We’re pleased to devote our October issue of the Veterinary and Consumer Affairs newsletter to report on the outcomes of our 3rd annual Advancing Animal Welfare Together Symposium. This year, we gathered food chain stakeholders, expert speakers and panelists from farm to table at the beautiful Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana to discuss Consumers: Building Trust Through Transparency.
Over the course of two days, we toured the Dairy, Pig and Crop Adventures on the farm and engaged in meaningful conversations with our partners in the food supply chain. At Merck Animal Health, we know that we, too, play an important role the food chain. Our goal with the symposium remains providing a forum for open dialogue, so we can learn from each other and continue to find ways to “advance animal welfare together”. Consumer, retail/restaurant, producer/veterinarian and technology panelists shared their thoughts in an open exchange of ideas and problem solving through transparent discussions with the audience.
We also heard from keynote speaker Dr. Jayson Lusk, Purdue University Professor and Head of the Agricultural Economics Department, who studies what we eat and why we eat it and has authored several books on the subject. “Innovation and science are really important if we want to solve some of the world’s biggest and most pressing problems,” he said, and went on to add there is also “a need to be able to engage constructively with consumers about the technologies we use in food and agriculture, both so we can continue to feed a growing world population, but also so that we can be responsible and continue to produce food in a sustainable manner.”
If you weren’t able to be there, we hope you’ll enjoy these videos that share some of the outcomes.
- Watch: Advancing Animal Welfare Together – Highlights from the 3rd annual symposium sponsored by Merck Animal Health.
- Watch: Connect With Consumers By Building Trust – Charlie Arnot, Center for Food Integrity.
- Watch: The Importance Of Transparency From Farm To Table