World Perspectives

No Natural at All

The U.S. FDA has collected public comments and now must decide what the term “natural” means on a food label.The U.S. FDA has collected public comments and now must decide what the term “natural” means on a food label. For some, the organic food production standards established in a back room by 12 people constitute natural. For others, using transgenics to modify plants is no more unnatural than the selective breeding techniques used by humans over millennia. Still others say that the FDA should define natural in accordance with what consumers think the term means, which according to an IFIC survey might come closest to the current definition of having no artificial or synthetic ingredients. Perceptions change over time, though, and someti...

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From WPI Consulting

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.

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