Original Research Calls for Community, Collaboration, and Commitment

In the summer of 1948—an already auspicious year of progress and discovery that gave us ratification of the Marshall Plan to rebuild postwar Europe, the formation of the World Health Organization, and the first posit of the big bang theory—two researchers at the University of Missouri, soil microbiologist William Albrecht and plant mycologist Benjamin Duggar, discovered aureomycin, a bacterium that led to the world’s first tetracycline antibiotic, eventually saving millions of lives from diseases such as bubonic plague and tuberculosis.

The impact of Albrecht and Duggar’s work at the Sanborn Field research plot didn’t end there. Their commitment to basic scientific inquiry eventually led to game-changing advances in crop rotation and soil nourishment that are still in use today.

Their discovery speaks to the transformative power of scientific inquiry as well as the critical need for sustained support for original research.

The reality is that breakthroughs like these don’t happen in a vacuum. They require a robust foundation of funding, collaboration, and community support. However, as Food Technology contributor Kayt Sukel reports in this issue, the food sciences—spanning everything from agronomy and food chemistry to microbiology, nutrition, and engineering—face significant ongoing challenges to secure adequate research funding.

This is especially true in the United States, where investments in agrifood research are disproportionately low relative to the sector’s economic impact. As Kayt cites from IFT’s 2020 white paper, “Food Research Call to Action on Funding and Priorities,” agriculture and food make up 4.2% of the U.S. GDP, yet funding for food-specific research accounts for only a fraction, with R&D spending at just 1%.

Without sufficient resources, we risk stalling advancements in food safety, sustainability, and nutrition, which are crucial to a resilient global food system.

IFT remains committed to addressing these challenges head-on, as our advocacy team continues to build the case for increased funding. In recent months, IFT has actively engaged with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research’s (FFAR) workforce development strategy, highlighting the challenges of stagnant public funding, and directly participated in the selection of innovative, food science–focused projects to advance critical, climate-smart research solutions.

We have a collective responsibility to champion the food sciences and drive forward the innovations that will shape the future of our food systems.

Christopher R. Daubert

President, IFT

Nowhere is our focus on original research more on display than when we convene each July at IFT FIRST: Annual Event & Expo. At last summer’s event, researchers from across the globe shared original research through more than 54 individual presentations and 426 research posters that stimulate our thinking and advance our perception of what’s possible in food systems science.

Now that the call for proposals for this year’s event has closed, the heavy lifting for our Annual Meeting Scientific Program Advisory Panel (AMSPAP) volunteers begins, as they will invest an estimated 6,500 hours over the next few months to rigorously review more than 800 submissions, ensuring our event showcases the most groundbreaking work in our field.

As Soo-Yeun Lee, our 2024–2025 AMSPAP chair, remarked: “Fundamental, applied, and translational research findings are weaved throughout our entire scientific program at IFT FIRST. The time and expertise our volunteers invest to review these proposals is vital to ensure the most meaningful solutions are showcased.”

These efforts illustrate the collective commitment of our entire community to keep research at the forefront of everything we do.

However, as Kayt’s article makes clear, relying on public funding alone to fuel this vital work will not be enough. This is why I believe the solution lies in wholeheartedly embracing public-private partnerships. By fostering collaborations between academia, industry, and government, we can unlock new avenues of support and ensure that groundbreaking research continues to flourish. These partnerships not only bring much-needed funding but also accelerate the translation of research into real-world applications.

As a scientific community, we have a collective responsibility to champion the food sciences and drive forward the innovations that will shape the future of our food systems.

I urge each of us to consider how we can contribute to this effort, both individually and collectively—whether by advocating for increased research funding, supporting collaborative projects, or mentoring the next generation of scientists. Together, we can build a stronger, more resilient food system that benefits everyone.ft