UPCOMING EVENTS

1. Pork Galore
2. Creating Meaningful Solutions
3. Helping Animals 101
4. Pork Quality
5. Focus on the Future
6. Joint ADSA/ASAS Annual Meeting
7. Animal Rights 2003

 

1. "PORK GALORE" is the theme of this year's World Pork Expo, to be held June 5-7th in Des Moines, Iowa. Billed as "the largest trade show for the pork industry," attendance is expected to top 50,000, with 450 exhibitors and more than 100 media representatives. The 2003 P.O.R.K. Academy, a series of in-depth seminars addressing antibiotic usage, environmental issues, maximizing sow production, and the Swine Welfare Assurance Program and other issues, will be held. Audio and video tapes of the sessions, as well as the proceedings of the Academy (CD-ROM) will be available for purchase (PDF file): http://www.porkboard.org/docs/PORK%20ACADEMY%202003%20BRO.pdf A "Kiss-a-Pig" fundraising competition will also be held. For more information visit: http://www.worldpork.org

 

2. "CREATING MEANINGFUL SOLUTIONS" is the title of the 3rd annual Sustainable Hog Farming Summit, to be held June 6-7 in Gettysburg, Pa. This event will focus "on the role sustainable hog farming plays as a successful and promising solution to the social, environmental, and moral concerns raised by industrial hog production." A tour of a 95-acre alternative chicken, dairy and pig farm will take place on the 6th. Academic research, legal updates and grassroots group reports will be presented on the 7th. Co-sponsors include the Animal Welfare Institute, Global Resources Action  Center for the Environment (GRACE), and the Waterkeeper Alliance. For more information, visit http://www.keeper.org/mainarticledetails.aspx?articleid=115

 

3. HELPING ANIMALS 101 , the first of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)'s regional conferences, will be held June 7-8 in Oklahoma City, Ok. The two-day conference is designed to help both new and veteran activists. Among the topics to be covered are effective communication skills, starting your own group, lobbying, and vegan cooking. PETA's Bruce Friedrich will discuss the organization's campaign to get fast-food restaurant chains to require animal welfare standards from their suppliers. Future 101s will be held in Las Vegas (at which PETA President Ingrid Newkirk will speak) and Birmingham, Al. later this year. Advance registration is required. See: http://www.helpinganimals101.com

 

4. PORK QUALITY is a symposium to follow the American Meat Science Association's 56th annual Reciprocal Meat Conference, to be held in Columbia, Mo. The June 19th symposium, sponsored by the National Pork Board, is billed as "a must for anyone trying to understand how stress, animal welfare and physiological challenges brought on by recent changes in genetics affect pork quality." Presentation titles include: Analysis of the Current Situation: What do Downers Cost the Industry and What Can We Do About It? On-Farm Handling of Pigs: The Concern about Animal Welfare and What the Industry is Doing About It, and Pig Stress/Welfare Physiology & Pork Quality: Back to the Future. The Symposium chair notes: "With the industry's concern for animal welfare and its focus on lean hog production, this workshop will provide research and explanation of the physiology of the modern pig as it relates to the welfare of that pig." For more information see: http://www.meatscience.org/RMC/porkqual.htm

 

5. "FOCUS ON THE FUTURE" is the title of the 54th annual Delmarva Chicken Festival, a free event to be held in Dover, De., June 20-21st. Among the activities will be educational exhibits, Chicken Capers, and Chicken Olympics. For a list of events, see: http://www.dpichicken.org/index.cfm?content=news&subcontent=details&id=129

 

6. JOINT ADSA/ASAS ANNUAL MEETING: For the first time, the joint annual meeting of the American Society of Animal Science and the American Dairy Science Association will be held in conjunction with the Mexican Association of Animal Production, June 22-26th in Phoenix, Az. Among the numerous symposiums will be: Alternative Housing for Livestock, Laminitis in Dairy Cattle, The Hidden Costs of Producing Cheap Food, Food Safety for Animal Agriculture - What Producers Need to Know, Sustainable Agriculture: National and International Perspectives, Impact of Animal Feeding Operations on the Environment, and Past and Future Directions in Animal Reproduction. Symposiums on goats, pigs and rabbits (including animal welfare and animal rights concerns) are also planned. See: http://www.fass.org/phoenix03/

 

7. ANIMAL RIGHTS 2003 will be held in McLean, Va., June 27th - July 1st. (A similar second conference will, for the first time, be held on the west coast, August 1st-5th in Los Angeles.) This annual conference of the animal rights movement will feature 120 presenters, 10 plenary sessions, 100 workshops, 50 campaign reports, 16 "rap sessions," and Lobby Day. Additionally, there will be exhibits, videos, a newcomer orientation, an employment clearinghouse, group workouts, and an awards banquet. Information, including a tentative schedule of the East Coast conference, can be found at: http://www.animalrights2003.org   

 

TO FIND OUT ABOUT OTHER EVENTS, VISIT: http://www.FarmedAnimal.net