Two stories about meat have recently dominated the headlines.
One is the latest in a series of reports that state that increased meat consumption, particularly processed red meat, has a negative impact on life expectancy.
The theme of the recent Boehringer Ingelheim 12th Animal Wellbeing Expert Forum was around the question "Do consumers and citizens want the same thing?". There were some fascinating talks from various experts in their fields. We learnt that;
David, Jon and Bruce recently attended the 12th Boehringer Ingelheim Expert Forum in Prague. A wide range of high calibre speakers visited all aspects of the question, the conference flowed really well, and the delegates were "put to work" in debating various aspects of animal wellbeing and developing innovative tools and solutions.
Some key messages we took home were;
It is difficult to pick up a newspaper these days (whether you read printed or digital versions!) without encountering the word ‘methane’. All too frequently, the next sentence will continue by associating the production of the gas with cattle and will conclude with a statement on eating less meat or dairy.
However, this latest article from New Scientist reports that, while methane levels are undoubtedly rising, the source is by no means certain.
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Recently, several articles in the UK and international press have highlighted the presence relatively high levels of antibiotics in European waterways. (e.g https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/may/27/worlds-rivers-awash-wit…) It is suggested that the situation further afield, outside Europe, is likely to be even worse.
Here is the abstract from a recent paper in nature (with my italics). Once again, core VetSalus business (improvement in technologies and management) has been regarded as critical to environmental sustainability.
Article | Published: 10 October 2018
Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits
Follow this link for an excellent summary of livestock's real contribution to methane generation by Frederic Leroy.
https://twitter.com/fleroy1974/status/1054295704410177536
Note particularly the slide that comments on improving the efficiency of animal production. This is what Vetsalus is all about!
Jon Huxley gives a view on how veterinary networks and veterinary schools need to work together to be able to deliver production animal vets of the future - to give them careers to aspire to and to be an integral part of the food chain. This video was shown at a workshop at The World Buiatrics Congress 2018 in Sapporo, facilitated by VetSalus