Given that the Foggy Bottom Campus “quad” consists of bricks imprinted with the names of alumni instead of an expanse of grass, agriculture is likely not a pressing issue in the minds of many GW students.
Although the University has an urban campus, and is proud of it, it needs to make a more substantial investment in educating students about the factors and implications of agricultural trends. That effort should come in the form of specialized classes that give students the tools they need to solve the world’s agriculture-related problems.
Often, people dismiss food production, distribution, and farming as antiquated and even irrelevant, yet agriculture is intrinsically tied to every facet of our lives.
The challenges that come with a growing world population are grave. By 2050, the global population is estimated to reach 9.6 billion, requiring a 50 percent increase in agricultural output, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Furthermore, at least 40 percent of that growth will take place in places where food scarcity is already pervasive: developing Africa and Southeast Asia.
It’s easy for those in the U.S. – consuming an average of almost 2,700 calories per day – to overlook the importance of increasing agricultural output. But as we dispose one-third of our excess food, 842 million people around the world are undernourished.
These issues directly affect the subjects that many of us are studying. The Elliott School of International Affairs is proud to tout a nationally competitive master’s program in international development, yet it offers few courses that focus on the intersection of food security and economic growth.
Similarly, GW’s economics department has important courses like environmental economics but not agricultural economics. Economic development is a multifaceted issue, which means its solutions should be as well.
Fortunately, GW is taking steps in the right direction. It recently introduced a sustainability minor, which addresses issues at local, regional and global levels. The University Honors Program offers a course that features lectures by chef José Andrés and, at the very least, offers an introduction to agricultural problems.
GW’s Planet Forward hosts an annual convention focused on sustainable growth, which last year included a panel with agricultural scientists discussing how genetically modified foods can feed a growing world.
Additionally, GW’s Institute of Sustainability just appointed former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kathleen Merrigan, as its director. University President Steven Knapp even made a commitment to the Real Food Challenge, an effort aimed at long-term food sustainability. His wife, Diane Knapp, is the chair of the GW Urban Food Task Force.
But in the long run, these gains are insufficient. While we should applaud extracurricular opportunities and University-wide initiatives, true devotion to teaching students how to solve the world’s agricultural problems needs to manifest itself in the classroom. We should contribute to educating a generation of students in agriculture.
To quote my friend Dan Reed, director of Planet Forward, “Just because we’re not a land-grant agricultural university doesn’t mean we can’t have the opportunities of one.”
