Feeding the world is an urgent challenge: In 2023,we reported that one in 11 people globally faced hunger, with 2.33 billion people facing moderate or severe food insecurity. These disparities in food access and malnutrition lead to a cascade of other problems.

Our history with food research stretches back to the founding grant’s mention of “the study of agriculture in all its branches.” From 1921 to 1996, the our Food Research Institute, inspired by Herbert Hoover, led globally influential research on food systems.

Today, we remains well-positioned to influence the way the world grows, distributes, eats, and thinks about food. Threads of food research and teaching run throughout the university, crossing disciplines and schools, including the work of dozens of faculty members. This is complemented by interdisciplinary and solution-focused efforts established to coordinate this work.