Get What You Beget It started with geographic indicators, then it moved on to country of origin labeling even for products made within the EU’s “single” market, next came calls for food sovereignty, though that is aimed at stopping food imports from third country suppliers. Now the Czech’s have taken food nationalism to its logical conclusion – local food consumption mandates. The lower house of the Czech Parliament approved legislation mandating that 55 percent of the food sold in larger grocery stores must be of Czech origin. That number grows to 73 percent in 2028. The legislation one-ups the Canadian approach of making foreign wine simply too difficult to find in a store, let alone be affordable. The Czech...
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.