American Farmers Have Much to Gain from the United Nations

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.