People factor essential to animal agriculture's ethical obligation

The interconnectivity between animals, people and the environment is important and influential when it comes to how the public views animal agriculture overall. In this episode, Feedstuffs editor Sarah Muirhead talks with Dr. Candace Croney, director of the Center for Animal Welfare Science at Purdue University, about One Welfare and how when entities do not work together harmoniously, gaps and vulnerabilities result that can be potentially problematic for animal agriculture and society as a whole. Consumer trust is put at risk. People have legitimate concerns about food animals and the current animal production systems that give them the animal products they enjoy, and those concerns should be heard and addressed. “There really needs to be a better mechanism for dialogue,” says Croney.Likewise, she points out that animal agriculture has ethical obligations to everyone it serves. “I think what's sad, and what's been lost in some of the conversations that have taken place about food chain fracturing and vulnerabilities and animal welfare concerns is the people factor, and, whether one wants to recognize it or not, that is what’s very much embedded in all of these conversations.”For more information on this and other stories, visit Feedstuffs online.FollowFeedstuffs on Twitter @Feedstuffs, or join the conversation via Facebook.