This is a guest post composed at the NSF Science: Becoming the Messenger Workshop at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (UNL) by Vicki Miller, Office of Research and Economic Development, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
I grew up in rural Nebraska amid friends and family who tilled the soil, grew crops and raised livestock. Low farm prices and over production were the pressing issues. Food was abundant and cheap. No one thought much about the whys and hows of this abundance and there was much talk on the farm about America’s so-called “cheap food policy.”
We didn’t think much about it at the time but, it turns out, this abundance was fueled by science. Agricultural research spawned improved crops and technologies that spawned the “green revolution” and expanded ag production worldwide. University of Nebraska-Lincoln agronomist Ken Cassman says that, by the late 20th century, food was plentiful and inexpensive partly because of ...
