American Meat Science Association (AMSA) has announced that Jeff Canavan, Teresa Carpenter, Pat Bourke and Joe Weeden will be the featured speakers in the symposium entitled “Food Waste/Food Insecurity” on Monday, August 16, 2021, during the 74th AMSA Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC) hybrid meeting. This session will be sponsored by Nestle Purina. 

Jeff Canavan, Deputy Director of the Labeling Program Delivery Staff with Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, and Ms. Teresa Carpenter, Labeling Program Delivery Staff with Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, will kick off this technical session with an overview of “Donations of Meat and Poultry Including Date Labeling.” During their joint talk, Mr. Canavan and Ms. Carpenter will present information provided in the FSIS Guideline to Assist with the Donation of Eligible Meat & Poultry Products to Non-Profit Organizations. This will include products eligible for donation, labeling donated products, and donating products produced under exemptions.

Program Manager of the Corporate Social Responsibility team at Tyson Foods, Inc., Pat Bourke, will present “Food Alone Will Not End Hunger.” In America, approximately 25 to 40 percent of our food supply is considered food loss and waste (FLW).  FLW is defined as food that goes uneaten through loss or waste, which has significant impacts on the environment, wastes economical capital, and increases food insecurity in our country. Food waste in all forms is wrong, but the idea of raising an animal just for it to end up in a landfill is immoral. Mr. Bourke will discuss how we can reduce food waste and food insecurity by connecting the dots between the oversupply and the need. 

Joe Weeden, Director of Protein Sourcing, Feeding America will conclude this session discussing “Meat Industry Solutions to reduce food waste and Help Solve Hunger in America.” During a look into Feeding America’s supply chain, Mr. Weeden will explain how the largest hunger-relief organization in the nation must approach protein sourcing, highlighting opportunities and challenges to ensure equitable distribution to the network of nationwide food banks.

AMSA is an organization recognized for its unmatched competence and commitment to attracting and developing meat industry leaders and providing science-based meat research and information. For more information, please visit www.meatscience.org/rmc or contact Deidrea Mabry 1-800-517-AMSA ext. 12.

Source: AMSA