TIFTON — The importance of ensuring the quality of pet food will be the topic for the next installment of the Jess Usher Lecture Series at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College on Oct. 30.
“In many American households, pets have risen from the status of possessions to the role of family members,” Diantha Ellis, a professor of business administration in ABAC’s Stafford School of Business, who will present the lecture, said. “For many people, pets are loved and treated as children. And much like children, our pets depend upon and trust their humans to make decisions in their best interests. The events following one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history highlighted on a national scale just how important pets had become to the American public.
“As the body count for beloved pets rose, the outraged public called companies to account and lawmakers into action. In the time since the enactment of needed regulatory changes, however, the system has remained largely focused on being reactive as opposed to proactive. This focus has placed pet parents in a quandary regarding how to best fulfill their moral obligations to those who trust them implicitly.”
Other series events include John Cable’s lecture “Throwing People Away: The Enclosure Movement in Mississippi” on Feb. 27, and “How Ideas Have Sex: An Account of Human Communication” by Jay Baldwin on April 1.
The lecture is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at ABAC’s Howard Auditorium. Each Usher Lecture Series event is free and open to the public.
The Jess Usher Lecture Series features a carefully curated slate of dynamic presentations, drawn from a wide range of disciplines and delivered by distinguished members of the ABAC faculty as well as distinguished guest lecturers. Formerly known as the ABAC Lecture Series, this special collection has been renamed in memory of Jess Usher, a beloved ABAC professor and former lecturer in the series, who passed away in June 2021.
