One of the participants in the 2008 World Food Prize symposium who caught my eye yesterday was Dr. Gale Buchanan, USDA Under Secretary for Research Education and Economics. I saw him sitting in on every session I attended, so I caught up with him for an interview about the event and what he thought.
This year’s World Food Prize winners are former Senators Bob Dole and George McGovern, who are being honored for their work to expand USDA’s school feeding program. Dr. Buchanan says it is nice to see USDA’s program recognized for its world feeding efforts. “The department has a vital role to play in addressing these issues,” Buchanan said. “The focus of this conference is not looking inward but looking outward to every country around the world.”
Regarding the issue of being able to produce both food and fuel on a global basis, Buchanan says, “Food is important, it’s what sustains us and it’s got to be at the top of the list, but energy is at the top of the list too. We have to continue working to find ways to ensure we have the amount of food, feed and fiber that we need, but also the energy that it takes to sustain us. Using agricultural products as part of that solution is very important.”
I last saw Dr. Buchanan at the Southern Peanut Growers Meeting earlier this year and, being a southerner, he sees value in the potential for using peanuts to produce biodiesel, for example. “When Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine he proposed that his new engine should be run on peanut oil,” Buchanan told me. “And certainly I think peanuts and other oilseed crops have great potential to address energy concerns in the future.”
Listen to Dr. Buchanan’s interview here:
wfp-08-buchanan.mp3
You can also download the audio with this link: Dr. Gale Buchanan at World Food Prize (mp3)