The New York Times has an editorial today about the overuse of antibiotics in pigs. I’m moving in the direction of sticking to non-mammal forms of animal protein, but since I know I need animal protein for my well-being at this point in my existence, as much as I hate to be part of the inhumane meat industry, I do, for that reason, try to stay apprised of what’s going on and pick only meat that is raised humanely without hormones or antibiotics.
Yet we continue to allow agribusiness companies to add antibiotics to animal feed so that piglets stay healthy and don’t get ear infections. Seventy percent of all antibiotics in the United States go to healthy livestock, according to a careful study by the Union of Concerned Scientists — and that’s one reason we’re seeing the rise of pathogens that defy antibiotics….
…The peer-reviewed Medical Clinics of North America concluded last year that antibiotics in livestock feed were “a major component” in the rise in antibiotic resistance. The article said that more antibiotics were fed to animals in North Carolina alone than were administered to the nation’s entire human population.
“We don’t give antibiotics to healthy humans,” said Robert Martin, who led a Pew Commission on industrial farming that examined antibiotic use. “So why give them to healthy animals just so we can keep them in crowded and unsanitary conditions?”
The answer is simple: politics. (rest of article here)
Ah, no, I think it’s greed and inhumane treatment of animals for that end. But whatever, the article has good arguments that go way beyond the normal stuff people talk about and might reach a few more mainstream people who in general think all of us who are concerned about this stuff are over reacting.
no…I didn’t know that statistic but unfortunately these sort of tragedies never surprise me when quantified.
Did you know that according to WHO statistics, approximately 30,000 children die of starvation or starvation related issues every single day?
it pisses the hell out of me that eating well demands having funds…eating healthy is a human right in my mind…
I remember when I started in science and people were all afraid of some crazy bugs coming out of a biotechnology lab. Uh, uh. These bugs are doing a far better job at becoming resistant, and to multiple anti-biotics, based upon overuse in animals and overuse also in humans.
People getting routine procedures in hospital, say hip replacement, are getting horrible, flesh eating staph infections.
My mother actually had terminal cancer, but it was not the cancer that killed her, it was a staph infection that entered a catheter.
I’m Jewish and don’t eat much pork, but also try to eat organic, in general, due to these issues. The industry will come back at you and ask you if you want to pay more for your pork, or “why are you making meat not affordable by the poor”! Unfortunately, the poor may be the first victims of this overuse of anti-biotics, due to buying the cheapest meat cuts.
Best,
Ari