|
Washington, D.C.
July 24, 2008
Today, leaders from across the
agriculture value chain joined together to form
the Alliance for Abundant
Food and Energy, an alliance designed to promote their
understanding that through innovation, agriculture can
sustainably meet the growing global demand for food and
renewable forms of energy. Founding members of the Alliance
include the Archer Daniels
Midland Company, DuPont,
John Deere,
Monsanto Company and the
Renewable Fuels Association.
“The Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy will underscore the
role that agriculture can play in supporting our food and energy
needs,” said Mark Kornblau, executive director, Alliance for
Abundant Food and Energy. “With growing global demand for grain,
it’s critically important that policy leaders start thinking
about how we can grow our way to a solution. Innovation is part
of the American DNA through greater support for agricultural
innovation, we can produce enough crops to supply both our food
and energy needs worldwide.”
Recently, critics have tried to frame the debate as an
“either/or” decision, making people feel they must choose
between food and energy security. The Alliance believes this is
a false choice that ignores both the capabilities of agriculture
and our nation’s history of using innovation to solve our
problems. The Alliance realizes both are possible; and can be
accomplished using less land and fewer resources than generally
understood.
The companies forming the Alliance are experts in agriculture,
from planted seed to market sale, putting them in a unique
position to address this current concern. Thanks in part to
their research and other efforts, agricultural productivity,
particularly in the United States, has increased consistently
for the past 100 years. Families around the world have
benefitted from these innovations as well. Over the last decade,
the world’s population grew 13 percent, while farmers were able
to meet increased needs using only six percent more land.
“The history of agriculture demonstrates constant innovation to
meet the world’s needs” said Todd Werpy, vice president,
Research, ADM. “For more than a century, ADM has played a vital
role in the chain of innovation, making hundreds of food, feed,
fuel and chemical products from renewable crops. Increased farm
productivity, combined with novel and improved processing
technologies, will allow agriculture to meet our food needs and
make a critical contribution to our energy future.”
“Agriculture mechanization was among the most important
breakthroughs to mankind in the 20th century,” said J.B. Penn,
Chief Economist, Deere & Company. “Now, as we face the challenge
of better feeding and fueling the world, the technology designed
into machinery, coupled with the ingenuity of the world's
farmers, will have just as significant an impact.”
“Agriculture must be higher on our agenda in a world of
increasing food and energy demands and limited resources,” said
Jim Borel, Group Vice President, DuPont. “While there is no
single solution to this issue, technology advancements have,
over time, contributed greatly, to increased food productivity
and nutritional quality, while limiting the amount of new land
required for cultivation. And we’re only just beginning to
realize the benefit technology innovations can and will have on
energy production.”
“Now more than ever before, agriculture is at the intersection
of some of the toughest challenges we face on the planet
including both our food and energy needs,” said Robert T.
Fraley, Ph.D., chief technology officer of Monsanto. “With the
world’s population expected to reach nine billion people by
2050, the agriculture industry must act together to meet the
needs for increased food, fiber and energy and while preserving
our environment’s resources such as water.”
The Alliance for
Abundant Food and Energy brings together a broad group of
visionary companies and organizations committed to sustainably
and responsibly improving diets and reducing dependence on
fossil fuels through agricultural productivity worldwide. |
|
