Arnot Stresses Increased Food Production in Center for Food Integrity CEO 'Food for Thought' Lecture

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Charlie Arnot, third from left, with Bumpers College Honors Student Board members (from left) Christina Crowder, Chris Sims, Arnot, Will Pohlman, Taylor Farr, Kallie Sullivan and Sam Goll.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Charlie Arnot, the CEO of the Center for Food Integrity, met with University of Arkansas students and others in classes last week to present a “Food for Thought” lecture centered on sustainability in the food chain and the need for an increase in production.

“Food for Thought” lectures are presented by the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences Honors Student Board with messages focused on the businesses of foods and the impact of foods on human health, environmental sustainability and human quality of life.

His presentation was titled, “Size Matters – Why We Love to Hate ‘Big Food’ and Why Sustainable Intensification May Be Key to Survival.”

“That title is designed to inspire thought and so you’ll think about things differently,” Arnot said. “Food is safer, available and affordable, yet consumers are more skeptical than ever before.”

He said skepticism traces back to a series of events beginning in 1968, including Vietnam, the Watergate break-in, the Iran-Contra affair, the Three Mile Island accident, the Enron scandal and the British Petroleum oil spill.

“This series of events has caused us to question whether or not institutions are worthy of public trust,” he said. “Increasing transparency has the most impact on those who are skeptical.”

The Center for Food Integrity is a national nonprofit organization established in 2007 to build consumer trust and confidence in today’s food system. Its members represent each segment of the food chain, including farmers and ranchers, universities, food processors, restaurants, retailers and food companies. CFI works with companies and associations across the food system to develop and implement sustainable solutions in issues management, public relations, strategic facilitation and marketing communications.

“If you make a commitment to be transparent, it generally gets worse before it gets better,” Arnot said. “The first group that comes out is the haters.”

Results of a 2013 CFI survey show 31 percent of consumers feel smaller food companies rank profits ahead of public interest while 53 percent feel the same about larger food companies. In the same survey, 28 percent said smaller farms put profits ahead of the public while 48 percent said larger farms place more value on profits.

Arnot said by mid-century, the world will include 2.5 billion more people and the world is currently consuming “one-and-a-half planets per year, in terms of resources.”

He also said the amount of land used to produce meat, milk, poultry and eggs declined by two-thirds between 1960 and 2010, and water stress is a looming crisis. The CFI reports by 2030, 47 percent of the world’s population will live in arid areas.

“Productivity, both organic and conventional, needs to double,” he said. “This is the generation of leaders who will help us solve these problems, but we have to find answers.”

Before answering questions from the audience, he closed with this message: “Support responsible food production systems that allow us to produce the food we need using fewer resources to meet the growing global demand for food.”