Page 34 - BCHNews-122023-Web

34 WC DAIRY NEWS  CHRISTMAS 2023
International Dairy Federation’s World Dairy Summit
‘Boundless Potential, Endless Possibilities’
Erin Cuthbert, MSc P. Ag, Lead Dairy Inspector, BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food
The World Dairy Summit is an annual gathering hosted by the International Dairy Federation and brings together delegates from countries across the globe. After an 18-year North American hiatus, the summit finally returned to NA soil from October 16 to 19, in Chicago, Illinois. Canada is one of 39 IDF member-countries, so the diverseness of the summit was second to none, and I was one of 135 Canadian delegates among over 1000 in attendance!
This year’s theme was “Boundless Potential, Endless Possibilities” and speakers navigated topics focusing on sustainability, climate change, Net Zero by 2050, dairy nutrition/feeding the world, and future opportunities for dairy. Representatives from “all- walks-of-dairy” attended the conference, some from countries where the average farm size is between 1 – 3 cows, while others boast vertically integrated dairy
Hannah Woodhouse photo
The World Dairy Summit took place in Chicago in October, with more than 1000 delegates from 39 member countries, with a wide range of topics, including Sustainability and Empowerment of Women filling the agenda for four days.
May your Christmas and New Year
be filled with joy and blessings.
We would like to offer our sincerest gratitude for this past year’s business and the privilege of working with each of you.
Merry Christmas!
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streams milking thousands of cows and processing their milk the same day. The innovation in dairy processing blew me away - the work being done to create 100% recyclable packaging, the product diversity to capture younger demographics, and the development of dairy products with a 6-month shelf life, were some of the many examples of how dairy continues to advance and rise to any and all challenges.
In contrast to Canada’s approximately 9300 dairy farms, India has over 3.2 million dairy farms, 85% of which are managed by women. Empowerment
of women in dairy was one of the many things that resonated with me during the summit. Female empowerment takes many different forms, and although I grew up on a dairy farm and was involved in the daily operations, it never fully occurred to me just how impactful dairy can be in opening doors for women, especially in developing countries. In many developing countries, work with dairy animals is the responsibility of female family members, providing a unique opportunity for dairy related training and education that can improve nutrition by introducing dairy into rural diets, and can result
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