UF Office of Public Policy Events holds debate on solving global hunger

The University of Florida’s Office of Public Policy Events, in partnership with UF’s Speech and Debate Society and the William and Grace Dial Center for Speech and Communication Studies and with support from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, will host a debate on Feb. 5 at 5:30 p.m. in the Pugh Hall Ocora.

This free debate is titled “The Future of Food: Is Reappropriating Western Food Waste an Optimal Way to Fight Global Hunger?” 

With the world population at more than 8 billion people, hunger and food waste is a worldwide problem. A popular proposal to combat world hunger is reappropriating food waste from the global West, but the practicality and merit of this proposal is highly debated among scholars and international policymakers. 

Two teams of two students from UF’s speech and debate team will debate the topic and will be moderated by Gil Carter, assistant instructional professor and director of debate for the William and Grace Dial Center for Speech and Communication Studies.

Sydney Wydra, first-year anthropology student, and Evan Smith, fourth-year history and political science student, will face off against Ajay Pooran, first-year international studies student, and Ashlynn Cechowski, first-year English student. 

The judging panel for this debate includes Scott Angle, Christa Court, Tie Liu, Emily Rine Butler, and Tess Segal. 

Angle was recently named provost after serving as senior vice president for agricultural and natural resources at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. 

Court is an assistant professor of regional economics and director of the economic impact analysis program. 

Liu is an assistant professor of horticultural sciences. 

Butler is an instructional professor and the director of the William and Grace Dial Center for Speech and Communication Studies. 

Segal is a second-year sustainability studies major who is an active member of the Speech and Debate Society.

A reception with the debaters and judges will immediately follow. Faculty, students, staff, and the community are encouraged to attend. The event will be recorded and posted online.