To feed human progress...
At Land O’Lakes, Inc., we believe Feeding Human Progress is the driving force behind each of us working in the food and agriculture system every day, whether we’re working in a farm field, testing soil or trying out the latest in ag tech, in research, in finance or delivering butter to a local retail store.
Our proud history as a farmer-owned cooperative means that we understand the power of partnership in tackling complicated challenges. One of the most pressing issues we face is the future of accessible food: how do we get high-quality, nutritious food into the kitchens of people who need it most?
The United States is consistently rated as one of the most food secure nations in the world -- and yet, there are 40 million Americans living with food insecurity and the stress of not knowing where the next meal will come from. This is the reality of our food system today, and it will take unprecedented levels of collaboration and innovation to fix it.
...We must work together
Land O’Lakes is committed to creating practical food solutions by combining our global perspective with direct access to farms and technological expertise, but we know we can’t do it alone.
Across the country, there are countless communities that are coming together and re-imagining a food system capable of creating jobs, promoting health, protecting the environment and fostering innovation.
As the Food Policy Manager for Austin, Texas, Edwin Marty knows firsthand how complicated and interconnected a city’s food system can be. The city’s recent influx of new residents and lack of affordable housing, combined with a 25 percent reduction of the county’s functional farmland in the past decade, is causing serious trouble. According to Marty, Austin’s best hope for building a resilient and equitable food system is to embrace the cooperative food movement and put the power in the hands of the member-owners.
At Feeding Texas, a nonprofit that operates 21 state food banks, Chief Strategy Officer JC Dwyer stresses that although food banks are essential lifelines for those facing urgent hunger crises, they don’t provide a long-term solution. He advocates for progressive public policies, partnerships and programs to strengthen the collective response to hunger and raise public awareness of an issue that is invisible to many Texans.
Earlier this year, Land O’Lakes, Inc. dove headfirst into convening a discussion about how the combination of agriculture and science can quite literally save the world. Moderated by Frank Sesno, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., the panel was composed of three experts who spoke about how they have employed their passion for science to help increase food stability on a global scale.
How do you feed more with less? That is the 10-billion person question that must be answered by 2050 -- and we believe science plays a critical role.
As a farmer-owned cooperative with a farm-to-fork view of the entire agricultural system, Land O’Lakes is positioned in a way few companies are to meet the challenges of this new reality. We can see the problems: the scarce additional arable land, limited freshwater and the 11 percent of the world population currently facing food insecurity. But fueled by optimistic minds and inspired leaders, we can also see solutions: from the soil to the science and the soul of what we choose to do each and every day.