Alex A. Avery

Alex Avery was the director of research and education with the Center for Global Food Issues at Hudson Institute. Prior to joining Hudson in 1994, he was a McKnight research fellow at Purdue University, where he worked on a team developing drought- and disease-resistant sorghum varieties for sub-Saharan Africa.

The Center for Global Food Issues looked at agricultural policy from a global perspective, with reference to both economic and environmental impacts.

Since joining the Center in 1994, Alex represented Hudson at the United Nations World Food Summit in Rome, written widely on an array of topics, spoken to national and international audiences, and appeared on numerous national and international radio and television programs advocating modern, high-yield farming to feed humanity and protect global wildlands. Avery is the co-author of "Farming to Sustain the Environment," Hudson Briefing Paper No. 190, (Hudson, May 1996) and his articles have appeared in many publications, including the Des Moines Register, USA Today Magazine, The Washington Times, and Canada's Western Producer.

He is the author of a new peer-reviewed study documenting that nitrates in drinking water do not cause the infamous "blue baby syndrome" in infants ("Infantile Methemoglobinemia: Reexamining the Role of Drinking Water Nitrates," Environmental Health Perspectives, July 1999).

He also has spoken on the benefits of high-technology farming techniques, sustainability, preservation of natural habitat and species, and a variety of other agricultural topics during numerous radio and television interviews.

He has appeared on the BBC World Service, NPR, CNNfn, and Showtime.