Abstract
The 1943 Food and Agriculture Conference held in Hot Springs, Virginia, USA, marked a watershed moment for the institutionalization of food as an area of concern for global governance. Representatives from 44 nations convened and pledged to create an international organization dedicated to food and agriculture. Up until that point, the regulation of food production and trade had been a national or local affair. In the immediate post-war period, there was a renewed optimism that international cooperation could help resolve the world's 'wicked' challenges. As a result, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was inaugurated in 1945, with the aim of expanding the global economy through a three-pronged mandate of improving nutrition, enhancing agricultural efficiency and contributing to rural development.