The Center for Food Integrity (CFI) will host a diverse roster of panelists for its breakout session on Food Animal Well-Being during the 6th annual Food System Summit: Food Choices - Challenges - Realities. Moderated by Lisa Keefe, managing editor of MeatingPlace, the panel will feature four industry representatives, including a farm owner, a third-party animal welfare verifier, a restaurant executive and an animal welfare activist, who will each explore the topic of food animal well-being.
They are:
• Jill Benson, owner, JS West, the first egg farm to build “enriched housing” for laying hens, following California’s Prop 2 ballot proposition, which outlaws battery cages in the state
• Kathi Brock, director of strategic partnerships, American Humane Association Farm Animal Program, the nation’s largest third-party animal welfare verifier
• Dustin Dixon, vice president of quality assurance, Bob Evans; formerly with IHOP
• Paul Shapiro, senior director, Farm Animal Protection, HSUS
Terry Fleck, executive director of CFI, notes that the panelists' participation is intended to generate discussion among food industry leaders. "In one of the most hotly-debated topics in animal agriculture, each panelist has been asked to voice their distinct viewpoints about food animal well-being. No doubt, it promises to be a robust panel and group discussion," Fleck said.
Co-sponsored by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) and the National Restaurant Association (NRA), the 6th annual Food System Summit is scheduled for Oct. 25-26 at the InterContinental Rosemont Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The Summit also includes an overview of the latest CFI Consumer Trust Survey results, the organization's annual survey of consumer attitudes. Now in its sixth year, the CFI Consumer Trust Survey has become the preeminent, published research model in agriculture today.
Additionally, Summit breakout sessions with panel discussions focused on Food Animal Well-Being, Food Safety, Nutrition and Health, and Technology and Innovation are planned during the two-day Summit.
For more information and to register for the Summit, click here. PD
—From CFI news release
