Consumers expect more from their food these days. And it gives food producers profitable opportunities to capitalize on trends.

Previously, the goal of America’s agriculture and food system was to provide consumers with food, fiber, and fuel. But consumer priorities have shifted.

Today, consumers expect a variety of options, including foods that promote human health, ensure the smallest environmental footprint, are economically sustainable, and meet the needs of a growing human population. It must do all of this while fulfilling its most basic function: preventing hunger.

Health solutions, abundant choices, varied preferences and dietary trends all provide producers with new opportunities for farmers and ranchers to meet market needs and reduce diet-related health care costs, that cripple global economies.

The science of sound leads the way

As we enter a new decade, we no longer talk about food; we are talking about nutrition. The needs of consumers are more important than ever because, as we say at Texas A&M AgriLife, we don’t just feed the world, we feed it too.

It is a noble goal. After all, the environmental and economic sustainability of current farming practices is uncertain. The public now expects agriculture to reduce health care costs, which, in turn, will require changes in dietary practices.

How to achieve these goals? This will require science-based solutions. Advocacy of the food system and personal preferences in all its forms must take a back seat to solid scientific evidence.

The public has been inundated for decades with alarming reports of the foods we eat and the diseases they cause. It is estimated that diet-related chronic diseases cost the US economy $ 1 trillion each year. Half of all adults in the United States receive treatment for chronic illness.

The time has come for responsive agriculture, where producers develop foods that improve human health and increase agricultural profitability to sustainably secure economic prospects. Rigorous science must lead the way if we are to better align human health and the food system.

Ag can boost nutrition

As life scientists and agronomists, we develop products that meet the needs of the community and the health, values ​​and preferences of consumers. This translates into higher value crops, feeds and other products, higher yield potential, lower environmental footprint, improved nutritional value and greater resistance to drought, heat. and diseases.

We are action-oriented and we support the health and preferences of consumers, the environment and producers with science-based solutions.

AgriLife sorghum research is known to develop sorghum varieties for the feed and energy sectors. Now grain eaters across the country are discovering the sorghum team’s contributions to healthier human food. Bill Rooney, Ph.D., sorghum breeder at AgriLife Research and Borlaug-Monsanto Chair in Plant Breeding and International Crop Improvement at the Texas A&M University Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, is leading the way in this research.

Our sorghum breeders specifically targeted the health food market when they developed the Onyx Black Grain Sorghum Hybrid in 2012. Onyx is a prime example of how to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply. to help manage chronic disease. The sorghum team aimed for better product quality and human nutrition goals.

The new sorghum we have developed is an all-natural grain based on old varieties of black sorghum that is rich in tannins. These heirloom varieties bring together in each plant a powerful combination of antioxidants that fight a wide range of free radical threats to our bodies. The Onyx hybrid was selected to respond to the growing public interest in foods with high antioxidant capacity.

Onyx is not only good for consumers, but also for producers. A second strain we created, Onyx2, has the same components as the original but offers better yields. One problem with the original Onyx was that the yield potential was lower than that of commercial grain sorghum hybrids. We have increased yields from the first to the second hybrid by around 25%, proof that research can help both growers and consumers.

What do we do next?

Agriculture is at a crossroads. Expectations to feed the growing world population while ensuring environmental and economic sustainability have never been higher, nor public spotlight brighter.

Exceeding consumer expectations of the food system will require solid science to guide policies and practices to ensure human health, a healthier planet and a more sustainable agricultural system. Agriculture, food security and people’s health are all fundamental to our future. Our goal is to ensure health by meeting nutritional needs through integrated research, as evidenced by life sciences, social sciences, environmental sciences, policy and economics.

Food system advocacy and scientific evidence are too often disconnected, even within the academic community. Through scientific advancement, we must strengthen and help ensure continued public confidence in all aspects of agriculture. It is the healthiest way forward for Americans, our environment, and our economy. It is essential for our entire country. Our ability to feed the planet and avoid hunger is at stake.

As people want to be more connected to their food and demand more of it, we in agriculture have the opportunity to strengthen the bond from farm to fork. As we enter this new decade, we can create foods that help prevent chronic disease while preventing hunger, and we can do it together.