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it is a matter of adjusting priorities to better utilize ttiat system. No other government agency 

 has a nationwide system or network ttiat the USDA has through its regional research and 

 cooperative extension systems. Through sterte, county, and private partnerships, federal 

 dollars are effectively leveraged. It would be costly not to utilize what is in place, or worse 

 yet, reinvent it 



The USDA, through a system of 73 land grant universities, has in place a structure 

 which provides working relationships t>etween predominately black and predominately white 

 institutions. That is an important asset for an increasingly multicultural and multiethnic 

 society. Assuring quality nutritkin requires an understanding of cultural differences in food 

 preparation and eating patterns, assuring global markets for the food euid fit>er products of 

 U.S. agriculture requires an understanding of cultural and ethnic differences within those 

 markets, and assuring a productive workforce requires the ability to capitalize upon skills of a 

 multicultural society. 



Human nutritkMi and food science are key components of science and education of 

 the USDA. Any reorganizatkm must retain the links among quality human nutridon, food 

 product development, and production of the food supply in the research and information 

 dissemination units of the agency. These links exist within the land grant universities, 

 espceially within colleges of home economics, agriculture, and veterinary medicine. Public 

 concern about the relationship between food consumption and overall human health has 

 reached an di\ time high in tfie 1990's. Dietary excess or imbalance has t>een implicated in 

 half of tiie leading causes of deatti in the United States. While the food supply in this country 

 is recognized as high quality, concerns continue to grow atx)ut microbial and chemical 

 contamination. Land grant colleges are the source of information to deal with food safety 

 concerns and to create new knowledge where information gaps are evident Perception that 

 food is unsafe is as potent a force in determining consumer choice as the reality of measured 

 levels of contamination. Social scientists in the colleges represented by the Board on Home 

 Economics have the ability to accurately measure and interpret consumer perceptions. 

 Nutrition researchers in these colleges have the capacity to determine the relationships 

 t>etween nutrients and levels of other substances in food as they impact human health. And 

 our extension educators have the ability to interpret complex research findings in ways that 

 can enable citizens to make informed decisions at)out food choices. We must expand our 

 nutrition information base and educational strategies to meet the needs of a more diverse 

 population. Americans now consume 43% of their meals away from home. Consequently, 

 the food service and processing industries are making new demands for research based 

 information on nutrition and food quality. Consumers who do eat at home, are demanding 

 more convenience in preparing those meals. 



The decade of the 1980's exemplified the urgent need for research that contributes to 

 solutions of rural famfly and community pressures associated with the cost —price squeeze, 

 declining rural populations and an aging population. Strategies to enhance the economic 

 health of rural communities is a national priority within the USDA. Human devetopment and 

 other social scientists within our larKl grant universities have the ability to assess citizen 

 attitudes arKl needs in ways that will provide an accurate information base for policy makers 

 and community devetopment organizations. There is dear evidence that families and 

 communities can firxJ many of their own solutions to problems of health care, teenage 

 pregnancy, housing and servk»s for the elderty if ttiey have the information base and the 



