2/12/01

Contacts:
Bruce Babcock, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, (515) 294-6758
Sandy Clarke, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, (515) 294-6257
Brian Meyer, Agriculture Communications, (515) 294-0706

ISU AGRICULTURAL FORUM MARCH 2 ON CHANGING FOOD DEMANDS

AMES, Iowa -- "Extreme Demands - Extraordinary Products," the 2001 Agricultural Forum at Iowa State University, will examine the effects of new consumer demands on food retailers, processors and producers.

The forum, on March 2, is sponsored by ISU's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD).

Consumers are expressing their opinions about food and food policy at grocery checkout counters, farmers' markets and even at their computers by choosing to buy foods that reflect their lifestyles and beliefs. Pressures and changes surrounding the food industry also were illustrated by the protests on biotechnology and globalization during the 1999 World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle.

CARD director Bruce Babcock said the forum's theme is a natural progression from last year's conference on e-commerce. "If consumers want to become more connected with the food they eat, technology will soon enable the food industry to supply products that establish this connection," Babcock said.

"With this year's forum, we want to examine how this movement to identity-preserved products will affect Midwestern agriculture."

John McManus, associate publisher of American Demographics magazine, will kick off the conference with a presentation on future food trends. Other speakers will include Ric Jurgens, Hy-Vee executive vice president; Michael Mackenzie, former director general of the Food and Drink Federation of the United Kingdom; Larry Bohlen, director of health and environment programs at Friends of the Earth (the group that detected the presence of StarLink corn in taco shells); and Jim Geist, executive director of Identity Preserved International and Colorado SweetGold Corn.

Registration is $90. A registration form and more program information are available on the Web at http://www.agforum.org, or by calling (515) 294-6257.

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