LEXINGTON, Ky. — The diversity within worldwide animal nutrition company Alltech comes through during each year during the company’s annual conference. The topics at Alltech’s "Rebelation," as it was billed this year, ranged from being good leaders to raising healthier cows.

But more times than not, at the center of these conversations is agriculture itself, and ensuring an adequate food supply. The 3,000 attendees that came from all parts of the globe to Kentucky last week had opportunities to hear about both.

Former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman led one of the sessions speaking about agriculture, food, food waste and what to do about it. He said populations and income levels are going up, particularly in China, India, Southeast Asia and Africa – and that is where food needs are really growing.

"We are going to have to increase food production, and especially in proteins. At the same time we have very little arable land that can be used to produce that extra food," he said. "We have maybe 5 to 10 percent of land that’s not highly erodible or it’s not forested."

Other issues in finding a way to produce more food include determining the land to use without ripping up the world’s forests, combating climate change and dealing with competitive pressures for water supplies. Another topic Glickman discussed was that of changing diets.

"Consumers want to know much more about what’s in their food, how safe it is, where it comes from and how it relates to their health than they ever did before," he pointed out. "Today, consumers are much more in charge and much more empowered and good companies have figured this out and they adapt to consumers."

In looking at these factors as it relates to food waste, Glickman listed some startling figures, including the fact that 35-40 percent of all food grown in the world is allowed to spoil.

"This is a significant statistic and if you break that down, you’ll look at 20 percent of meat and dairy is not eaten and thrown away, 30 percent of cereals, 45 percent of fish and 40 to 50 percent of fruits and vegetables," he explained.

And that food loss is not all happening in developing countries. In fact, 60 percent of it happens in the United States and Europe, for many reasons – including not wanting to buy food that doesn’t look good or is past its stated expiration date, noted Glickman.

He also said some of the waste comes from buying more food than is needed because food here is relatively cheap.

But in the developing parts of the world, adequate storage such as refrigeration is a leading contributor to food spoilage.

"These are big problems in the United States and they’re big problems around the world," he said. "By and large, agriculture has not been up front in taking on these issues. Our emphasis has been more on increased production and increases in yield, which is very important."

In the next 35 years, it is estimated food production will have to increase by about 60 percent and Glickman offered suggestions on how to prevent waste – thus providing more food. Those suggestions include adopting global Good Samaritan laws that would allow citizens to donate surplus food without the fear of any liability.

Another involves research and development, for which budgets for agriculture and food research need to be increased dramatically, said Glickman. The role of technology is something else to consider in combating food waste. He said there are many people in this world who challenge the basic principles of science in opposing technologies such as bioengineering and biotechnology – something he calls a serious mistake.

Finally, Glickman said colleges and universities are doing a good job in teaching people to be agriculturalists, but support for that training needs to be maintained.

"The true cost of food waste is high in terms of numbers, in terms of nutrition, in terms of climate and in terms of political stability," he said. "But we are able to solve a lot of these problems with innovative solutions."