While progress has been made in the quantity of food produced to feed the world population, many scientists are concerned about the quality of the food being produced.

Deficiencies in micronutrients - such as iodine, iron, zinc and vitamin A - result in serious health problems, especially in developing nations.Nearly 100 scientists from 28 countries and a variety of disciplines assembled in Salt Lake City Nov. 6-9 for a workshop to address the problem. The gathering was hosted by the Thrasher Research Fund, which is administered by the Church, together with the Cornell Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

Organizers said it was the first time such an inter-disciplinary conference had been held. Participants were scientists and policy makers in the fields of medicine, food science and food processing, said Isaac C. Ferguson, director of the Thrasher Research Fund and director of humanitarian services for Church Welfare Services.

"What we have found traditionally is that agriculturists, nutritionists, public health people work separately to find solutions and seldom do they get together in a cross-disciplinary kind of approach to make things happen," Dr. Ferguson said at a news conference.

Titled "Food-based Approaches to Preventing Micronutrient Malnutrition," the meeting of the minds was held at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building with the stated purpose of "setting an international research agenda."

Bishop Richard C. Edgley, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, spoke at the news conference to media representatives in his capacity as chairman of the Thrasher executive committee.

"We feel it's a responsibility and an opportunity to join with groups - whether they be governmental or educational groups, scientists, medicine, whatever discipline - to join our capabilities and our resources together to the extent that we can to further the relieving of suffering and hunger."

Bishop Edgley outlined the history of the Thrasher Research Fund which was established in 1977 through a donation by Elbridge Weldon "Al" Thrasher, a lumber mill industrialist. Though not a member of the Church, he stipulated that the fund be administered by the Church to benefit the health of children around the world.

By supporting the workshop, "we hope to make a difference in relieving suffering throughout the world, and particularly we're interested in making a difference in helping children," Bishop Edgley said. "God bless the children throughout the world."

Some 2 billion people worldwide suffer from micronutrient malnutrition, noted Gerald F. Combs Jr., professor of nutrition in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell.

His colleague, Ross Welch, senior scientist with the Plant Soil and Nutrition Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said the consequences of micronutrient malnutrition are very severe.

For example, iron deficiency in a pregnant mother can result in irreversible cognitive damage to her child, he explained, "which means that the individual will never be able to reach his genetic potential in intelligence."

Deficiencies in iodine and zinc are also linked to impairment of cognitive ability, he said. Such a malady, he added, has implications regarding how quickly nations can develop.

The agricultural "Green Revolution" of the past two decades, while increasing available quantities of food has had negative consequences, according to Dr. Welch. The cropping systems, he explained, "are very successful at producing calories but they ignore nutrition." That is because cereal-based crops, such as rice and wheat, are displacing the traditional pulse crops, such as legumes, beans and lentils, which are more nutrient-dense.

"As a consequence of that, for example, in south Asia, we see an increase in iron deficiency and anemia in women of child-bearing age and children."

Hence, scientists need to consider changing the notion of what constitutes sustainable agriculture, he said. "That is, sustainable agriculture should be a system that isn't only focused on production, but . . . provides all the nutrients in adequate amounts."

John M. Duxbury, professor and chair of the Department of Soil, Crop and Atmospheric Studies at Cornell, said the gathering in Salt Lake City is unique because it brings together people from many different disciplines and institutions. "What we're going to try to do is put all our heads together, all of us with different types of expertise, and to try and come up with what we collectively can think of as the appropriate approaches to these issues - and we want to be as specific about the approaches as we can."

Dr. Combs said the goal of the workshop is not to design programs but to develop consensus about the kinds of research that should be done in two areas: applying the knowledge already available and to generate new knowledge.

Presentations at the workshop covered such topics as roles of industry and government in dealing with micronutrient malnutrition, gene modification to improve the nutrtional quality of foods, fortification of foods with micronutrients, and social constraints affecting acceptance of new food-crop systems.

"Our experience over the last two decades shows that focusing only on quantity of food underestimates the magnitude of the problem," Dr. Combs summarized. "We need to look at quality also. People need more than just calories; they need nutrients."