Faces of IFEEDER

Wells: I first learned of IFEEDER at a luncheon at the International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo in Atlanta, GA, and I felt a personal connection to the foundation’s mission because this industry and way of life have provided me a career and a living for my family.

I wanted to begin giving back to the industry that has given so much to me and my family, and felt that serving on the foundation’s board was the best way to do that.

F&G: What unique perspective or expertise do you bring to IFEEDER’s board?

Wells: This is my second year as an IFEEDER board member, and in addition to the vice chair, I serve on the marketing and the budgeting committees. I bring experience, industry contacts, passion and creative ideas to deliver IFEEDER’s mission.

Wes Jamison, Ph.D., board member

F&G: What is your background?

Jamison: After receiving my undergraduate degree in poultry science from Auburn University, I worked for several years in the private sector for a very large poultry company. Then I earned a Ph.D. from Oregon State University in agricultural politics and began a career as a professor in the United States and in Europe in different social sciences. I’m currently working toward a second Ph.D. in public relations at the University of Florida and teach as a full-time professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University in Palm Beach, FL.

F&G: What unique perspective do you bring to IFEEDER’s board?

Jamison: My unique abilities come from the fact that I understand and am trusted in production agriculture, but I also know how to communicate complex issues in simplified ways to a mass audience. One of my motivating passions is finding ways to communicate with people who don’t understand agriculture, and help them recognize its importance.

F&G: What projects would you like to see IFEEDER help fund?

Jamison: I’m interested in research that attempts to understand the nature of persuasive appeals to an audience that has no knowledge of agriculture. Food science is very complex and difficult, and right now I’m working on creating a campaign that involves simple messages that can be repeated, so people will understand what IFEEDER does and how important it is.

F&G: Why did you become involved with IFEEDER?

Jamison: We’re going to face some very profound and complex difficulties with our food supply in the future, and having worked in production agriculture, I am both trouble by, but also excited by the lack of understanding and the lack of recognition by the masses about the problems facing food and feed production. I feel it’s my calling, in a sense, to communicate clearly what the issue is and what the solutions are.

Bruce Crutcher, board member

F&G: Why did you become involved with IFEEDER?

Crutcher: It is estimated we will have 9 billion people on our planet by the year 2050, and if we continue using our natural resources at the rate we are today, there will not be enough to feed the people on our planet. We need to work together to find solutions for the optimal use of our resources while balancing environmental stewardship with people’s food needs. IFEEDER gives our industry an excellent platform to work together to achieve that goal.

F&G: What unique perspective will you bring to IFEEDER’s board?

Crutcher: Working for Nutreco, a global animal nutrition and fish feed company, allows me to see and hear many of the things that are being done globally to enhance food and feed production. I can provide a global perspective to IFEEDER on the issues we face.

F&G: What projects would you like to see IFEEDER help fund?

Crutcher: I believe strongly in education initiatives targeted to help people understand food and feed production. As an agriculture industry, we need to improve communicating the things we have done in the past and have planned for the future to produce food and feed sustainably and safely.