A panel of industry leaders shared their thoughts and research concerning sustainability during the recent Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit.
Dr. Roger Cady, Sustainability Lead, Elanco Animal Health, said he liked to divide sustainability into the three pillars of environment, economic and social. “Farmers are the natural environmentalists of the land. Key to this is preserving our land, preserving our water supplies to continue to produce the food we need.”
“We need to focus on the people and some of the prime people we need to focus on are the people that produce the food. Very often, those people are the ones that have the least to eat. Sustainability means providing for the people who help produce the food globally.”
“Economic viability. Unfortunately too many people have focused on profitability. There needs to be a living wage for those that produce and process the food. There also needs to be affordability and accessibility in order to have food security around the world.”
Dr. Cady recommends that we have goals that are outcome based instead of prescriptive. Transparency needs to be evident in all we do so consumers have a better understanding of how things are done. And his last bit of advice is something we have all heard before and that is to simply be proud of our story.
Listen to my complete interview with Dr. Cady here: Interview with Dr. Roger Cady, Elanco Animal Health
Find photos from the event here: 2015 Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album
