Today I listened to Dr. Luis Rodriguez, from the USDA Agriculture Research Service at Plum Island Animal Disease Center speak about the importance of a one health approach to foreign animal disease eradication.
One health is the focus of healthy animals, healthy people and a healthy environment. This is an important approach to creating a safer, more healthy world.
This graph was in Rodriguez's presentation and really drives home the point of what we are up against. The x-axis represents three-year time intervals over the past several decades. The y-axis represents per capita consumption of different food groups.
Excerpt from: http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i0680e/k6960e00.pdf
You will see that the per capita consumption of eggs, meat and milk are significantly higher than other food groups. Eggs are the cheapest protein source on the market and can be easily incorporated into countries with traditional agriculture practices being a family's main source of food.
We will have a larger population to feed in the future, and it clearly will not be a population of vegetarians. Food animal production will become even more important in the years to come. Foreign animal disease research is vital to production and Manhattan, KS will be a huge player in this research with the building of NBAF.
My Best,
Tera Rooney
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