New York Times: Why The First 1,000 Days Matter Most
Roger Thurow, author and senior fellow for global agriculture and food policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs

“…[E]nsuring brain development in the first 1,000 days so children are actually capable of learning once they get to school has been largely ignored. … In the [past] decade …, nutrition has gradually moved closer to center stage. The Obama administration launched its Feed the Future initiative, aiming to reduce hunger, malnutrition, and stunting through agricultural development, especially in Africa. A broad group of nations and foundations pledged to increase investments at a series of Nutrition for Growth summits. At the recent World Bank spring meetings in Washington, D.C., finance ministers and bankers acknowledged that investing in ‘gray matter infrastructure’ — the brains of young children — is as important for national and global economic growth as is investing in roads, ports, and buildings. Ending hunger and malnutrition has always been seen as the moral thing to do. Now we know it is also the smart thing to do” (6/20).