There are women all over the world changing the way we view food. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), women represent 43% of the world’s agricultural labor force and 47% of the global fisheries labor force. These are hard working women and they produce more than half of the world’s food!
Did you know that female farmers could help lift 150 million people out of poverty if they had access to the same resources as men? That is roughly a 15% decrease in worldwide hunger. Women also comprise the majority of smallholder farmers in Africa, and women primarily lead the households all around the world.
In case you haven’t noticed, the impacts of climate change have become more evident. The world will need to put strategies in place to help decrease world hunger and lessen the damage to the environment. Let these female farmers have access to whatever resources they need to help care for people and the planet.
We’d like to thank all of the women in food and agriculture for their dedication to making the world a healthier and better place. In honor of International Women’s Day, here are some influential women who are making a difference.
Debra Eschmeyer
You may remember her as the executive director of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign. She was also the Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition Policy during the Obama presidency. She helped promote healthier eating in schools via school cooking, gardening, and better procurement of food. She is now the Vice President of Communications and Community Affairs and Danone North America, where she helps to create healthy foods by using sustainable agriculture.
Gabriela Cámara
This chef from Mexico City opened her restaurant, Cala, in San Francisco and hired former convicts to comprise 70% of the staff. She did this to prove that you can vanish high turnover rates of restaurant staff by paying your employees above minimum wage and treating them well. Additionally, she is steadfast in her goals of creating a more cultured environment via the food she makes.
Jill Isenbarger
As the CEO of Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture, Isenbarger has dedicated her her company to creating sustainable ways to grow food. The company helps to train farmers on how they can implement these practices for healthier produce. She also served as the chief of staff at The Nature Conservancy for over ten years!
Elizabeth Kaiser
In Sebastopol, California, Kaiser is implementing a new standard of sustainability on Singing Frogs Farm. She and her husband take a non-mechanized, no-till approach to farming, and the no-till method is becoming more popular because it helps to increase yield per acre. Her goal is to empower the next generation of farmers to create a healthier future.
Diane Hatz
Diane Hatz is dedicated to promoting awareness about problems in American food systems. Her company, Change Food, works to bring food and farming experts together to discuss changes that are necessary for Americans to lead healthier lives. Hatz also co-founded the Glenwood Institute for Sustainable Food and Farming, in addition to starting the Sustainable Table Program while working for GRACE Communications Foundation.
These women, in addition to many more, are making giant steps towards a healthier future. We celebrate them not only today, but every day! Change can happen as long as we are determined!
Vincent Stevens is the senior content writer at Dherbs. As a fitness and health and wellness enthusiast, he enjoys covering a variety of topics, including the latest health, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle trends. His goal is to inform people of different ways they can improve their overall health, which aligns with Dherbs’ core values. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Redlands, graduating summa cum laude. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
