With a focus on the geopolitics of food, Dairy Forum 2012 will feature a powerful presentation and panel discussion by Bob Thompson, Ph.D., a renowned international economist who is professor emeritus, University of Illinois, and visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies. In a recent video, Thompson discusses the link between rising food prices and political instability and outlines the need for significant increases in agricultural production to feed the world's ever-growing population.

"The world's population is predicted to grow by the equivalent of two Chinas over the next 40 years," Thompson says in the video. "There's going to have to be an increase in productivity that can reduce the unit cost of production, or we'll have crises exploding and far more people going hungry than in the world today."

On Monday, January 16, Thompson will outline the key issues of global supply and demand in the general session titled, "What in the World Is Driving Global Food Demand and Where Will Production Come From?"

Immediately following this session, Thompson will moderate a related panel discussion with three industry leaders. They will review projections that show growing populations in many developing countries will outstrip their food production capacity and will discuss the challenges and opportunities these projections present to the global dairy industry.

The panelists for "Dairy’s Role in Meeting the Global Need for Food" will be:

  • Rudy Dieperink, president and chief executive officer, Americas, FrieslandCampina Domo
  • John Jeter, president and chief executive officer, Hilmar Cheese Company, Inc.
  • Chris Kenneally, global portfolio marketing director, Tetra Pak Inc.


Other sessions on the geopolitics of food will include:

  • Getting China and India Right
  • Trade Policy and the Growing Export Market
  • Water Usage and Policy in Food Production
  • Global Food-Safety Forecast
  • Global Nutrition Policy
  • Technology and Our Food Supply


A complete agenda for Dairy Forum 2012, January 15-18, is available here. Have you registered yet?

For more information, contact Patrick Crosson, IDFA meetings assistant and registrar, at pcrosson@idfa.org.