Increasing Public Funding for Food & Ag R&D

Do we really need to increase the level of overall public funding for food and agriculture research in the United States? The general population doesn’t seem to care or take notice, and Congress certainly doesn’t consider it a top priority. Government funding for food and agriculture research continues to be trumped by other national initiatives. In FY 2011, less than 2% of the total federal R&D budget authority was dedicated to food and agriculture R&D.

Why is this so? I think there are …