Updated Slideshow from the Farm to Table Tour
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Blogs about Farm to Table - Netherlands - 2008
April 29, 2008
February 27, 2008
How Did a Foodborne Disease Impact European Policies?
In November 1986, the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy - BSE - is first identified by the UK's Central Veterinary Laboratory. Vets and scientists are puzzled. They conclude BSE is a "prion" disease like scrapie and suggest it could have been caused by infected animal carcasses or offal processed into cattle feed. 2 years later, the British government sets up the Southwood Working Party to look into concerns that BSE is entering the human food chain. A ban on the use of meat and bone meal feed is brought in along with a slaughter policy for all affected cattle. The use of milk for human consumption from suspect cows is also banned. In 1992, the BSE cases peak occurs: 3 cows in every 1000 in Britain have the disease. In 1994 the use of animal protein in animal feed is banned throughout the EU - with the exception of Denmark. The European Commission allows beef-on-the-bone exports only from cattle certified to have come from holdings where there has been no sign of BSE in the previous 6 years.
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The Veterinarian's Role
These two trips dovetailed the information much better than I ever expected. The result was a thorough understanding of the global food chain, not just ensuring that your slaughterhouse is clean or your pigs are healthy.
The veterinarian’s traditional role has been to ensure that only safe medications are used on feed animals, that zoonoses are treated/prevented, and that the animals appreciate an adequate quality of life (welfare).
February 09, 2008
At the Market
Today we rode the bus into the Hague and took a train to the town of Gouda. Jan Bloemendal, a Policy Officer with the Ministry, joined us. Here we took a short walk into the town marketplace to see if we could find identification stamps on the food in the marketplace and the local grocery store.
After our journey back to the hotel, Jan spoke to us about the European Food Safety Authority located in Parma, Italy. Then we all ate a nice farewell meal together and said good-bye!
February 08, 2008
On the Road
We had a very early start today! 7:00am and we’re on the road to Wageningen. Our first meeting is with Dr. Francine van Rossem, the Director of TrusQ – a feed safety program cooperative of seven feed mills in the Netherlands and two in Belgium.
We then took an interesting tour of the Rijnvalei Feed Mill. Our hosts were Albert Getkate, Director, and Aart Wemmers, Quality Control.
Back into the van for our journey to VION Fresh Meat where we met with the Director of Quality Assurance, Dr. Bert Urlings and the Technical Quality Director, Jeroen Reijers. Here we suited up and had a tour of the abattoir.
February 06, 2008
Arrival in The Hague
This afternoon all participants and faculty arrived in The Hague and checked into the hotel. Our host, Edward Van Klink who is the Policy Coordinator in the Food Quality Division for the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, gave an overview of the European Union in preparation for our study tour. We all enjoyed dinner together at the hotel and had an opportunity to get on know each other.
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