Monday's agriculture website of interest: RAW MILK FACTS

With all the debate going on recently about "real food" and "natural food", there is a lot of information out there for consumers to sift through. I recently found the Real Raw Milk Facts website and found it to be a balanced resource about consuming raw milk and raw milk products.

In 2009, two public health sessions sponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Association and the International Association for Food Protection were held to discuss emerging issues surrounding the increasing popularity of raw, unpasteurized, and unprocessed milk. The Real Raw Milk Facts website was inspired by discussions following the presentations. Many participants felt that there was a need for a website that addresses the complex issues surrounding raw milk science and policy. The website is also meant to serve as a clearinghouse for evidence-based information on raw milk benefits and risks including scientific studies, reports and presentations.

The content for this site was developed and reviewed by scientists and health educators in universities, government, industry, and trade organizations. Comments were also solicited from raw milk consumers.

Monday's agriculture website of interest: ANIMAL DISEASE TRACEABILITY

Food safety is something very important to the agriculture community. It is also something I take very seriously in working with dairy and beef farms. It is important we know how to monitor, control and eradicate disease in order to have a safe product for consumers. Recently, USDA announced that it was formulating a more flexible, national animal identification program. The animal, plant and health inspection service portion of USDA has posted an Animal Disease Traceability website. While there is not much information there now to start, I anticipate more will be added as it is discussed and decided upon. Currently, there is a frequently asked questions fact page detailing some of the things learned from trying to implement the national animal identification system and what USDA plans to do differently.