Salina Post
ABILENE — The United States' agriculture policy during the Eisenhower Era is the topic of the upcoming Lunch & Learn at the Eisenhower Presidential Library.
The Lunch & Learn is scheduled for noon Thursday either in person or online. For in-person participants, the program will be in the library building courtyard. Participants are encouraged to arrive by 11:45 a.m. and park in the south parking lot nearest the library building. A light box lunch will be served on a first-come, first-served basis.
If you can't make it to the Eisenhower Presidential Library, you also can watch the presentation via a YouTube live stream.
The guest speaker will be Jennifer Ifft, an associate professor and extension specialist in agricultural policy at Kansas State University, who will discuss agricultural economics during the Eisenhower Era. According to information from the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Ifft has an integrated research and extension program that covers policy and regulatory issues that affect the viability of U.S. and Kansas agriculture.
"Agricultural policy in the U.S. addresses many important challenges including fighting hunger domestically and internationally. Policies on maintaining a safe and secure food supply along with economic stability for farm families are critical. This presentation will cover key policies addressing these challenges during the Eisenhower Administration. Historical context will be discussed while outlining both the intended and unintended economic consequences," according to information from the Eisenhower Presidential Library.
Ifft is scheduled to summarize how such challenges currently persist and discuss important lessons from this time period.
Ifft has a Ph.D. from the University of California-Berkeley, an M.Phil from the University of Cambridge, and a B.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She grew up on her family’s farm in central Illinois.