Is it Ethical to Use Growth Hormones on Cattle? Essay

Holy cow, I haven’t eaten any beef or any red meat in over thirteen years. When I first saw the topic of this essay to discuss the primary differences between grass fed and corn fed beef. I had thought to myself hmmm I was thinking all cows had just ate grass. I always thought cow’s were slow food because they ate grass but I wondered how so much beef was being produced so fast, but then I thought about all the chicken steroid stories. Cows are ruminants designed by nature to stay healthy and be totally sustained taking nourishment on grass and only grass. Cows, have stomachs that are designed to digest grass. But of demand and because cattle producers are so profit driven, their operations use the cheapest

In the past century there has been a substantial change in the way human beings raise and keep animals meant for food. While in the past there were great numbers of widely spaced small individual farms, now there are relatively few, but extremely large industrialized farms. And as the numbers of animals kept and slaughtered for human consumption increases, these industrialized farms, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFO's, are having more and more of an impact on the environment and people around them. The concentration of animals causes a major problem with the waste products they produce, as well as the gases, chemicals, and other types of byproducts. And the increased use of antibiotics in the animals is beginning to have a profound effect on the health of not only the environment but the communities that exist around these industrialized farms. CAFO's, and their secondary industries, are also a large consumer of oil, gasoline, and other fuels which can have an indirect, but devastating effect on the environment. Luckily there are some who have come to recognize the problems, and potential future problems, involved in this type of animal farming and have begun to inform the public to the dangers these farms pose. And in response to this information, the public is beginning to force changes in the way these CAFO's operate and the impact they have on the environment and

In Canada, the only legal bovine growth hormone is used to help produce leaner beef. (hormones and antibiotics) Canada has illegalized use of hormones that help cows produce more milk, and eliminating the use of hormone on poultry and pork. (hormones and antibiotiics).

Our initial purpose of researching this topic has been inspired by the growing concern for the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease and it's various forms. We believe that it is imperative that we take our research and implement it to others along with facts in order to generate concern for other countries regulations, United States regulations, health concerns and economical awareness.

Ghrelin has many roles in the body’s metabolism, one of which is serving as the natural ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor.

There are a huge amount of different types of steroids; in-fact, there are many of diferent types found in nature. The ones found in nature are not as effective as the ones that are man made. The anabolic steroids are probably the most common type of steroid used among athletes. Within this classification, again we have a lot of different types of steroids; countless forms, alternate forms and derivatives, and there are so many it can, at times, seem very

Evidently, many issues are associated with the management of feedlots and the procedures used to ingest cattle with unacceptable levels of hormones. Indicated previously, injecting high levels of rBGH into cattle can lead to the increase in IGF-1, a hormone that has been associated with an increased risk of breast, prostate and

Growth hormones (GH) are also commonly used today in CAFOs. Cows normally give birth and lactate for about 9 months before milk secretion stops. GH elongate this cycle time and cause reproductive problems in the cows (Forbes, 68). GH increase milk production by 15%, cause animals to grow to maturity

According to Science News, 80 percent of all US feedlot cattle are injected with hormones. Which means that most milk you’re drinking has hormones in it. Which could eventually lead to diseases, environmental issues and the death of a lot of cows. One way that humans could solve this problem, is buying organic milk. There is many other ways to solve the issue of rBGH. Such as feeding cows natural diets and supporting your local farms that make organic milk. All these things can solve this problem, potentially saving cows, humans, and the

When the law changes imposing regulations such as minimum wage laws, quotas on production, work safety regulations, or limiting the use of certain inputs, companies must change their production process to fit these regulations. In 2013 the FDA “...asked producers of veterinary antibiotics to revise labels to make it effectively illegal for farmers and ranchers to administer drugs for the purpose of promoting growth” (Kesmodel et al, 1). Although this did not completely eliminate the use of antibiotics for growth purposes, it did force many ranchers to re-engineer their business processes. One of the main ways that farmers have changed the way they raise livestock is through the use of different methods to protect their livestock from disease such as using vaccines and probiotics to help protect animals (Kesmodel et al,

European Union’s Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures Relating to Public Health (SCVPH), have broken down steroids into two main categories, natural and synthetic, with three types for each category. Feedlots generally use three natural steroids which include estradiol, testosterone, and progesterone, and three synthetic or mad man steroids which are estrogen compound zeranol, androgen trenbolone acetate, and progestin melengestrol acetate. These steroids can be administered to the cattle through pellets. Manitoba Agriculture, Food, and Rural Initiatives states, “pellets are injections given to cattle by inserting a needle into the middle third of the backside of the ear.” Since the ear of the cattle is merely tossed away in the slaughtering process, then this method of the delivering the steroids should be benign. Manitoba Agriculture, Food, and Rural Initiatives likewise add, “Improper use of pellets can cause higher levels of hormones to be left in the edible meats.” In addition, illicit use and administration of these steroids can harm not only the beef cattle but humans as well.

All animals and humans produce large compounds which are referred to as Steroids. They can be made synthetically or naturally.

Lactation stage of the cows can raise their need for nutrition when they are still nursing calves.

People all across the world consume beef everyday. However, do they actually know what they are putting into their systems? The controversial question is, is using antibiotics in beef safe and healthy has been around for a long time. Research has been done on this topic for many years now. Consumers need to be educated about what they are eating. This is why some consumers have chosen to avoid eating beef that has contained antibiotics. Even though the meat probably does not contain the antibiotics anymore, it could still be damaged from when the animal was vaccinated. Past this, in recent years consumers have started to buy organic beef resulting in a thirty to eighty percent command for higher selling price. So what this comes down to is organic beef farmers are gaining more profit from their non vaccinated beef that nonorganic farmers. People have been consuming beef for many years, but do they actually know what they are putting into their systems?

Growth hormone therapy in growth hormone deficient patients significantly decreases the serum acyl ghrelin concentration (Engstrom et al., 2003). The above information supports the notion that growth hormone exerts a negative feedback action on ghrelin production and secretion. The concept that IGF-1 may promote ghrelin secretion is supported by the following studies. Administration of recombinant human IGF-1 in severely under-nutritioned patients elevates plasma total ghrelin concentration (Grinspoon et al., 2004). The IGF-1/IGFBP-3 complex significantly increases ghrelin level in children with low birth weight (Iniguez et al., 2006). Since IGF-1 functions to inhibit growth hormone secretion, IGF-1 may induce ghrelin secretion either directly