Food Security in a Changing World
Experts examine how conflict, trade, AI, and declining agricultural research investment are reshaping global food systems, and what it means for the Midwest and the world.
Geopolitical upheaval, conflict, shifting trade relationships, advances in artificial intelligence, and changes in agricultural research and investment are reshaping how food is produced, traded, and delivered. These forces are being felt from farms across the American Midwest to communities facing hunger and instability around the world. At the same time, they are raising fundamental questions about the policies, partnerships, and investments needed to build a more resilient global food system.
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs invited leading experts and practitioners to examine what this changing landscape means for the future of food and agriculture. Drawing on the strengths of the American Midwest, they explore how the United States and its partners can navigate conflict, shifting trade and energy dynamics, emerging technologies, and declining investment in agricultural research while sustaining the innovation, engagement, and resilience needed for long-term food security.
"The Midwest of today is the product of nature, as well as the efforts of visionary leaders who made bold decisions during the American Industrial Revolution."
From Food Security in a Time of Change
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Bob Easter
President Emeritus, University of Illinois
"If we do not return to mediating wars, supporting the aid systems that mitigate their effects, and engaging more broadly in the international system, conflicts will continue to drive food insecurity."
From We Know How to End Famines
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Andrew S. Natsios
Executive Professor, George H.W. Bush School of Government, Texas A&M University
"Trade helps move surplus production to address regional and temporal deficits, easing shortages and stabilizing domestic prices. But trade can also transmit supply shocks, creating winners and losers within and across national boundaries."
From Food Security and Trade in a Disrupted World
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Hope C. Michelson
Professor, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
"America’s most visible role in fighting hunger abroad is in emergencies. But American agricultural research has, in the long run, saved many more lives."
From When Agricultural Research Is Abandoned
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Dan Glickman
Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
"There is now a visible path to a future in which every farming household on earth has access to timely, high-quality information and advice when they need it most."
From AI Chatbots Are Giving Farmers New Choices
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Alesha Miller
Chief Strategy Officer, Digital Green
"States must hold the long and short terms together, taking steps to ease their citizens’ suffering where possible while enacting a future with greater energy diversification and stronger political norms against the weaponization of food."
From Insulating Global Hunger from Petropower Geopolitics
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Ertharin Cousin
Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture, Chicago Council on Global Affairs