At the McDonalds drive-thru have you ever been asked, “Would you like penicillin with your Big Mac?” No? Well, you actually didn't have to be. With the rampant factory farming in the United States, all animals raised for consumption are fed extreme and unnecessary doses of antibiotics.
Not only does factory farming contribute to millions of illnesses per year, it is also leading to an increase in the number of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
If we are feeling sick, we can’t go to the local pharmacy to pick up an over-the-counter antibiotic, but rather we have to go to a doctor and obtain a prescription for antibiotics and other antimicrobials. Little debate exists over this practice, as this minor inconvenience is accepted because of its medical importance and as a public-health precaution to limit the number of these drugs being taken by humans. Microbes eventually become immune to antimicrobials, and we want to make sure only truly sick benefit from the limited number of uses of any antibiotic before the microbes adapt and become immune.
However, these same precautions are not used with animals. On most factory farms, drugs are fed to animals with every meal. The living conditions promote illness, and the factory industry has compensated for animals' compromised immunity with drugs. As a result, farm animals are given antibiotics nontherapeutically—or before they get sick.
In the United States, about 3 million pounds of antibiotics are given to humans each year, but the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that the farming industry uses approximately 25 million pounds of antibiotics before animals are even sick—or for every one dose of antibiotics taken by a sick human, eight doses are given to a "healthy" animal.
Beginning in the 1960s, scientists warned of the harms of nontherapeutic antibiotics and today the American Medical Association, the Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization have connected nontherapeutic antibiotic use with increased antimicrobial immunity. Studies have shown that antimicrobial resistance follows soon after the introduction of new drugs into farms.
Despite the need for a total ban on the use of antibiotics for “healthy” animals, the farming and pharmaceutical industries has so much power given to them by us—the people that fund them on a massive scale by eating tons and tons of factory farmed animal products daily.
The environment that contributes to the food-borne illness of at least 76 million Americans and that promotes antimicrobial immunity also increases to the risk of a pandemic. Today, the farm-pandemic link is increasingly clear. The recent H1N1 swine flu outbreak originated at a hog factory farm in North Carolina, and then spread throughout the world, killing almost 4,000 in the United States.
Breeding sickness-prone birds in overcrowded and disgusting farms encourages the development of pathogens. However, this practice promotes efficient and cheap meat, forcing Americans to chose: cheap meat or health?
The choice may seem obvious, but this rationalization is pushed in the back of our minds. Maybe we block out the knowledge that unhealthy and unnatural conditions plague the farms which breed our meals. Maybe we know more than we admit when it comes to meat and its production. Soon however, this information will reach us—whether through the media or through illnesses, and we will learn that these sick animals are making us sick.
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I enjoyed the statistics from the center of disease control, the connection to the recent H1N1 outbreak, and the section about eating rather than catching a bug.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I understand your concern about animal borne pathogens, sustaining meat demands with free-range farming is probably infeasible during an economic recession. Currently, many Americans cannot afford factory farmed let alone free-range meat.
Globally speaking, food demands keep rising each year so we must find a solution that both increases food production and reduces food borne illness. Free-range farming only meets one criterion, I think, given the less productive use of breeding space. Perhaps genetically modifying livestock to make them more disease resistant might permit farmers to maximize their breeding space while maintaining low disease levels. The same technologies applied to disease resistant crops might be able to produce more pathogen resistant livestock. I am merely speculating because I am less familiar with this topic.
~Right Fringe
When I think about the scare that the Swine Flu caused, it makes me nervous to think that an even worse pandemic may be on the horizon. It makes economical sense to eat healthy meat now and avoid the price of an illness later, whether that is a missed day of work or medical bills for a vaccine. It may, however, be a simple fact that there is no current viable solution to this danger, unless we are ready to make meat more expensive. Which, in itself, would have unseen ramifications.
ReplyDeleteI think it's important not only to be worried that our cows are getting sick, but also wonder why this is happening. Broken record alert: it's probably corn.
ReplyDeleteAs American farmers transitioned from free range/ranching (with the increased demand for beef/increasing population as a whole), cows' (along with chickens, sheep, the whole lot) diets got swapped from grass to grains (in most cases corn). This is because a high-energy diet like grains will make cows grow faster, produce more milk, chickens lay more eggs, etc.
Unfortunately, evolution has played a tricky role in all of this: cows' bodies have spent centuries adapting to an all-grass diet. The corn diets they're on now doesn't go over so well, increasing the number of sick cows. These sick cows of course need a cocktail of antibiotics with each meal.
ok, so i don't necessarily think it is the corn that is making the cows sick. i don't know if you have ever eaten a cow raised solely on grass- you probably havent because no farmer does that, not even free range farmers. cows need the protein of grains to get them fat and ready to eat.
ReplyDeletei think the number of sick cows is in relation to their living conditions. not that they are living in squaler, but more the fact that they are living in such close proximity to each other. just as in humans, diseases thrive and spread more quickly in more densley populated areas- so if one cow gets sick, it is likely that many more are going to get sick.
if farmers do not do anything to prevent the spread of disease in their cows, they will all probably get sick and die- which wouldnt be economical for the farmer or the consumer.
Great post. It made me hungry.
ReplyDeleteHm, what do you suggest be done about this issue? It seems clear that we will start needing to build stronger institutions that can govern the way food is being produced to ensure the health and safety of not only humanity, but also nature. There are huge ethical and animal cruelty issues associated with these practices as well.
For one, it appears we need to figure out what to do with emerging extremely resistant microbes. Second, we need alternative farming practices that can not only feed people who do not want to grow their own food, but also one that is healthier, equitable, and more environmentally sustainable. Perhaps we shold start looking into organic, local agricultural policies that countries across the world, such as those in europe, are starting to adopt.
theurbanbriefcase.wordpress.com
Super informative post and also great comments from others. So many angles to consider to an issue I seldom think about. I know in the back of my mind that eating meat is not always the best thing, for me or for what its demand does to the animals. Morally, I am so opposed to the idea, but physically I am incapable of rejecting it all together. I've tried to be a vegetarian several times and have never gotten past a couple weeks. The sad truth is, I love meat. Beyond that, being a vegetarian is complicated and requires a well-planned and balanced diet to supplement the absence of proteins and amino acids we get from eating meat. And finally, being a vegetarian can be expensive.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't sound fun, but I think because of these health issues, the government really needs to start restricting the meat industry. Though factory farming may be the cheapest option, it's not healthy for people and it's cruel. So many diseases are spread when animals live in these conditions, not just H1N1, and it will only get worse as time goes on.
ReplyDeletePlus, growing demand for meat is no reason to allow these conditions to persist. I think most people would be willing to pay a little bit extra for meat if they know that it's safe and healthy, and if not, they're probably not aware of the risks meat can carry. And when information about these risks becomes more available, demand for meat will decrease unless they change the way they operate and make safety a priority.
Regulations may hurt farmers, but then again, I have little sympathy for people who can put animals through such awful conditions. These practices should never have been allowed in the first place, and I don't think it's wrong to restrict them. I don't think we should force a transition into free-range farming (that's a big jump), but creating a minimum amount of space per animal and making sure facilities are clean and well-maintained isn't too much to ask. It might be hard to regulate, but then a bunch of new government jobs could be created, which could help our economy.
This makes me want to only eat organic meats. Giving animals antibiotics before they even get sick is wasteful and costly. In a day in age where we are plagued by pandemics like the swine flu, we must act to insure the safety of the things that we eat. More Pressure must be put on farmers from agencies like the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in order to ensure the health of ourselves and the animals that we eat.
ReplyDeleteThere is no way I am giving up my $1 beef bowl at Yoshinoya. An entire bowl of beef, and since its fast food-esque, that means a 50ish% markup. So they are paying 50 cents for a large amount of beef. Sounds good.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the 50 cent Jack in the Box tacos. Meat about as cheap as it gets.
Also, the Double Dell Burger. One dollar for a pound of meat. Nothing but quality.