Bridging the Divide Between Food Security and Nutrition Security

press release: Food security remains a critical—and often overlooked—issue across the country and around the globe. As we are learning, it is about more than having enough calories to eat. Does everyone have access to nutritious food, and if not, what are the challenges that need to be overcome? How can countries achieve not just food security, but nutrition security?

Roz Naylor will address these questions when she delivers the 8th Annual Len Robock Lecture April 19 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a talk entitled “Bridging the Divide Between Food Security and Nutrition Security: Can a world of 9 billion be well fed?”

Naylor studies issues related to global food security at Stanford University where she is the William Wrigley Professor of Earth Systems Science, professor (by courtesy) in economics, and the Gloria and Richard Kushel Director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment (FSE).

Specifically, she explores the complex connections between food security and the health of the environment, the impact of policies and practices, as well as population, income, and trade. Naylor and her students have conducted research in several countries to get a first-hand look at how different communities are approaching and attempting to solve the problem. She will share their findings, along with noting the outstanding questions and issues that remain.

To get a taste for her work, check out two books Naylor recently published: The Evolving Sphere of Food Security (Naylor, ed., 2014) and The Tropical Oil Crops Revolution: Managing Tradeoffs Among Food, Farmers, Fuels, and Forests (Byerlee, Falcon, and Naylor, 2017).

In addition to her research, Naylor also serves on the Advisory Boards for the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program and The Nature Conservancy (California chapter), and is on the Board of Directors for the Aspen Global Change Institute.

Naylor’s lecture, free and open to the public, is set for Wednesday, April 19, at 7 p.m. in the Morgridge Auditorium, Room 1100 in Grainger Hall. For more information, check the event website.

The lecture is made possible through the Leonard Robock Endowment to the UW-Madison Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.