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by Marion Nestle
Jun
1
2022
Who funds research on food and agriculture?
The USDA has just released this summary of food research funding.
This graph clearly indicates what I view as a big problem: government funding for agricultural and food research has been declining since the early 2000s, whereas private funding—meaning corporations and industries—has sharply increased since 2008 or so.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Government funding can support basic research with no obvious commercial implications—science.
Funding by food corporations and industries has one primary purpose: to develop and promote products—marketing.
I’m not opposed to marketing research, as long as it is labeled as such.
The decline in federal funding for food and nutrition research has long-term implications for scientific progress.
We need basic research on agriculture, food, nutrition, and health.
These curves need to be reversed.