Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, speaks at the Agricultural Outlook Forum Thursday morning. (Charles E. de Bourbon/The Hagstrom Report)

ARLINGTON, Va. — Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass told the USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum here Thursday that his presence signaled the importance of agriculture in international security, but he also provided a few lights moments at the event.

Haass, the head of the prestigious New York-based think tank, suggested that food is so important that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack should become a member of the National Security Council— an idea that Vilsack said, shaking his head, he could not wait to take to the White House for a reaction.

Vilsack, who is concerned that the average age of American farmers, at 58, is too high, said Haass told him that the average age of members of the council is the same.

In his presentation, Haass noted that his first job in government was at the Pentagon and that he didn’t “normally deal with food.”

He said he views “the international order” as a balance between “anarchist tendencies” and "the forces bringing the world together.”

In recent years, he said, anarchist tendencies have dominated the Middle East, Russia and cyber warfare while the other side has been dominated by “the positive core of Europe,” Asia, which has “maintained stability in extraordinary economic growth” and the United States, which is now “the engine for world economic growth.”

Food and agriculture, he said, can be “a major contributor to the positive side” but that food shortages and diseases caused by improper diets can also lead to “disorder.”

“Diabetes is a world epidemic” due to obesity, he noted.

Haass urged attendees to raise the issue of food at the beginning of foreign policy discussions so that it does not get left until the end.