Across the U.S. animal food industry, our members have gone above and beyond throughout the coronavirus pandemic to help their local communities in need – from providing food (and pet food!) donations to manufacturing hand sanitizer and other personal protective equipment at their facilities to everything in between. We recently had the opportunity to speak with one of our members – Balchem – on a “kool” project it is working on to support local communities.
There are so many aspects to consider when it comes to a company’s product safety strategy, equipment safety labeling and workplace signage. Without a doubt, designing effective safety labels and signs that address specific company or equipment needs can be a complex task. For example, once you create a system of safety labels for a piece of machinery, they need to periodically be reevaluated considering changes to the standards, new symbols and latest available safety and accident information related to equipment and the feed and grain industries.
Ever since I was a child, I have loved science. I loved learning about how things grew, how chemicals worked together, you name it -- if it was at all science, I was interested. As I grew older, I saw how science can help solve problems, big and small. How with science, we can create apples that do not brown (and therefore my kids will eat them) or treat diseases with antibiotics and now, develop a vaccine that can help us all go “back to normal.”
This fall, I had the opportunity to sit in on several virtual roundtables with many American Feed Industry Association members talking about how they dealt with COVID-19 in their businesses and operations. I was proud to hear every participant start by saying the health and safety of their staff, customers and suppliers was, and remains, their primary focus.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) took on a new look this year as it went virtual due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Over eight days and several weeks, the CAC brought together over 600 participants from all over the globe, in various time zones and translation in six languages, to discuss international standard setting. The meeting went surprisingly well in a virtual format. It was encouraging to see the global commitment for moving international standards forward continues during these trying times.
What the food supply chain experienced in March and how it responded to an almost overnight shift in consumer demand from foodservice to home kitchens in light of the coronavirus pandemic was “nothing short of remarkable.” That was the sentiment several of the country’s leading food companies told attendees at The Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum on Monday.
It has been about a year since I joined the American Feed Industry Association. I can say without a doubt – it has not been the year I expected! Instead of spending my days on the road meeting AFIA’s members in their offices or at their facilities, attending events and seeing the AFIA team work with our members to deliver first-class education and networking events, or meeting in-person with elected officials and government representatives, half of the year has been spent learning a new way of doing business.
Last week, we all settled into our home office chairs to listen to industry experts discuss important issues affecting the animal food industry. As a former Seattleite, I was looking forward to seeing industry colleagues in the Emerald City this past March for the American Feed Industry Association’s Purchasing and Ingredient Suppliers Conference, which was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the webinar series that replaced it did not disappoint!
As individuals, you either like working with others or you don’t. We discover these things about ourselves during our school years and these traits develop further during our careers. As a trade association, these same behavioral tendencies also exist. Overall, I would say the U.S. animal food industry tends to play well with others. This is demonstrated by the work of American Feed Industry Association members and by AFIA’s membership in the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF).