When a delegate stood up and said to the audience “I just can’t understand why a strategy of cheap food could ever be wrong,” at a 1995 Common Agricultural Policy conference no one questioned the wisdom of this statement.  Almost 30 years later, this and other well ingrained paradigms are being re-evaluated. The big questions are whether cheap food is sufficiently valued by our society and how much does cheap food drive increased food waste. Current USDA estimates are that between 30-40% of food is wasted. This is a radicle change from only one generation ago where all table scraps and leftovers that were not eaten where either fed to pigs, chickens or even the household pets. 

 Mary Shelman’s insight and thinking on our food and agricultural systems stems as much from her time leading the Agribusiness Program at Harvard Business School and leading the development and implementation of Ireland’s nations food sustainability programme, Origin Green, as it does from growing up in rural Kentucky and spending time with local farmers. 

We all know the challenges that have emerged around the urban rural divide. What is less discussed in the generational challenges and opportunities facing our societies around food and agriculture. Around 70% of young people today suffer from climate anxiety. Bringing young people into the conversation and leveraging their passions and concerns must become a key component of any food sustainability program. 

I recently caught up with Mary to hear more about her work. You can listen to his conversation here. 

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