American Farmers Have Much to Gain from the United Nations

Nov 24, 2025

By Jarrett Lash

As Americans prepare for Thanksgiving, it’s worth remembering that the stability of our own food system is tied to forces beyond our borders. When a drought strikes Africa or conflict disrupts trade in the Black Sea, American farmers and families feel it – through volatile prices, disrupted supply chains and uncertain markets.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization is one of the few institutions with the reach and credibility to steady those shocks – providing the data, standards and coordination to keep global markets from spinning out of control.

For the United States, engagement with FAO is not a matter of abstract diplomacy; it protects a $176 billion export economy, safeguarding rural livelihoods and ensuring that Americans – and the world – retain reliable access to food in an era of uncertainty.

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Video: Porcine Gut Models in Nutrition Research - Dr. Li-Hsuan Chen

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Li-Hsuan Chen, postdoc researcher at Aarhus University, discusses how porcine intestinal cell lines and organoids can help study the impact of nutrition on gut health. He explains how in vivo piglet trials identify diet-driven shifts in microbiota and metabolites, while in vitro models allow researchers to test specific metabolites, barrier function, immune markers, and future organ-on-chip systems before moving back to animal studies. Listen now on all major platforms!

"In vitro models can reduce early animal use by helping researchers screen nutritional candidates before moving back to in vivo trials."

Meet the guest: Dr. Li-Hsuan Chen / li-hsuan-chen-9a95a7279 is a postdoc researcher at Aarhus University in Denmark. Research focuses on porcine gut health, host-microbe interactions, cell lines, and organoids, with PhD work at Aarhus University studying how dietary protein and amino acid levels shape gut microbiota, microbial metabolites, and intestinal epithelial responses. Learn more from Dr. Li-Hsuan Chen on The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, available on all major platforms.