The Farm Bill, which is passed by Congress every five years, has been called the Swiss Army knife of legislation. The policies it covers are too extensive to summarize in just one paragraph – from safety nets for farmers to food assistance for families in-need, from organics to biotechnology, from local and regional production to international trade and the global marketplace, from conservation and sound environmental practices to biomanufacturing and new forms of energy production.

“There’s something so fundamental about food that everyone everywhere understands.”

It is estimated that the world’s population will exceed 9.7 billion people, and much of the Earth’s arable land is already under cultivation. Food policymakers will continue to wrestle with how we produce food more efficiently and responsibly; reduce waste at all levels of production, distribution, and sale; react to changing consumer preferences; and satisfy the needs of a rapidly growing global population with a rising middle class.

We need ongoing evaluation and innovation at all levels of our food system to ensure a more sustainable and resilient food supply into the future.