Musings on sustainable food systems, agriculture vs. agroecology, and more!
Have you heard of Temple Grandin? I must have been living under a rock or something because I had no idea about her and her amazing achievements – including designing equipment used in more than half of all American slaughterhouses that contributed to great steps forward in animal welfare. She also got a doctorate, is associate … Continue reading Temple Grandin – Seeing the World as A Cow Would
Sometimes, when I raise issues like animal welfare in our agricultural economics classes, I feel like “that” person. You know, the PETA-supporting, tree-hugging, naive, doe-eyed idealist that people expect to sing kumbaya next. In ag econ, we care about efficiency. Optimal economic decisions. If you cannot survive as a small producer, you are clearly not … Continue reading What Are You Willing to Pay for Cheap Meat?
In anticipation of this past weekend’s festivities, the animal welfare organization PETA, known for its rather radical actions and stances, decided to convince a different clientele than usual of the benefits of turning to Tofurkey instead of the real deal: children. Every year, the organization takes advantage of the holiday to launch a wide-spread campaign, … Continue reading Did Your Child Like This Weekend's Turkey?
Uppsala is setting itself up to be amazing in terms of opportunities to discuss issues of relevance to me both inside and outside of the classroom. I am currently auditing a class called “Environmental and Social Responsibility Marketing”, and the teacher is doing a fantastic job in alerting us to opportunities of events that could … Continue reading Recap: Panel Discussion on "Ethics in Food Consumption"
If you live in the US, you may have heard about the recent proliferation of regulations in around a dozen states that opponents call “ag-gag laws”. These laws make it illegal to covertly videotape livestock farms or to apply for jobs without disclosing ties to animal welfare organizations. Such undercover taping however is often crucial … Continue reading "Ag-Gag" Laws – What Stands Behind Them?
Continuing with our mini-series, after our first installment, let’s turn to a buzzword that has gotten a lot of attention in the last years: grass-fed and/or pasture-raised animal products. What is the label’s motto/what does it stand for? The idea of grass-fed ruminants and pasture-raised other animals is that this production method is much more … Continue reading Labels Unveiled: Grass-Fed and Pasture-Raised