With the goal of transforming global food and agricultural policies to better feed a growing and hungry world, a group of leaders representing policymakers, industry, philanthropy, nongovernmental organizations and academia gathered Oct. 9-13 for deliberations in Sacramento and related events at UC Davis.

The Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis and Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi hosted AGree, an agricultural policy initiative funded by a unique collaboration of nine major foundations, for a reception and workshop.

The workshop focused on local and regional food systems, which is one of AGree’s 14 strategies for achieving its vision for global food security by 2030.

“It is so very fitting to have this amazing group of food and agricultural policy leaders meeting on the Davis campus and in the Sacramento region,” Katehi said after the Oct. 9 reception. In addition to the AGree members, the event included more than 25 UC Davis faculty, staff and students.

Tomich

Tom Tomich, professor and director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute, said the gathering was an honor for UC Davis to host and an ideal occasion for AGree to visit the nation’s No. 1 ag-producing state and its premier agricultural university.

“This was a wonderful opportunity for information to flow both ways between national efforts like AGree and people who are working daily on challenges in agricultural and food systems at the local and regional levels,” Tomich said. “Meetings like this cultivate the synergy that will be needed to reframe our discussion of food and agricultural policy for the 21st century.

Tomich and Professor Phil Martin, an agricultural labor expert in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, both serve on AGree’s research committee.

During the workshop at UC Davis, AGree participants focused on strengthening regional food systems and ensuring access to healthy food. Martin said that, while discussing a number of other topics during AGree meetings in Sacramento, the group developed policy recommendations to create a stable, legal and economically viable farm work force in food and agriculture.

 Under consideration are options for developing a new guest worker program, providing more career training and advancement opportunities for farmworkers, and improving the quality of life and working conditions for farmworkers.

Martin

“Achieving a legal and stable farm workforce reflects the concerns of producers and workers in meetings around the United States,” Martin said.

Tomich noted that AGree leaders “are well aware of the paradox that here amid agricultural abundance, hunger still exists."

“We are producing all of this wonderful food and, ironically, some of those people who are most in need are those who work in the fields and orchards to make that food available to the nation.”

Katehi noted that AGree and UC Davis are united in their shared commitment to address global food and agriculture challenges.

“We at UC Davis embrace AGree’s bold vision for making safe, nutritious and affordable food available to all people,” the chancellor said. “We look forward to igniting the talent and innovative spirit on our own campus to catalyze change and help make the dream of global food security a reality within the next two decades.” 

AGree is supported by a set of key national foundations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Walton Family Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

More information about AGree is available online.