Frontiers in Agricultural Research Food, Health, Environment, and Communities (2003) / Chapter Skim
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3. Research Frontiers
3. Research Frontiers
Pages 38-66
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From page 38... ...
mission area is uniquely positioned to carry out research in these frontier areas that will serve important public goals. Agricultural research can address issues arising from five major phenomena: globalization; emergence of pathogens; links between diet, health promotion, and disease prevention; the relationship between agriculture and the environment; and changes in rural communities.
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From page 39... ...
Such research must be integrative and examine the full effects of globalization and the environmental, social, and economic tradeoffs that policy-makers will face. One of the principal issues that research should address is the relative benefits and costs of investing in different kinds of research, including research that yields societal and environmental benefits.
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From page 40... ...
A related area of research is better understanding of how worldwide changes in intellectual property rights policy alter the public research agenda. Changes in technology, in legal rulings, and in international agreements have increased the return on investment from privately funded agricultural and food research and the international spillovers from research investments (Parker et al., 2001; Reilly and Schimmelpfenning, 2000~.
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Precision agriculture is another frontier technology that could substantially improve productivity while providing environmental benefits. This spatially explicit approach to crop management involves tracking production and tailoring inputs to meet the specific needs of subacre areas in individual fields.
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REE is uniquely positioned to provide leadership in this respect because of its dual responsibilities for research and education. EMERGING PATHOGENS AND OTHER HAZARDS IN THE FOOD-SUPPLY CHAIN Advances in the science of public health, changes in how consumers obtain and prepare food, and increases in international trade in food products and animals all increase the profile of food safety and animal and plant health (Unnevehr and Roberts, 2002~.
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From page 43... ...
Although recent research has improved food safety and the US food supply is one of the safest in the world, the system's growing complexity and dynamism continue to generate needs for information (Kuzminski,1994~. For example, current food-consumption trends toward more fresh, uncooked, fast, and imported foods raise questions about the sources of and solutions to food contamination (Hughes, 2001; Todd, 2001; Unnevehr and Roberts, 2002~.
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From page 44... ...
and the Bacillus thuringiensis Cry 9C protein, which does not degrade rapidly in gastric fluids and raised concerns of potential allergenicity when it was inadvertently introduced into the human food supply (USDHHS, 2001; USEPA, 1998~. Insofar as research related to the creation of transgenic crops has greatly outpaced research related to pleiotropic and other unintended consequences, there is strong public and scientific interest in creating a government-sponsored program to explore questions about food allergens and toxicants that are unlikely to be pursued by the private sector.
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From page 45... ...
There is urgent need for continued REE research to guide and evaluate food and nutrition policies and interventions at multiple levels and settings, including individual, family, school, worksite, retail, marketing, and production. Some of these research priorities are identified in the US Action Plan on Food Security (USDA, l999b)
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Elucidate Genetic Mechanisms That Affect Human Health and Nutrition Nutrition-related research on human genetics will provide the foundation for further understanding of the metabolic fate of nutrients and the biochemical functions of food components, including macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, bioactive components, and pharmacologic agents. It also will elucidate how and why people vary in their requirements for and uses of various food components.
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From page 47... ...
Improved understanding of how genes affect individual nutritional status and disease risk could eventually have an important role in shaping public-health policy. For example, a better understanding of how genes affect the body's storage and use of food calories would greatly enhance efforts to develop effective food and nutrition policies for reversing our national epidemic of obesity.
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From page 48... ...
REE has an important continuing role to play in the collection and evaluation of food-consumption data. The USDA Agricultural Research Service and the Department of Health and Human Services National Center for Health Statistics have worked collaboratively to implement the congressionally mandated merger of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES)
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In the context of increasing pressures on global land, water, and genetic resources and global environmental change, US-based agricultural research can contribute to delivering global environmental benefits and to informing decisionmaking on international environmental agreements. Reduce Pollution and Conserve Natural Resources Air and water pollution and its harmful effects on the environment and human health remain important byproducts of many agricultural practices.
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Moreover, the National Invasive Species Management Plan, developed by an interagency council convened under Executive Order 13112, has identified high-priority research needs for reducing the economic and environmental impacts of invasive species in the United States (NISC, 2002~. In agricultural areas across the United States, application of fertilizers, manure, and pesticides (primarily herbicides)
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From page 51... ...
Deliver New Environmental Benefits The increasing public demand for recreational and environmental services from the nation's land and water resources has enormous implications for agriculture and rural economies. One effect has been the clear trend in US agricultural policy, such as the conservation title of the US Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (US Congress, 2002)
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And advances in information technology, including wireless field monitors and environmental-database design, will help to understand environmental variability. QUALITY OF LIFE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES The quality of life in rural communities is deteriorating in many regions with shifting populations, inadequate workforce competence, and weak community
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New social-science research tools enable a better understanding of economic links and of the role of social and human capital, entrepreneurism, and leadership in rural growth. REE research can provide the basis of programs that help people and institutions to respond successfully to continuing economic and institutional change.
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From page 54... ...
Ultimately, findings from such research would be applied in efforts to strengthen rural communities through participatory decision-making and entrepreneurial economic development. ADVANCING THE FRONTIERS The research frontiers noted above all have to do with agriculture as a system that links many biologic, physical, social, and economic processes.
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From page 55... ...
RECOMMENDATION 1: REE should provide leadership for the agricultural community in exploring research frontiers in food, health, environment, and communities. REE should build on its historical strengths and become a scientific leader in using new technologies and emerging scientific paradigms to pursue strategic, long-term research goals.
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A unique role for the public sector, and specifically for REE, in undertaking the research is justified, given the expanded research needs of USDA programs and policies and the limited capability for pnvate-sector research to address it. REFERENCES Alston, J.A., and P.G.
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:619-630. FASEB LSRO (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Life Sciences Research Office)
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.2002. National Invasive Species Management Plan.
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Pp. 79102 in Techniques for Reducing Pesticides Use: Economic and Environmental Benefits, D
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National Center for Health Statistics. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I, 1971-1974.
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National Center for Health Statistics. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey II.
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