Before we sit down to give thanks and fill our plates, let’s take a look at the dinner table. We all know what we like to eat for Thanksgiving (turkey of course!), but what are the turkeys eating? The feed industry plays a very important role in ensuring turkeys (and down the line, you!) are fed safe and nutritious food.
When I went to college, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian, but where I actually ended up - at times working for a few companies who made animal feed and now working for the trade association representing those companies - turned out to be so much better!
As we near that time of year when we think of all the things we have in our lives to be thankful for, I often think of our ancestors who came to America. I imagine the hardships we have all read about as they slowly crossed our country and found a place to become their home.
Let’s talk about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and animal feed. Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably have heard of GMOs in some capacity and have heard many misconceptions about them. Is GMO food some kind of Frankenfood? Are they safe? Will they make me sick? (No, yes and no, for the record). GMOs serve a very important purpose in the animal feed industry – providing reliable, nutritious and affordable ingredients to make animal feed.
Constance Cullman has officially taken the helm as president and CEO of the American Feed Industry Association. I had the opportunity to sit down and learn more about AFIA’s new chief executive.
For many years now, AFIA members have heard about “Codex.” Codex is short for the Codex Alimentarius, an international standard-setting body that formulates food safety guidelines and standards to protect consumer health and help to harmonize the food trade. Why Codex is important to AFIA members is easy to explain, and I will in this first of three blogs, but Codex as an organization can be quite complicated. The structure of Codex, terminology used and political intricacies can easily be confusing.
Being born and raised in Wisconsin, you can bet that I’ve had my fair share of cheese. Even now, living in Arlington, Va., I still put cheese on almost everything. So, when National Cheese Month comes around in October, I get very excited. In fact, I was in Wisconsin last week to visit several American Feed Industry Association members and had a few squeaky cheese curds (along with a brat and a beer).
Today and every day, the U.S. feed industry celebrates America Recycles Day. The feed industry is and always has been a big recycler through its use of co-products in animal feed. Recycling products that would otherwise be discarded into co-products to be used in feed significantly helps to reduce our environmental footprint.
My youngest son once told the sponsor at a meeting I was speaking at that he shouldn’t let me start talking about cows, because I’d never shut up. Surely that’s a bit of an overstatement! But I do have to admit - I can get pretty passionate about the science and application of ruminant nutrition. When I have a strong message that can benefit both cattle and the people involved in raising them, I love communicating it.
Each year, during the second full week of October, the School Nutrition Association sponsors National School Lunch Week. There’s a lot of options and opinions when discussing the contents of a school lunch, but one food group remains a bona fide staple — for good reason. When it comes to a child’s nutrition, brain development and — of course — their taste buds, meat and poultry should always be considered when packing that lunch box each morning.