 |
| Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, Director of USDA/NIFA, held a seminar at the SU Ag Center as a part of his visit to the SU Land-Grant Campus on April 25, 2017. (Photo by Chris Rogers.) |
Baton Rouge, La. – The director of USDA/National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy held a seminar titled, “National Institute of Food and Agriculture: An Update from Your Federal Partner” on April 25, 2017 at the SU Ag Center.
During his presentation, Ramaswamy
discussed the fact that people are dying because of food all over the world.
Some, due to lack of food and some because there is too much food.
He went on to say that Americans need to
reduce the amount of food that we waste every year.
“We lose about a third or half of all
the food we make before it makes it to the dinner table,” said Ramaswamy. “We
are wasting and losing about $120 billion annually. Food waste is not only
happening in homes; it’s also happening in restaurants,” citing huge serving
portions and how grocery stores throw away bruised fruits and vegetables.
He encouraged the students in the room
to develop new ideas to make what was once called unusable food attractive,
like the creators of Ugly Juice, LLC, which uses aesthetically imperfect fruits
and vegetables to make their juices.
Ramaswamy also warned the audience that
nutrition and agricultural scientists must find solutions to problems such as
hunger, obesity and access to nutritious foods or the situation will get worse
by 2050 – the year many scientists have predicted that the global populations
will surpass 9 billion people and will increase the demand for food and
fiber.
Prior to the seminar, Ramaswamy met with
1890 student scholars, members of the Land-Grant Campus’s executive team and
USDA/NIFA grant recipients from the SU Ag Center and the College of
Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences.
A luncheon for Dr. Ramaswamy was also held in
the Donald C. Wade House on the Southern University Baton Rouge Campus. While
at the luncheon, Dr. Ramaswamy was able to speak and network with SU Land-Grant
Campus Chancellor-Dean, Dr. Bobby Phills; SU Land-Grant Campus Vice Chancellor
for Research, Dr. Andra Johnson; SU System President-Chancellor, Dr. Ray
Belton; SU Baton Rouge Campus Executive Vice-President for Academic Affairs
& Provost, Dr. M. Christopher Brown; SU Law Center Chancellor, Dr. John
Pierre and other system dignitaries.
Photos of Dr. Ramaswamy’s visit are available
at our Google album.
###
No comments:
Post a Comment