Wean Itself Off Drugs

In recent years, Americans have been blaming antibiotics used in animals to be processed for food for many of the growing number of health problems in developed countries. Fast food restaurants are making movements to remove antibiotic treated meats from their menus. This movement is causing quite the stir in consumers and livestock producers alike. Do the antibiotics used in beef really contribute to antibiotic resistant diseases? Should antibiotics be outlawed in the use of farm animals? The eradication of antibiotic use in America’s beef industry is not feasible due to its usage in the treatment and control of deadly or discomforting diseases.

This consumer lives in a large city, has no agriculture background, and believes all that they see on different types of media. As this consumer, I would agree with the Chipotle. Chipotle makes an impressive case against antibiotic use in livestock. I would begin to believe that what they say is true. However, when I again don my muck boots, I know that antibiotics are not used to increase production or combat effects of overcrowding. Antibiotics are used only to help an animal just like humans get over a sickness when necessary. Chipotle also claims they serve pork from pigs allowed to freely root and roam outdoors or in deeply bedded barns (Chipotle np). Activists claim they want animals to be raised this way, however, this strategy does not eliminate sickness. Contrary to Chipotle’s statements, statistically, no data is present to assist their claims. Removing antibiotics from farms and ranches is simply dangerous to our ability to continue raising healthy

“Eating Animals is Making us Sick” is written by Jonathan Safran Foer. In this article, the author makes a connection between a number of antibiotics given to animals, and the sicknesses that plague the human population. The author wants the audience to recognize that the common practice of factory farming is loosely regulated. Because of this loose regulation, farmers are allowed to immunize their animals and treat their animals to unhealthy extremes. This treatment leads to antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. The author, Jonathan Safran Foer, successfully uses pathos, ethos, and logos to argue that the treatment and the enormous amount of drugs being pumped into livestock have major effects on the audience's health.

For decades farmers regularly used antibiotics to maximize the amount of animals in a confined space. Over time, the confined spaces allowed resistant bacteria to grow and evolve, contributing to the current antibiotic crisis . Two million Americans annually contract bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics, and experts warn of increases. In response to the growing crisis, many big food companies recently announced plans to use antibiotic free livestock. Chipotle is on the vanguard and an early adopter of using antibiotic free livestock. While, Chipotle found early success, it also serves as a cautionary example as other companies follow their lead. In 2015, Chipotle suspended its contract with a pork supplier for failing to meet animal welfare standards leading 40% of stores without pork. Chipotle’s strict policy on antibiotic use exacerbated this crisis, as many pig farmers are reluctant to adhere to their standards. Under Chipotle’s policy, if an animal is sick, given antibiotics, and recovers, Chipotle will not purchase that animal. Suppliers are then forced to sell the animal to a third party for less . Chipotle realized the need to rework their policy and now uses a supplier that allows for antibiotic use when an animal is ill. Reducing antibiotic use in livestock is vital both to a business strategy, and also to public

For many years factory farms have been using antibiotics to promote faster growth and prevent disease that could sicken livestock held in confinements (Dillon). Even though they are putting antibiotics into the livestock when they are healthy they, instead of getting sick from it, actually grow faster letting the farmer produce more livestock in the same amount of time then they could without giving them antibiotics thus making the meat for the consumer cheaper with the same qualities as before.

After watching the documentary “Food Inc.” It was surprising to find out how powerful the food industry has become. I learned about the meat industry, Monsanto, and genetically modified foods. The main goal of these industries is to increase profits, efficiently, and while shoving the best interests of the consumer to the side.

Central Idea: Because requiring antibiotic free animal products is not a practical response to rising number of antibiotic resistant bacteria, consumers should support responsible antibiotic use in animal agriculture through an alternative labeling like an “Approved Antibiotic Administration” certification.

“The antibiotics these animals consume with their corn at this very moment are selecting, in their gut and whatever else in the environment they end up, for new strains of resistant bacteria that will someday infect us and withstand the drugs we depend on to treat that infection (Pollan. 81.)” Similarly, we will possess those same microbes from the animals we eat. There are roughly 5 diseases that can be attributed to antibiotic resistance due to factory farming; e. coli H-7, MRSA, Campylobacter/Salmonella, Mad Cow disease and Obesity. E. coli strains are normal in cows, but this particular strain thrives in feedlot cattle. Due to high grain diet the cows are fed, allows the deadly strain to withstand acidic environments in other words, resist acidity in our stomachs. This strain of E.coli can cause severe kidney damage. Children and elderly people are more likely to have severe symptoms and die. According to an Oxford Journal article MRSA infections leads to more deaths than HIV/ AIDS every year(Stryjewski 19.) MRSA is very common to pass in hospitals, and it’s antibiotic resistance makes it very difficult to treat. Campylobacter and Salmonella can be killed through proper cooking. Although, both are becoming more resistant to antibiotics. Campylobacter can be found on more than half the chicken being sold in stores. Mad Cow disease occurs when cows are fed other pieces of butchered cow, sheep or goat. Causing an infectious neurodegenerative disease in the animals which get passed to us. Luckily this is a disease more rare than the others I have discussed. Roughly 1 in 3 Americans is considered obese, calling obesity a disease is debatable. The country with the largest food industry also has the largest obesity rate. Arguably it doesn’t meet the requirements for a disease, but the American Heart Association and the American

All across America, food manufacturers and sellers seem to be cleaning up their act. Apparently customers are demanding healthier fare at their eating establishments and from their supermarket shelves, and restaurants and food manufacturers are starting to pay attention. Tyson had announced they were going to be phasing out the use of hormones that are also used in people and McDonald’s had also said they will be phasing out the use of such chicken. Another big trend, however has been the removal of artificial ingredients such as colorings and preservatives by companies.

The consumption of meat provides the human body with natural nutrients that the body needs in order to survive. Animals such as chickens, cows and pigs are excellent sources of meat to gain protein while satisfying hunger. According to the National Chicken Council, America has had a large increase in meat consumption but specifically a noting rise of chicken consumption. Factory farms are houses that are meant to efficiently raise large quantities of animals in the quickest way possible. Since the farmers need to keep up with the growing demand for meat produce, consequently the animals are the ones that have to pay the cruel price. As a result, animals like cows, chickens and pigs are confined to small spaces in order to house more animals. Ultimately, keeping the animals in smaller confided spaces saves money for the farmers. As Tyson and other companies such as Foster Farms are driving the competition with the largest factory farms and meat producers, smaller farms have the pressure to produce more and at a cheap rate. Yes, it is a fact that animals are treated unethically in these farmhouses, but it is also a fact that the animals are fed and injected with multiple hormones and antibiotics to keep the animals healthy and hungry. The question lies in how these are animals considered “healthy” when the antibiotics that are given to them are intended for human use. Furthermore, how are the

In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the non-therapeutic usage of cephalosporin in animal feed. The FDA currently approves of four uses of antibiotics. These include: disease treatment, disease prevention, disease control, and growth promotion (SG5 Lecture Notes, 10/28/2014). Today’s hearing will examine the aspects of the usage of antibiotics in farms and how the

Meat production is one of the largest factors contributing to environmental degradation, and consumption is the primary cause for a striking amount of chronic diseases found in humans. Christopher Hyner, Managing Editor of Georgetown Environmental Law Review, states, “Climate change. Ocean dead zones. Fisheries depletion. Species extinction. Deforestation. World hunger. Food safety. Heart disease. Obesity. Diabetes. The list goes on. There is one issue at the heart of all these global problems that is too often overlooked by private individuals and policymakers alike—our demand for and reliance on animal products.” The negative impact of meat production on the environment are often hidden by the cheap prices of meat in grocery stores across the U.S. and by massive corporate factories in which the livestock are produced. These prices provided by major corporations do not show the hidden detriment that meat production is having on the environment, as well as the products negative health impact on the human population. The air and water pollution from feedlot runoff, energy and water expenditures, and the damage that meat production can have on our livelihood and the sustainability of our planet cannot go unnoticed for the sake of our world's future. By increasing public awareness on the negative effects of large scale livestock production and excessive meat consumption, our generation and those to come have the potential to massively influence both health and environmental

Mass produced beef, although harmful to the environment, is relatively inexpensive. Mass production of meat is agribusiness, which comes with beneficial government subsidies that result in less cost for factory farms. The meat industry has perfected the efficiency of slaughtering its cattle and making it available for purchase by consumers in a timely fashion. What most consumers fail to realize is how powerful the meat industry is in the political arena. A Frontline journalist reported, “Yet despite the relatively low level of financial contributions, the industry has succeeded in weakening or preventing many new meat-safety initiatives in recent years” (Johnson, 2002). The meat companies are a political force with a strong voice in Washington, which has only gained more influence

Industrial farming feeding practices and mistreatment of animals poses many health risks to consumers. Animals raised on industrial farms are confined in feedlots and neglected in these contaminated facilities. First, industrial farming animals have no access to sunlight, fresh air or open pasture. Often, they are densely packed in cattle pens filled with their own waste. Additionally, during long distance transports they are not given food, water or time to rest. As a result, agribusinesses deliver unhealthy and treacherous food to supermarkets that deceive the public into buying food that is not safe. For instance, because factory farms use antibiotics excessively to prevent disease in animals consumers become antibiotic resistant themselves, which is very dangerous when they are hospitalized. Then, the antibiotic overexposure common in consumers who

The Food Industry in the U.S is not the same as it was back in the 1900’s and before where most of our food would mostly still be organic and wouldn’t use as much antibiotics, today a lot of our livestock and poultry is enhanced and injected with antibiotics that help increase livestock in a rapid increasing rate to avoid a shortage in food. Recent studies have been made that show that the use of antibiotics in live stock, as in farm animals is tied to creating the emergence of many antibiotic resistant infections that sicken many Americans in quantity each year (CDC). The article coming from the Los Angeles times talks about the state of California in restricting the use of antibiotics on farm animals thanks to governor jerry Brown and also in making it the first state in the nation to do so and becoming effective on the 1st of January, 2018 (Patrick McGreevy, LA Times, 2015). As this issue is that the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals threatens public health doesn’t just happen in California but in the whole nation itself and even worldwide.