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: #AGCHAT FOUNDATION

*For those new to the Cow Art and More blog, every Monday, veterinarian, jewelry artist, and gallery owner Kathy Swift shares an agricultural themed website with readers.*

I am excited to share today's agriculture related website with everyone, the Agchat Foundation. This foundation was formed to help farmers and ranchers use social media to tell their stories to the 98.5 percent of the population not engaged in the production of food, feed, fuel and fiber. I am proud to say that I have been a part of the weekly #agchat discussion group on twitter that discusses issues facing agriculture on a wide range of topics since its inception one year ago. I have made many friends as a result and feel empowered to help agriculture at more than just my local level.

I am also proud to say that I was asked and accepted a position to be on the Agchat Foundation board of directors. I am looking forward to helping farmers get their story in front of consumers. I invite everyone to view the Agchat Foundation website and join us in the conversation on twitter, Tuesday evenings, from 8 to 10 PM ET. (Follow @agchat to learn the details of the topics and how to join in.)

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.