the Post-Industrial Midwest

For more than a century, the Midwestern landscape has sparkled with small educational gems, private colleges devoted to the liberal arts. Most of them are located in small towns and cities which boomed in the Industrial Age but have seen better days.

Foreign Policy in the Age of Retrenchment

Among much of the political elite today, a specter is haunting America—the specter of isolationism.

Big Ideas and Emerging Innovations

Highlighting approaches, technologies, and ideas that have the potential to radically advance sustainable and nutritious food security globally.

External Commentary

Scotland and the Centrifugal Force of Globalization

Beyond Plant Breeding: Agro-Ecological Solutions for Climate-Smart Agriculture

As an agricultural scientist attending The Chicago Council’s Global Food Security Symposium 2014, I was pleased to be surrounded by a diverse group of professionals made up of fellow scientists as well as leaders from a variety of other fields and sectors.

External Commentary

5 Talking Points by Ivo Daalder

External Commentary

Kerry Faces Tall Order In Organizing Regional Coalition Against ISIS

Commentary- The Promise of Vertical Farming

As the world population continues to grow, a potential crises is brewing.