World Press Institute Fellows visit Cargill’s headquarters

 

1 September 2011
What are Cargill’s plans for expansion in India and Asia in 2011? Does the company expect food prices to continue to rise? What impact did recent events in the Middle East and Horn of Africa have on Cargill’s operations?

These are just a few of the questions that the 2011 World Press Institute (WPI) (http://www.worldpressinstitute.org/) Fellows posed to Cargill leaders during a visit to the company’s headquarters on September 1, 2011. The group visited Cargill to learn more about the company’s global operations, initiatives focused on food security and responsible supply chains, and the company’s view on the future of the global food industry.

Each year, the WPI offers 10 international journalists the opportunity to travel around the United States to learn about the role and responsibilities of a free press in a democracy. The program promotes excellence in journalism, as the international journalists meet with individuals and organizations to discuss the country’s governance, politics, business, media, journalistic ethics and culture. Since 1961, more than 500 journalists from 100 countries have participated in the program.

In its second year of participation, Cargill’s overarching theme focused on food security. In addition to hearing from Greg Page, Cargill’s chairman and chief executive officer, and Mike Fernandez, corporate vice president of Cargill Corporate Affairs, the journalists also spoke with Lauren Hendricks, an executive director of CARE, about the humanitarian organization’s mission to fight global poverty. Together, Cargill and CARE are working on a number of projects, including farmer training programs to improve agricultural practices and smallholder farmers’ access to markets in regions in Africa.

On the topic of food security, Page said, “Food security is an economic issue, not an agronomic issue. We produce many more calories than we need to feed the world.” He went on to describe the aspects impacting food security today.

“This was an opportunity to invite reporters from a number of countries and key growth markets to learn more about our company,” said Lori Johnson, vice president of Cargill corporate affairs. “We were able to talk about some of the key issues facing the world, like food security and Cargill’s role. It was also an opportunity to hear from the journalists about the issues they think are important and learn how Cargill is viewed in their regions.”

The reporters this year came from countries around the world – from Argentina to India to Uganda. Cargill has significant operations in many of the journalists’ home countries.