Back in March I started on an article about the perils of antibiotic use in animals but never got around to publishing it. Not sure why – just didn’t. Well – just yesterday the FDA issues a formal statement with the intent of stopping the practice. At the root of the issue is the fact we are seeing an increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria that seem to stem directly from the prophylactic use of antibiotics in many animal production models. (links to news articles provided at the end)
So aside from the question about where your meat comes from and what conditions it’s raised under… there’s a broader social implication here. Does your cheap meat have the potential to create organisms that can make other people very sick. There’s a pretty big mountain of evidence that says “yes”.
Let’s take a moment to talk about how this works in practice. A large farm or feedlot operation will very frequently add a low level of antibiotics to the feed they provide to their livestock. This is provided without any infection present in the herd – simply as a safety measure to hopefully prevent infection. Also, since the presence of the antibiotic kills off these potential pathogens a second part of the argument is – without having to rely on natural immune response – the treated animals put more of their energy into growth and produce bigger animals faster. That equates to more money on the hoof, so to speak, and cheaper prices for consumers.
Cheaper, that is, until your neighbor who gets an antibiotic every time their nose is stuffy (which is wrong on so many levels) happens to ACTUALLY need an antibiotic for once but encounter a resistant strain… suddenly the cost of cheap meat just skyrocketed.
I’m not against an outright ban on antibiotics in animals like some of the certification bodies are (we can chat about all the food certifications later). Certainly if the family pet gets sick and has an infection – or if YOU do – you want the right treatment at the right time… some might even say anything less is inhumane. The fact is, sometime, some animal somewhere is going to have something happen to them that’s 100% natural the they are going to get an infection. To ban antibiotics 100% is just wrong. Think about that the next time you reach for the certified organic whatever meat in the supermarket… you don’t know the farmer… so what happened to that animal that needed treatment but would have jeopardized the farms certification status?
We like to really focus on sustainable farming. The concept that as many of the inputs as we can use come from as close to the farm as possible is important to us. We carry that into our personal lives and only buy domestic produce and meats (sometimes from California in the winter – but it’s still US farmers!). On the farm that’s why we buy locally grown and locally milled feed (which makes the chickens grow like crazy I might add). It’s also why we would never consider adding a manufactured chemical (antibiotic) to the feed the animals eat every single day. It flys in the face of what we are about. That said – you can be darn sure we will and do apply every tool in the toolbox if there’s and animal that gets sick… frankly – we are responsible for them.
The good news is – there is change with this FDA intervention. Following the open window for comments they will hand down a decision that will become the law of the land. Since this is ultimately a public safety issue you can be sure the odds are pretty strong in favor of regulation against the prophylactic use of antibiotics in domestic meat production. What’s the translation – well – likely a very real unintended consequence will be more imported meat.
That leaves me with two losing propositions as I think about the outcome of how this will be implemented without consumer involvement: one is a continued increase in antibiotic resistant organisms if nothing is done. The other option is yet another blow to domestic food production because imported meat will become cheaper compared to domestic because they can still use high density overcrowding tempered by prophylactic antibiotic feed treatment. I hate lose-lose situations so consider this:
The glimmer of hope – consumers no longer abdicate their responsibility for understanding what they are putting in their mouths. They begin to put a value beyond “Super Value Menu” on the foods they eat. Thinking of quality foods as longer term investments in their health. That local nutrient dense food and an appreciation of the methods and relationships fostered in the generation of those foods become as important as they were generations ago. That understanding it’s not only OK but preferred to name an animal on a farm and refer to it by that name on your plate.
Resources
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20100628/fda-antibiotics-in-livestock-affects-human-health
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65R3E420100628
Ohh, one last reminder… if you think antibiotics are the only things added to industrial farm raised feeds… well… here’s and oldie but goodie from 2005:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070410224805/http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/animal-feed-and-the-food-supply-105/chicken-arsenic-and-antibiotics/index.htm
