On 2 September, the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) coalition met with Rajiv Shah, USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics and chief scientist, to discuss issues including agroecosystems research, food safety, international and domestic food security, human nutrition and disease prevention, and future funding for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). AFRI, a competitive grants program established in the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, is the successor to the National Research Initiative (NRI) and authorized at $700 million annually. The Senate funded AFRI at $295 million in its FY2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill, $5 million below the coalition's recommendation.