12:00pm to 1:00pm |
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The globalization of "safe" hygiene standards in South Africa and Botswana's red meat industries
(Special Event)
A presentation by Dr. Elizabeth Ranson, Department of Sociology & Anthropology, University of Richmond
The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations has repeatedly warned that a globalizing animal food production system raises the risk of disease transmission from animals to humans, and overall increases threats to animal and human health around the globe. Partly in response to such warnings, hygiene standards have been introduced and intensified throughout the world. However, the assumption that universal hygiene standards effectively reduce safety hazards around the globe and how these standards impact local producers, processors, and consumers in diverse communities is far from clear-cut. This presentation focuses on the interplay of international standards, particularly hygiene standards, and local actors' participation in the red meat industry of two countries, Botswana and South Africa. Each country is grappling with increasingly scientific approaches to industrial meat production and processing (with South Africa having adopted the more intensive model of animal husbandry) and the unintended consequences that an industrial meat production system brings to bear on each society. A comparative case study assists in a better understanding of the ways in which a nation's economy, governance structure, and culture intersect with international food safety regulations and standards. Moreover, this presentation lends insight into the ways in which seemingly objective policies can increase existing inequalities within nations and between nations.
Coffee and tea will be served.
This event is sponsored by the Department of Animal and Poultry Science (VT-PREP/IMSD), the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM CRSP), the Women in International Development Study Group, and The Virginia Tech Africa Coalition.
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