As humans and animals exert increasing pressure on the environment, understanding the relationship between animal agriculture and human health grows ever more vital. Concerns about E. coli, avian flu, mad cow disease, and other pathogens transmissible to humans through food only exacerbate this need.
To exemplify the connection between public health and animal agriculture, Dr. Michael Greger will discuss Proposition 2, a measure on the upcoming California ballot that would institute a mandatory size increase of farm animal cages for the sake of animal welfare. What will be the human health health implications of such a measure? Dr. Greger reviews the relevant scientific literature and discusses the likely positive impact of Proposition 2 on farm animals, food safety, and community health.
Michael Greger, M.D.
A graduate of the Cornell University School of Agriculture and the Tufts University School of Medicine, Michael Greger, M.D., serves as Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States. An internationally recognized lecturer, he has presented at the Conference on World Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the International Bird Flu Summit, testified before Congress, and was an expert witness in defense of Oprah Winfrey at the infamous "meat defamation" trial. His recent scientific publications in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Biosecurity and Bioterrorism, Critical Reviews in Microbiology, and the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition, and Public Health explore the public health implications of industrialized animal agriculture, and in the spirit of open access, his latest book, the acclaimed Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching, is now available full-text at no cost at www.BirdFluBook.org.