Duck is a popular choice for restaurant diners who want to try something different. It's one of the few proteins where the most popular usage is in the foodservice sector.

Standards establish practices for management systems to ensure animal welfare, health, feed, housing and husbandry.

A few years ago, Jessica Roosa, owner of This Old Farm, based in Colfax, Ind., was trying to solve employee turnover issues on the slaughter floor and began investigating solutions for her small, aged facility that is a custom service processor of beef, pork, lamb and poultry. What she discovered was changes that helped staff also helped her animals.

I’m still new to the idea of hurricanes because I grew up in the Midwest. Yes, I’ve lived through countless blizzards, ice storms and the occasional tornado, but never hurricanes. Now, living in North Carolina, hurricane season has become a very real part of my life.

According to the Cambridge English dictionary, a very simplistic definition of sustainability is "the quality of being able to continue over a period of time." When you look at the history of the poultry and egg industry, we can claim with great confidence we meet that standard.

From an animal welfare perspective, 2018 has been a relative continuation of the past few years. Many of the same challenges still exist, but many within the industry have made the choice to take the challenges head-on and find solutions that work for them.

In keeping up with market demands, some unintended consequences that are becoming evident must be addressed for the health of our bird populations and industry alike, especially as it relates to leg health and bird mobility.