The University of Florida (our alma mater!) was one of the land grant universities singled out by the director of USDA’s National Institute of Food & Agriculture Sonny Ramaswamy during his talk at the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) World Forum last week as those who have been making changes to prepare students for the future of the industry. UF Department of Agriculture Assistant Professor Hannah Carter was at the forum and took part in a panel on engaging talent to feed the world.

“Really the question is where are the people going to be who are answering the questions about how do we feed the world, how do we shelter the world, climate change – where are the folks going to come from that work on these tough issues,” Hannah told me. “There’s a lot of opportunities in agriculture and we actually can’t fill the jobs that are going to be there…and I feel like we need to sell agriculture a little better.”

Hannah was at the forum to represent the Challenge 2050 Project at UF. “It’s truly to go beyond the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and find students who want to engage in these complex problems but might be working in bio-medicine or engineering,” she said. “What we’re finding is students who never really considered ag as an opportunity or pursuit look at these big ideas and problems and say ‘hey, I can play a part in that.'”

Listen to my interview with Hannah here: UF Assistant Professor Hannah Carter at IFAMA World Forum
IFAMA 23rd World Forum Photo Album