Man and his food

Extract

There are many specific aspects of developments in the food industries that could be discussed, such as artificial meats, single cell protein production, the direct extraction and utilization of protein from plant material, the lack of adequate research on human nutrition, the increasing importance of food technology, or on a more national scale, the steps we in New Zealand must take to continue to market high-quality, wholesome food products, after weeks of transport, so that they can retain their appearance and quality, and compete with other countries' products in the premium price range. In helping New Zealand to make the transition from the “mass production of cheap food for the one or two markets” philosophy, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the veterinary profession share strong common interests. Between us we must try for greater effectiveness in caring not only for animal populations, but for the individual animal which has to be bred, reared, transported and processed with the major and continuous aim of seeing that the final food product that results can induce individual consumers to purchase the same premium product again and again. In this whole process the veterinary, agricultural and economic professions in New Zealand must improve their capacity to integrate their activities with those of the farmer as far as necessary while retaining the specialist independence that makes effective team work possible.     

Ernest Arthur Kendall: his life in peace and war

Ernest Arthur Kendall (1876-1938), whose father founded the first veterinary school in Australia, qualified as a veterinary surgeon, as did three of his brothers. He was commissioned in the Australian Army Veterinary Corps and fought with distinction in both the Boer War and World War I. He established an Australian Veterinary Hospital near Calais, France, in 1917. The Purple Cross Society of Victoria paid for the fit-out and necessary material for the running of the hospital, which treated 24,300 animals before it closed in 1919. In that year, Colonel Kendall resumed his career in the Department of Agriculture Victoria, where he was appointed Chief Veterinary Officer in 1926 and Chairman of the Milk Board in 1934. He worked toward a pure milk supply, enabled the establishment of a laboratory to test milk samples, and looked forward to a well-planned campaign for the eradication of bovine tuberculosis.