Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy

The purpose of the Institute for Food and Development Policy - Food First - is to eliminate the injustices that cause hunger.

Our grand strategy is to change consciousness, awakening people to the possibility of, and their own power to bring about social change.

We implement our strategy through research, analysis and education for action to inspire and mobilize people and their organizations to transform systems and institutions that perpetuate those injustices.

The goals of our research, analysis, education and advocacy are to:

(1) explode myths and expose root causes (2) identify obstacles to change and address ways to remove them (3) provide tools for change and address dilemmas associated with change (4) identify, evaluate and publicize successful and promising alternatives.

Because hunger is a measuring stick by which we can judge the extent to which societies meet the needs of their people, food is a window through which we illuminate the impact and importance of a wide range of issues and policies. Our unique contribution to policy and development debates is to present them as seen through that window. Our role around related issues such as the environmental destruction and food safety concerns raised by conventional agriculture is to emphasize the extent that they are a product of the same forces that cause hunger.