World Perspectives

Food Fight Ahead; UPF Boogeyman

Food Fight AheadThere are two committee confirmation hearings that aggies will be watching intently early next year: the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) on the nomination of RFK, Jr.; and the Senate Agriculture Committee on the nomination of Brooke Rollins. The HELP Committee will have a lot to unpack. RFK, Jr.’s position on vaccines front and center, but his position on food dyes, seed oils and pasteurized milk reflect the same basic chemophobia. Chemophobes cannot really be “won over” in a debate about facts because they do not ascribe to relative risk. They are absolutists. They go to “alternative” health stores with unwavering conviction. But on some issues, the data is overwhelming.The probiotic benef...

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From WPI Consulting

Illuminating the value of technical research

On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.

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