Op-eds & Outreach

Where are the bold policies to follow, support or even lead the transition to a healthier and more sustainable food system? Duke's World Food Policy Center is among 11 organizations featured in the Nordic Food Policy Lab's Setting the Table 2021 publication in recognition of innovative approaches to food policy.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper presents NC's first comprehensive state health improvement plan incorporating the principles of results-based accountability and the technology of Clear Impact Scorecard. The 2020 North Carolina State Health Improvement Plan operationalizes the priorities identified in the 2019 State Health Assessment and Healthy North Carolina 2030: A Path Toward Health.

What are the downstream environmental justice impacts from farming and agriculture? This video features experts who discuss key policy considerations for food & agriculture. The Biden administration has made clear its goals to address the climate crisis. A key component in tackling climate issues, domestic and abroad, is environmental justice.

A decrease in rainfall in parts of Honduras is linked to an increase in migration from those areas, according to an analysis of family units apprehended at the U.S. southern border between 2012 and 2019.

Politics and science are at odds with each other in this pandemic. What has to change?

Sustainable seafood is central to strengthening food security, if viewed as more than just a natural resource

The World Food Policy Center supports the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Heal Food Alliance policy brief detailing concrete approaches for improving farming opportunities for Black people, indigenous people, and other people of color (BIPOC).

Developing an Open Access Tool for Early Childhood Services in Durham, NC

Today, May Day 2020, food chain businesses across the US are experiencing protests,

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) provides temporary new authority and broad flexibility for the USDA and states to adapt SNAP to address many people’s food needs during the current public health and economic emergency triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

School districts can keep providing their students with healthy meals over the spring break, even while they are closed for safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, these meals help kids stay healthy and ready to learn when school resumes.

The World Food Policy Center is hosting a lunch & learn on Wednesday, February 26th, at noon in Sanford 201. Duke alumnus Janet Poppendieck ('67) will speak on the topic of food assistance programs.

A new white paper outlining a framework for equitable food-oriented development has been developed by a new organization called the EFOD Collaborative and Daisa Enterprises,  with support from The Kresge Foundation. The paper creates a definition for an EFOD framework - its origins, defining criteria, and impacts - and provides well-researched recommendations for sustainable field-building.

I recently visited Ireland to explore my heritage and to tick off a bucket list wish. I am grateful to the many people who took time to share stories of their lives.

As a student, you get used to the red marks that line page margins with detailed feedback from your supervisor. A close-to-final draft just as quickly becomes somewhat of a first draft. It’s a natural part of the territory of being a student. For the last few weeks, I’ve been working on a report in the Department.

As the number of food insecure people in the world increases, it can be easy to lose hope of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 and ending world hunger by 2030.

My name is Katie Waeldner, and I am a rising junior at Duke University studying cultural anthropology and global health while pursuing the pre-medical track. I am a student intern with Duke’s World Food Policy Center during the academic year, and I am spending the summer of 2019 in Washington, D.C.

Years of progress on diet and nutrition are threatened by attempts to cut back and weaken the SNAP program, to undermine nutrition standards for school meals, and to reverse environmental protection covered by the Farm Bill.

In April 2019, the Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health released the “Health Taxes to Save Lives” report, calling on all countries to significantly raise their excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugary beverages.

“Land holds the key to unlocking the shackles of white supremacy,” wrote food justice advocate LaDonna Redmond in the forward of “Freedom Farmers,” a new book by University of Wisconsin-Madison environmental justice Professor Dr. Monica White.

Did you know that fisheries are managed largely through environmental management and economic policies? Such policies seek to optimize the economic benefits of fisheries, and to conserve charismatic species such as dolphins and turtles. But, they don’t optimize fisheries management as a crucial element of global food security. We’re working to change that.

In the months leading up to our Inaugural Food & Faith Convening, I focused most of my time on the logistics of meeting prep in partnership with my wonderful colleague Anna White and our WFPC team.

We all want to raise healthy, happy kids who grow up to reach their full potential. As a Mom myself, even with my background in food science and nutrition, it’s not always easy to figure out what to do.

At this week’s FoodCon event at the Fuqua School of Business, GOODR Founder and CEO Jasmine Crowe described the chaotic scene of a kitchen bursting at the seams: multiple pots and pans at the stove, dishes and plates piled high, steam in the air.

Food & Faith Convening Explores How Faith-based Communities Can Tackle Food Problems Leaders in Christian, Muslim, Jewish and First Nations faith traditions are gathering in Durham this week to explore a common question: how can people of faith and their communities engage with food and agricultural systems as crucial to their faith practice?

In July 2018, Duke World Food Policy Center (WFPC) Director Kelly Brownell and staff joined North Carolina Farm Bureau President Larry Wooten and his senior team for a two day, dawn-to-dusk deep dive into North Carolina agriculture.

Philadelphia's tax on soda and other sweetened drinks was upheld Wednesday when the state's highest court rejected a challenge to the law by merchants and the beverage industry. The Supreme Court ruled the 1.5-cent-per-ounce levy is aimed at distributors and dealer-level transactions and does not illegally duplicate another existing tax.

The industry calls them SSBs. You know them as sugar-sweetened beverages, and they’re one of the many ways that an overload of sugar enters the average person’s diet.

Duke’s World Food Policy Center (WFPC) recently organized a panel discussion on food security efforts across multiple scales – global to local, and urban to rural. 

In California, the legislature passed a bill Thursday that will preempt any new local beverage or food taxes for 12 years.

The Nutrition and Food Security Contributions of Capture Fisheries – Q&A with Author John Virdin

It seems that sports and junk food just go well together. What’s the point of even watching a football game without chowing down on pizza and wings? However, new research has revealed that many of the food items marketed through sports sponsorships are bad for you—and may be contributing to nationwide obesity rates. 

When it comes to judgment of their bodies, women can’t win.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University will use $5.9 million in grants to bolster efforts to improve global food policy and inform issues such as malnutrition and food safety.

Durham is the foodiest town in the south, yet nearly 1 in 5 of the county’s residents don't know when their next meal will be.