Reset The Table

Gregory Jaffe, director of the Project on Biotechnology at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, joins Caitlin Welsh in this episode to share his expertise on biotechnology in the U.S. food system and the relevant policies surrounding bioengineered crops, commonly known as GMOs. Mr. Jaffe and Ms. Welsh discuss the public perception and misconceptions of bioengineered foods. Mr. Jaffe emphasizes the importance of consistent policies for identifying and labelling these food products and explains how upcoming regulations from the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law may or may not resolve ongoing conflicts about GMOs.

In this episode, Purdue’s Military Family Research Institute director Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth and CSIS Global Food Security Program director Caitlin Welsh discuss food security in the military community. Dr. MacDermid Wadsworth describes the various causes and stressors that are unique to veterans experiencing food insecurity, especially veterans living in rural areas. Dr. MacDermid Wadsworth and Ms. Welsh offer potential solutions to food insecurity among the veteran community and discuss the role of food pantries in responding to immediate food security needs. Dr. MacDermid Wadsworth also underscores the importance of collaboration among policymakers and researchers to address food security for current and future veterans.

Danielle Nierenberg, president and co-founder of Food Tank, joins GFSP senior associate Kimberly Flowers this episode to examine the role of technology in food systems. The conversation explores how innovation in technology could address climate change and respond to inequity challenges in our global food and agriculture systems. To that end, Ms. Nierenberg stresses the importance of including farmers in the development of such technology so innovations that seek to improve agricultural practices amid climate change also continue to meet the needs of farmers. Ms. Flowers and Ms. Nierenberg also discuss the ways in which Food Tank highlights stories of hope and success in food and agriculture systems. In doing so, Food Tank hopes to advocate for ambitious changes to food systems domestically and globally.

In this episode, Dr. Agnes Kalibata sits down with Kimberly Flowers, CSIS GFSP senior associate, to discuss the outcomes of the UN Food Systems Summit. As the UN secretary general’s special envoy, Dr. Kalibata provided key guidance and leadership at the summit, which was held on September 23. Dr. Kalibata explains the key issues affecting food systems that drove her to lead the summit and talks through the criticism the summit has received. She also evaluates President Biden’s $10 billion commitment to food security and describes what food security leadership should look like in the future.

FAO Senior statistician and economist Carlo Cafiero joins GFSP director Caitlin Welsh and senior associate Andrew Rzepa to examine the 2021 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report. Dr. Cafiero, one of the authors of the report, highlights critical takeaways and explains the challenges to collecting and reporting food security data globally. Dr. Cafiero also emphasizes the importance of correctly interpreting data and provides suggestions on how to better manage uncertainty in the world.

In the final episode of our Washington Series, Dreaming Out Loud founder and executive director Christopher Bradshaw joins GFSP program manager Eilish Zembilci to illustrate how the long history of racism and inequality in the United States influences present-day food security. Mr. Bradshaw shares the organizational priorities of Dreaming Out Loud and how his team is striving to reverse the harm of the “400-year pandemic of white supremacy” through holistic approaches to food systems and economic empowerment. Mr. Bradshaw also speaks to potential policy solutions at the national and local level, particularly in light of amendments to the D.C. Comprehensive Plan.

In the second episode of our Washington Series, Caitlin Welsh interviews Radha Muthiah, president and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank, the largest hunger relief organization in the Washington metro area. Ms. Welsh and Ms. Muthiah discuss the state of food security in the region both prior to and throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly how the pandemic has changed the demographic makeup of the food-insecure population and assumptions about hunger. Ms. Muthiah explains Capital Area Food Bank’s role in advancing access to food and resources across the DMV and how the organization has creatively adapted to the challenges of the pandemic. Finally, Ms. Muthiah speaks to the importance of holistic approaches to food security, the goal of building a truly inclusive regional food system, and opportunities to eradicate hunger.

In this first episode of our three-part Washington Series, Washingtonian magazine food editor Jessica Sidman joins Caitlin Welsh to discuss the D.C. restaurant industry and the challenges it has faced amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Ms. Sidman comments on the resilience of D.C. restaurants and how they have adapted to the abrupt changes caused by the pandemic. Ms. Sidman and Ms. Welsh consider choices various restaurants made not only to keep their businesses afloat, but also to support the D.C. community during a period of increased food insecurity. Ms. Sidman also shares which pandemic-induced shifts may become permanent fixtures in the restaurant industry and what we may expect for restaurant employees in the future. She also offers her best prediction on President Biden’s next D.C. restaurant outing.

In this episode, guest hosts Kimberly Flowers and Jacob Kurtzer are joined by Alex DeWaal, Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation and a Research Professor at The Fletcher School of Tufts University, to discuss the current humanitarian crisis and famine in Ethiopia. Dr. DeWaal describes the historical context that led Ethiopia to its current crisis, explaining how Ethiopia’s prior success in reducing hunger devolved into today’s famine. In addition, Dr. DeWaal discusses famine’s changing role in conflict and humanitarian crises writ large and the international community’s role in defining and reducing famine. Finally, Dr. DeWaal recommends actions international institutions can take to maintain an ethics-based multilateral world order.

Tjada McKenna, CEO of Mercy Corps, joins CSIS’s Caitlin Welsh and Jacob Kurtzer to discuss food security programming in conflict and crisis settings. Ms. McKenna emphasizes the importance of long-term approaches to humanitarian work, especially for nutrition and food security outcomes. She also describes the impacts of Covid-19 on Mercy Corps and the humanitarian aid sector writ large, including how the pandemic has exacerbated some crises while also enabling new perspectives and responses. Finally, she shares some steps Congress and the humanitarian community can take to make interventions more effective moving forward.