Food Fund For Animals

Broad-based Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue Proposes Tighter Controls of ...

June 29, 2011

Last week in Brussels, Belgium, consumer organizations representing both American and European consumers approved a resolution calling on governments to reduce their use of antimicrobials in farm animals to ensure the continued effectiveness of those drugs for treating human illnesses. The resolution urged governments to ban the use of antimicrobials for non-therapeutic purposes in food-producing animals and to adopt policies requiring veterinarians to determine when the use of the drugs is needed.

The resolution states that a number of factors contribute to the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, including the use of antibiotics in human medicine and its excessive use in animal husbandry. It states, “With regard to animal farming, antimicrobials are not just used to cure infections, but also routinely added to livestock feed and/or water to prevent infections in healthy animals and as growth promoters.”

The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) is a forum for consumer organizations in the United States and Europe to develop consumer policy recommendations on important food and trade issues. The 12th Annual Meeting of the organization was held in Brussels on June 21, 2011.

Ensuring the safety of food was a priority area discussed at the meeting. Caroline Smith DeWaal, the Director of Food Safety for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and the Co-Chair of the TACD Food Policy Committee, discussed the resolution at a plenary session with Commissioner John Dalli, the European Commissioner of Health and Consumer Affairs.

“The recent outbreak of foodborne illnesses in Germany illustrated the enormous challenge of food safety. That tragedy is a reminder that the biological world does not stand still or wait for sensible new policies to be adopted.” DeWaal said. “It is constantly moving, and governments must develop policies that anticipate problems before they erupt into major outbreaks.”

The resolution on the use of antimicrobials adopted by TACD follows the recommendations issued during World Health Day 2011 by the World Health Organization (WHO), which called for governments to reduce the need for antimicrobial use on the farm through better policies and animal husbandry practices.

The TACD resolution urged that the use in animals of drugs that are critically important to human medicine be significantly reduced or eliminated, along with a total ban on the non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in animal and food production. In addition, the resolution calls on governments to create and fund systems to monitor the use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals. National surveillance systems should operate farm-to-table and integrate the findings of public health, veterinary, and food safety laboratories.

January grants go to 85 charities worldwide - The Child Health Site

In January, GreaterGood.org gave $456,000 to 85 charities operating around the world to alleviate hunger and poverty, to provide health services to those suffering from cancer and to vulnerable children, to support education and literacy programs, to preserve rainforests and other vital wildlife habitats, and to fund protection and care for animals living in shelters and sanctuaries.

In addition, a disaster grant exceeding $65,000 was sent to IFAW at the end of January to support wildlife rescue efforts in Australia following the Queensland floods.

The organizations receiving grants in January were: A Child's Right, African Wildlife Foundation, Baal Dan Charities, Bears Without Borders, Cambodian Children's Fund, CAMFED USA Foundation, Cecily's Fund, Central Asia Institute, Charities Advisory Trust, Cojolya, Cree & Sue, Dafur Stove Project, Darfur Peace & Development Organization, Defenders of Wildlife, Elephant Nature Foundation, Fabindia School, Feeding America, First Book, First Coast Pet Food Banks, Foundation For the People of Burma, Friends of the World Food Program, Friendship Bridge, Fundacion Tradiciones Mayas, Gardens for Health International, Gifted Hands, Girl Sport Works, Greater New Orelans Foundation, Haitian Health Foundation, HALO Trust, Hand Eye Fund, Home For Life, Hope for Two, Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Intelligent Mobility International, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Journeys Within Our Community, Jungle Friends, La Cruz Habitat Protection Project, Lights for Life International, Making Memories, Mapendo International Inc., Mercy Corps, Millenium Village, MSUK, National Breast Cancer Foundation, Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation, Northern Lights Wildlife Society, Nyaya Health, Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Partners In Health, PATH, Patient Access Network Foundation, Paws With A Cause, Petfinder.com Foundation, Planet Care/ GHAP, Prairie Dog Coalition, Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, Rainforest2Reef.org, Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps, Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary, Room To Read, Save Our Pets, Save The Rain, Seattle Humane Society (pet food bank), SETU - The Bridge to Artisans, Sit Stay Read, Soles4Souls, Inc., SPEED Trust, Sumatran Orangutan Society, The Food Project, The Fund for Animals, The Nature Conservancy, The Ocean Foundation, Tibetan Healing Fund, Tibetan Nuns, Trees for Cities, U of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Veterinarians Without Borders, Volunteer Development Poverty Children's, VSPCA, WEAVE, Whizz Kids, Women of Hope Project, World Land Trust, and Zardozi.

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