U.S. Secretary of Ag: Illinois Plays Key Role In Global Food Security
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack addresses media Thursday at a U of I-owned farm in Urbana. Darell Hoemann/CU Citizen Access
The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture says Illinois has a big role to play in the fight for global food security.
Secretary Tom Vilsack told University of Illinois students Thursday it will fall on their shoulders to figure out a way to increase food production in the next 35 years as much as it increased in the last 10-thousand years.
In his speech at the U of I’s Urbana campus, Vilsack said Illinois’ top crop plays an integral role in global trade.
“The reality is, trade is critically important to meeting global food security needs," he said. "You ask any soybean producer in Illinois where their soybeans go, and they will tell you: part of them goes to China.”
Vilsack says trade deals like the ongoing talks on the Trans Pacific Partnership will sustain not only the world’s 825-million who are “food insecure,” but also Illinois farmers who produce traded resources.
The secretary visited Illinois to announce a $100-million dollar investment in biofuel infrastructure, $12 million of which will go to Illinois.