Written by: Lacie Dotterweich | August 3, 2023
The American Feed Industry Association is thrilled to welcome aboard our new global programs specialist, Ivy Torres! Ivy is passionate about international development and is excited to work with AFIA members to improve the U.S. animal food industry’s street cred abroad. Learn more about Ivy below.
Torres: I am not a native to the agriculture industry. I grew up in a dense suburb in central New Jersey and was only briefly exposed to agriculture when my family moved to Brazil. My love for agriculture truly began in college during my study abroad program when I travelled through Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, and was able to get a more intimate look into how farms operated and how much they actually did (which, for a city kid, was a bit of a revelation!).
I spent the next year trying to figure out how someone could work in the agricultural world without being a producer, and luckily enough, soon after my college graduation, I got my first job at the U.S. Grains Council. Working for the Council only made me more curious and eager to learn more about agriculture as a whole – the entire industry that works alongside producers and the support work that agriculture associations perform. During that time, I worked primarily with international programming, which opened my eyes to a whole new world of regulations, free trade agreements and policy issues.
These experiences made me realize I wanted to learn even more, so I left Washington, D.C., and headed to the Netherlands to better understand the issues producers and the agriculture industry face and how we could work toward a dignified future for all. And now, I’m here at the AFIA, where I have been able to combine my passions of international development work and agriculture.
Torres: I stumbled into the animal food industry, and I’m ever so grateful for it. In working with the Council, I got to meet so many producers and getting to speak with them and see the pride in their work helped me understand my work and the importance of it. One area that particularly interests me about the animal food industry is work being done in the sustainability realm. Since joining the AFIA, I have learned so much about the animal food industry and how the important and innovative products our members make help us truly feed the world, while protecting the environment. It’s an exciting time to be in this space and see the innovation taking place.
Torres: Before coming to AFIA, I didn’t do much work with global policy other than reacting to the changes by altering my programs. But in the few weeks I’ve gotten to work with Gina and Mallory I’ve already learned so much. I don’t know yet what my favorite thing is yet but I excited to find out!
Torres: Go to the movies! I love the cinema experience: the oddly small seats, a large salty popcorn, Coke, box of Raisinets and the giant screen.
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Please give Ivy a warm welcome in the comments below and catch her at upcoming AFIA events!
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