The international dairy industry will use a major conference in Spain early next year to present a “forceful” response to groups who “challenge (dairy’s) nutritional and environmental integrity”.
The International Dairy Federation (IDF) will meet in Seville on 1-2 February to offer “new perspectives” on the environmental and nutritional aspects of dairy.
The IDF will argue that the nutritional and environmental features of dairy cannot be considered in isolation.
“The dairy sector plays a key role in feeding the world and must respond dynamically and forcefully on a global level to those who challenge its nutritional and environmental integrity while at the same time recognising that no industry is perfect and we are all striving for sustainable development. In hosting events such as this the IDF continues to play a key role in facilitating the exchange of knowledge and ideas from across the globe, ensuring dairy remains at the forefront of new developments and approaches in these areas” commented Dr Judith Bryans, IDF president.
“Any work on sustainability must use a systems approach, or it will fail to reflect the realities of the issues at hand, work on sustainable diets is no different.” said Dr Nico van Belzen, IDF director general.
“The conference is aimed at experts who want to know more about both these aspects. If there are still those who remain unconvinced that both subjects should be interlinked, this conference is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how fundamental an integrated approach is in understanding the complexity of the issue” added Van Belzen.