Pet Nutrition.

 

Dr. Patton brings over 35 years of experience to the topic of pet nutrition, informed by extensive work in comparative and contrasting species. Using humor and decades of professional insight, Patton explains technical concepts with clarity and relevant illustrations. Topics covered: The essential ingredients and their primordial foundation; basic requirements; wet food vs dry; the drawback and benefits of raw and natural diets; the role of behavior--both pet and owner; an insider perspective of the pet food industry; the obesity epidemic.

 

Horse Nutrition. 

 

An avid horseman himself, Dr. Patton can provide a perspective on horse nutrition obtained from a lifetime of feeding his own horses, used for many different activities, and from numerous clients all over the United States who feed, maintain and campaign their horses in divers activities.

 

Zoo.  

 

Dr. Patton’s longest tenure in animal nutrition is in zoo nutrition research and consulting.  Zoos face significant challenges distinct from all other animal confinement endeavors, not the least of which is zoo animals live long full lives, up to 50 years for some species, while agriculture often aspires to exactly the opposite: Get animals grown and sold for market as fast as possible.  Furthermore, in addition to care of exotic animals, zoos must also advocate and act for conservation world wide and educate the public, all under the banner of entertainment.  No corporation ever labors under such a daunting mission. Proper zoo nutrition is a monumental assignment.

 

Feeding the world.

 

 Population is the main factor threatening global ecology. Birth rate has declined for every country that has industrialized, but an inevitable consequence was loss of arable land as cities expanded into prime farmland.  Dr. Patton has worked in more than 20 countries helping to improve agricultural efficiency.  No one disputes that natural or organic is better, just how much better.  The fact is we cannot feed seven billion people organically from where we are today.  We often struggle to feed them anything at all, with famine far too common.  Adequate food production worldwide is not nearly so much our failing as moving and shipping food, which is really just another way of saying famine eradication at bottom is a matter of harvesting and moving water.  In his lecture, Dr. Patton reminds us off the ironic and enormous obstacles confronting economies struggling to modernize and feed their population.

 

To schedule any of these lectures click here