World Egg Day

World Egg Day. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Lately the egg has been getting some very bad press with the largest recall in history and due to that you just might have missed World Egg Day. It was last Friday and Novus International, who creates Health through Nutrition products for livestock, pets and people, is partnering with the egg industry in Africa and North America to bring awareness to - and promote - the affordability and nutritional value of eggs. Novus Product Manager Jared Hux says it's important for parents, children, educators and athletic adults to recognize the important role eggs play in a healthy diet HUX: This year we're focusing on the younger generation kids in K-5th grade to help them understand exactly where their food comes from and how it's made. It doesn't just come from the grocery store and World Egg Day is a great day to talk about sustainable ag production and where eggs come from and that eggs are nutritious as well. They're a great source of protein; they're a great source of 13 essential vitamins and minerals. Kids are the future of this country and the future of the world and it's a good place to start. Hux says reaching this group of the population is vital. He says they're the consumers of the future and are further removed from the farm. With the global population expected to climb to more than nine-billion by 2050 - the majority of people expected to live in the world's cities - and more and more questions surfacing about production agriculture - he says education of this demographic is key. HUX: By 2050 I think the FAO has predicted that 70% of the population around the world will be living in cities and it's important for us to educate these young kids today that food is important, we need more of it in the future. It's not going to come from free range or organic production it's going to come from agriculture production around the world to produce that food. To help answer the growing strains on the food chain - Novus is taking steps to promote the most economical source of protein - the egg. Novus has prepared resource kits for egg industry associations in Africa and North America for use in schools, clinics and workplaces. The kits include educational brochures, posters, a children's coloring book and more. They carry the message "I Know the Truth About Eggs" and point to the informational website www.eggtruth.com. Hux sys it's a fun, interactive way to transfer knowledge to communities around the world. Novus also went into a St. Louis, Missouri school. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.