Agriculture and International Relations pp 47-65 | Cite as
The US Presidential World Food and Nutrition Study and Commission on World Hunger: Lessons for the United States and other Countries
Abstract
In this paper I will first examine the results of the World Food and Nutrition Study (WFNS) established by President Ford and delivered to President Carter (WFNS, 1977) and of the Commission on World Hunger (CWH) which was commissioned by President Carter and delivered to him (CWH, 1980). I also consider an educational effort to make American academic and religious circles more aware of problems associated with food, agriculture, and world hunger. In the second main section of the paper, I examine a fundamental underlying difficulty encountered in these efforts. In the second section, I will also present reasons for hope concerning American information systems and decision processes with respect to food, agricultural development and trade. The third main section deals with current issues about the American role in international food aid and the promotion of development. The fourth and last section deals with the methodological lessons from the first three sections for the research work which agricultural economists do on food, nutrition and agriculture in countries around the world.
Keywords
World Food Normative Knowledge Nutrition Study Resource Ownership Effective DemandPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
- Achinstein, P. and S. F. Barker (eds.) (1969), The Legacy of Logical Positivism: Studies in the Philosophy of Science (Baltimore: John Hopkins Press).Google Scholar
- Boulding, K. (1956), The Image (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press).Google Scholar
- Carnap, R. (1953), ‘Formal and Factual Science’, in: H. Feigl and M. Brodbeck (eds.), Readings in the Philosophy of Science (New York: Appleton-Century Crofts).Google Scholar
- Feyerabend, P. (1975), Against Method (Great Britain: Redwood Burn Limited Trowbridge & Esher).Google Scholar
- Friedman, M. (1953), Essays in Positive Economics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).Google Scholar
- Johnson, G. L. and C. L. Quance (1972), The Overproduction Trap in US Agriculture (Baltimore: John Hopkins Press).Google Scholar
- Johnson, G. L. (1976), ‘Philosophical Foundations: Problems, Knowledge and Solutions’, European Review of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 3, pp. 207–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Johnson, G. L. (1977), ‘Contributions of Economists to a Rational Decision-Making Process in the Field of Agricultural Policy’, in: T. Dams and K. E. Hunt (eds.), Decision — Making and Agriculture (Oxford: Oxford Agricultural Economics Institute for International Association of Agricultural Economists).Google Scholar
- Johnson, G. L. (1980), ‘Ethical Issues and Energy Policies’, Increasing Understanding of Public Problems and Policies 1980 (Farm Foundation, Oak Brook, Illinois) pp. 89–111.Google Scholar
- Johnson, G. L. and J. L. Brown (1980), ‘An Evaluation of the Normative and Prescriptive Content of the Department of Energy Mid-Term Energy Forecasting System (MEFS), and the Texas National Energy Modeling Project (TNEMP)’, in: M. C. Holloway (ed.), Texas National Energy Modeling Project Part III (Austin, Texas: Texas Energy and National Resources Advisory Councel).Google Scholar
- Johnson, G. L. (Forthcoming) ‘Philosophic Foundations of Agricultural Economics Thought’, in: L. R. Martin (ed.), A Survey of Agricultural Economics Literature, Volume IV. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press for the American Agricultural Economics Association).Google Scholar
- Keynes, J. N. (1963), The Scope and Method of Political Economy, 4th ed. (New York: A. M. Kelley) originally published in 1890.Google Scholar
- Lewis, C. I. (1955), The Ground and Nature of the Right (New York: Columbia University Press).Google Scholar
- Moore, G. E. (1956), Principia Ethica (Cambridge, Engl.: Cambridge University Press) originally published in 1903.Google Scholar
- Myrdal, G. (1944), The American Dilemma (New York: Harper Brothers).Google Scholar
- National Academy of Sciences (1977), World Food and Nutrition Study (Washington D.C.).Google Scholar
- Parsons, K. H. (1949), ‘The Logical Foundations of Economic Research’, Journal of Farm Economics, 31, pp. 565–686, November.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Parsons, K. H. (1958), ‘The Value Problem in Agricultural Policy’, in: E. O. HEADY et al. (eds.), Agricultural Adjustment Problems in a Growing Economy (Ames: Iowa State University Press).Google Scholar
- Popper, K. R. (1959), The Logic of Scientific Discovery (New York: Harper & Row).Google Scholar
- Presidential Commission on World Hunger (1980), Overcoming World Hunger: The Challenge Ahead (Washington) March.Google Scholar
- Rossmiller, G. E. (1978), Agricultural Sector Planning: a General System Simulation Approach (East Lansing: Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University).Google Scholar
- Runes, D. D. (ed.) (1961), Dictionary of Philosophy (Paterson, New Jersey: Littlefield Adams) p. 118.Google Scholar
- Scriven, M. (1969), ‘Logical Positivism and the Behavioral Sciences’, in: P. Achinstein and S. F. Barker (see above) World Food and Nutrition Study (1977), (Washington: National Academy of Sciences).Google Scholar