Public Welfare-Oriented Production of Food

Food is a means of life. The way it is produced affects us all. Largely unnoticed by the public, a system of the agricultural and food industry has developed in recent decades that supplies us with an abundance of food at excessively low prices. However, the undesirable side effects and external costs of this system have long been ignored. Enormous environmental and climate impacts, loss of biodiversity, animal welfare problems and the continuing death of farms only inadequately describe the true extent of the harmful effects. In the interests of the public welfare, these can no longer be tolerated. However, the complexity of the issues and the diversity of vested interests stand in the way of simple solutions. This professional book provides a comprehensive systemic analysis from very different perspectives and explains how this development has come about. It shows what fundamental changes are needed in all areas in order to find a way out of the destructive pursuit of cost minimisation through evidence-based quality production. Professionals in the agricultural and food industry and the scientific disciplines involved, including veterinary medicine, as well as decision-makers in political institutions, professional associations and NGOs can use this knowledge to redesign the food sector for the future. The author Prof. Dr. Albert Sundrum grew up on a farm and learned early on about the problems of agricultural practice. The search for improvements eventually led him to the University of Kassel, Department of Organic Agricultural Sciences, after studying veterinary medicine. There he heads the Department of Animal Nutrition and Animal Health and conducts research into, among other things, ways of improving animal health and welfare and environmental protection and the quality of animal sourced food in the production process. From 2002 to 2012, he was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board "Agricultural Policy" at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Germany.