Challenges of agriculture and food systems issues in China and the United States

China and the United States are the two most significant nations in the contemporary global food and agricultural network. In addition, they are two of the most important innovators with respect to the development of new crop varieties, agro-technologies, farm products, markets and consumer issues, such as consumer resistance to genetically modified foods, among others. In the face of an ever-complex web of interactions, technologies and products among producers and consumers in both nations, there are far more structural similarities than differences in the food and agriculture sectors of these two nations. This essay, adopting some of the themes of the Sino-American Symposium on Future Issues Affecting Quality of Life, presents a limited but representative comparative assessment of three of the most important shared challenges impacting the agricultural sectors of China and the United States for the period from 2000 to the present including 1) environmental challenges related to agricultural water supply, 2) declines in farm labor and rural population, and 3) growing food-related concerns and challenges. For both nations, excessive and unsustainable groundwater consumption has lowered water tables and limited crop production. Rural populations and farm workforces in both nations are also declining, leading to labor challenges in both nations. Finally, concerns regarding food safety are also very similar with major challenges to the farm sector associated with consumer resistance to genetically modified food crops and sanitation issues linked to lengthening supply chains. All of these issues threaten the development of sustainable agricultural production systems.