Rotary Club presents "Food: Our Fundamental Right"
- Details
- Category: News/Events
- Published on Friday, 11 November 2011 20:19
- Written by admin
How farmers are keeping up with consumers’ demand for safe, nutritious and affordable food takes center stage on Thursday, November 17, at the regularly scheduled Chillicothe Rotary Club meeting. Steve Main of Main Hitch Farm in Altona, Ill., will address the group at 7:00 a.m. at the Happy Thought Coffee located at 953 North 2nd Street in Chillicothe.
Titled “Food: Our Fundamental Right” the speech by Main will highlight why farmers will need to double the world’s food production in less than 40 years and how they’ll need to rely on science and technology to make it happen. “With today’s innovations, farmers are able to produce more food more efficiently while using fewer natural resources than ever before,” said Main. One American farmer now feeds six times as many people as he or she did 50 years ago. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization projects that 70-percent of the food the world will need by 2050 will have to be produced using efficiency-enhancing technologies.
“Modern pork production practices mean we’re producing better food while improving animal care and protecting the environment,” said Main. “As a result, pigs today are healthier and leaner. In fact, pork tenderloin is now as lean as a skinless chicken breast. I’d like to thank the Rotary Club for giving me an opportunity to tell modern agriculture’s story of innovation, quality and good stewardship.”
There are 68,000 U.S. pork producers. Main said Illinois pork production generates more than $1.7 billion in economic activity for the state, and supports over 7,800 jobs.
