The year 2020 has focused a great deal more attention on the nation’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and the logistics of food assistance as well. On Aug. 31 the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics hosted a four-expert panel on the matter hosted by board member Sean Cash, the Bergstrom Foundation Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, and featuring panelists George Davis of Virginia Tech, Shewana Hairston McSwain of North Carolina A&T State University, and Parke Wilde of Tufts University. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act gave the U.S. Department of Agriculture the authority to ease state requirements for reporting and proving need, and for so-called “Pandemic EBT” — extra food aid (by electronic benefits transfer) for any child who would otherwise have received free or reduced-price meals at school.

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At 11 a.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 14, the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics will bring together a few representatives of 1890 schools, the 19 institutions established under the Second Morrill Act of 1890 that comprise a group of historically black universities (HBCU’s) seeded with federal dollars to strengthen research, extension and education in food and agricultural sciences. These representatives will be joined by others from national and regional agricultural and applied economics associations to discuss the importance of economics in agricultural curriculum, and the greater importance of 1890 universities’ graduates in the nation’s food and commodities’ policy work. This 90-minute panel webinar will be led by council board member Chyi Lyi “Kathleen” Liang, chair of the Agriculture and Applied Economics Association mentoring committee and faculty at North Carolina A&T State University, an 1890 school.

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More than 300 registered for NextUp, the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics’ (C-FARE) virtual summer early career development program July 22. C-FARE Board Chair Dr. Gal Hochman of Rutgers University moderated a panel discussion that included Dr. Cynthia Nickerson, Deputy Chief Economist in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Chief Economist; Dr. John Newton, the Chief Economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation; Barbara Patterson, Director of Government Affairs for Washington-based Michael Torrey Associates; and Philip Brasher, Executive Editor of Agri-Pulse.

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In our ongoing effort to catalyze informed decision making, the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE) will host a professional development panel from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EDT July 22. The event will introduce young professionals and graduate students preparing to lead the next wave of research projects, policy changes and innovation to opportunities and professional tracks in a nonprofit industry advocacy group, a large government agency, media and communications, and a private government and regulatory affairs firm. C-FARE Board Chair Gal Hochman (Rutgers University) will be joined by panelists Dr. John Newton (American Farm Bureau Federation), Dr. Cynthia Nickerson (USDA), Philip Brasher (Agri-Pulse.com) and Barbara Patterson (Michael Torrey Associates).

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