Story > October Farm-to-Table Study Tour to Showcase Food Systems in Uruguay Published: 8/31/2009 12:00:00 AM

This fall, participants in the GIFSL-cosponsored Farm-to-Table Study Program in South America will have the opportunity to explore the many components and connections of a food system; meet individuals involved in various aspects of food supply chain from farm to table; and develop new networks and collaborative leadership skills as they share experiences and analyze systems as a multicultural team. The tour, which is cosponsored by the University of Minnesota Center for Animal Health and Food Safety and Universidad de la Repúblic in Uruguay, is designed for food and animal health industry professionals, government policymakers and regulators, and students in public health, veterinary medicine, and related fields. “We all have to eat food, and our food comes from all over,” says GIFSL faculty member Scott Wells, who is co-leading the tour with Andres Gil and Stella Huertas of the Universidad de la Republica. “It provides an opportunity for individuals to look at production from farm to table through a One Health perspective.” The tour will begin in Montevideo and will include visits to various aspects of the Uruguayan food production system, including a beef processing plant, milk analysis lab, dairy processing facilities, farms, a meat board, the ministry of agriculture, retail establishments and the Universidad de la República veterinary school. Participants will also study the food export process, which is a very important part of the Uruguayan beef industry, and participate in discussions on international trade. The week will end with a day-long workshop that provides an opportunity to share observations, ideas, and conclusions while working through case discussions. The goal, organizers say, is to explore the big picture of food production in one country, learn and practice group leadership skills, and develop relationships with other food industry professionals from different cultures. “Even if you work in part [of a food system] you have to understand the whole context, because what happens at one stage can have impacts along the entire continuum of the food chain, both forward and backward,” says tour co-leader and Veterinary Public Health Resident Jennifer Koeman. Uruguay should be particularly interesting, Koeman says, because beef cattle there are largely grass fed. “Their beef cattle production system is pasture-based, so different from our own system,” she says. “This has different implications for production levels quality of meat and nutritional value.” The farm-to-table tour is the first to be cosponsored by GIFSL. Previous programs took participants on a tour of food systems in the Netherlands and France. For More information Please click here