SPAIN

Spain: The livestock sector is very important for health and the ecological balance

“In terms of sustainability, in the white pig sector in Spain we are moving towards circularity and the word waste ceases to exist". This was stated by José Miguel Mulet, researcher, writer and scientific communicator, who participated alongside Juan Pascual, vice president of France, Iberia and Italy at Elanco Animal Health, in the EFE Dialogues, organized by the Interprofessional Agri-Food Organization of White Pigs (INTERPORC).

Posted on Jun 27 ,00:20

During the meeting, both experts agreed to point out that livestock farming in general is “very important, although it may not seem like it or it is not popular, for the ecological balance and health of all, as stated by more than 14 prestigious medical associations from  all around the world".

Regarding the demonization that the meat sector is suffering, they recalled that it is above all a fashion because if you look at the consumption figures, it doesn't seem like it's that big of a deal. "It's more about what you talk about than what you don't eat". And what is not understood, Mulet pointed out, is that "we demonize a sector, which is key to producing quality protein and establishing the rural population, with all the demographic problem".

Along the same lines, Pascual has explained that in Spain, from the production plants and the farms to the butcher-shops, there are many thousands of people who develop a sector "that is fundamental for the economy and who also make a contribution very important to society, on the one hand because we criticize so much that there is no support for the emptied Spain, a large part of those people work in the emptied Spain, and on the other hand, they are bringing fundamental nutrients to society".

Focusing more on the population's diet, Mulet has stated that "we need high-quality protein, vitamin B12 and a lot of nutrients that are very difficult to obtain with alternatives to meat consumption, and sometimes even more expensive to produce. Eating meat, in principle, is good for health, its inclusion is part of a balanced and healthy diet, much easier to follow than a diet without meat".

In fact, Pascual pointed out, "we have never eaten so healthy, it is not true that meat has antibiotics and other things that are said. “Each one of us can do a lot, we have to do it on a daily basis by giving real messages based on science",

For both experts, the challenge of the meat and livestock sector is to communicate. For Mulet: "The meat sector has to refute all false information, because the reputational mortgage can be very high and it is easy to refute with the truth all the messages that are false".

For Pascual: "The sector must invest in communication towards politicians and towards society and try to put an end to messages that are not true, from the school, for example, fighting to eliminate references from textbooks against livestock farming".

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