Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, Vol 33, Issue 4, 561-566
DOI: 10.3138/jvme.33.4.561
Copyright © 2006 by Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
FOOD SUPPLY VETERINARY MEDICINE |
Hidden Costs of Food Production: The Veterinarian's Role
Caroline J. Hewson
Veterinarians who work in food-animal production and food safety help to deliver food policy by enabling farmers to supply safe, affordable food. However, existing food policy reflects a production bias and is increasingly being criticized for its hidden costs. These costs include reduced animal welfare, the inflated risk of anti-microbial resistance, and the current pandemic of human obesity and overweight. Veterinarians do not generally recognize that this is the context within which they do their work. In this article, I review this context and argue that veterinary students should be taught about it. I also argue that the profession should join with food-policy analysts, ethicists, and others who are already calling for a rethinking of food policy, so that new policy might meet the full wealth of problems and not just some.
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