Dr. Kathleen Merrigan speaks with a seminar attendee following the seminar's question and answer session.
Image Credit: Edwin Remsberg
The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in conjunction with the University of Maryland ADVANCE Program for Inclusive Excellence, invited the Executive Director of George Washington University’s Sustainability Institute, Dr. Kathleen Merrigan, to share her thoughts about food policy as a part of their Distinguished Women Scholars Seminar Series.
The seminar, “Redesigning Food Policy In and Outside of Our Nation’s Capital,” took place on May 2nd. Attendees enjoyed locally grown snacks while Merrigan, named one of Time magazine’s 2010 “Most Influential People in the World,” spoke about changes taking place in contemporary American agriculture, specifically emphasizing the role of the individual, the town/city, the state/region, and the federal government.
“When people speak in the marketplace, things happen,” Merrigan began. “That being said, it’s really hard to be a consumer today because we are getting a flood of various kinds of labeling claims in the marketplace.”
While consumers are encouraged to “vote with their fork,” Merrigan argues that this is especially hard to do as consumers are more likely to buy products with more information on the label, regardless of the label’s content. Merrigan also blames a low national literacy about food production.
“I think that overall our national literacy is very low because we have become so disconnected from the farm and ranch…and college is a great place to do something about it” Merrigan said. “It’s not just about what actions to take, but also…preced[ing] action with strong education.”
Hoping to increase their education about food policy, an audience of about 50 people attended Merrigan’s seminar, interested in what she had to say given her experience as the head of the Agriculture Marketing Service from 1999-2001, 2009-2013 Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, and United States representative in the United Nations’ Commission on Sustainability. Merrigan wrote the law establishing national organic food standards, helped develop the USDA rules for organic labeling, and served as a key architect of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign.
Ori Gutin, a sophomore environmental science and policy major, said that, “I do sustainability work for the Student Government Association on campus, and I have been working a lot with green dining on sustainable food initiatives…so I was interested to hear the perspective of how to bring some more sustainable food choices to Maryland.”
Appealing to student interests, Merrigan said, “I think that every student should be taking advantage of their time here on campus…That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to take classes, but there are different food issues being discussed in the school of engineering, the business school, and in literature.”
Merrigan also talked about how she believes that the nation has seen its last farm bill, leaving American agriculture in uncharted territory with unlimited potential.
“The exciting thing about agriculture now is that the future is unwritten,” Merrigan said. “We know there are challenges to face, but anything can happen, and that, to me, is a field you want to be in.”
Considering the role of gender in the field, while also considering the ADVANCE program’s initiative to support female students and faculty pursuing leadership positions, Merrigan referenced a study conducted by the United Nations’ Food Agriculture Organization which concluded that, “if women had more education resources and more opportunity for leadership positions in the same way men do, food production would increase by 30 percent, which would be the equivalent of feeding 150 million people.”
Therefore, Merrigan said, “I think that when we are talking about all different kinds of food policy at any level, I am always…thinking about what it is that we should do as a country, what we should be doing as an educational institution, and what should we be doing about women empowerment.”
However, male or female, when asked what the magic recipe for success is, Merrigan responds, “Community leaders. It’s not the number of dollars…its having a handful of parents or a handful of school administrators who really want to make it happen.”
