How Antibiotics Enter The Food And Water Supply Through Meat
By Sarah E. Brown

While many doctors will tell you to avoid antibiotics unless taking
them is absolutely necessary to fight an infection, there’s good
evidence to show that many of us are still exposed to them through
another surprising source–our diet. According to a Princeton
University report, about 80% of antibiotics produced in the U.S. are
given to farm animals. When humans eat meat treated with antibiotics,
they take in these medications–often unwittingly. (Source:
www.princeton.edu/~greening/downloads/antibiotic_table_tent1.pdf).

As antibiotic use becomes more prevalent, bugs become increasingly
immune, effectively becoming “superbugs” that are resistant to
existing antibiotics. This poses a public health threat that
eventually bugs will become so resistant that we are no longer able to
treat serious infections.

According to the same Princeton report, nearly two trillion tons of
animal waste are produced each year in the United States. This waste
contains undigested antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria,
which can contaminate our ground water supplies, disrupt ecosystems
and make their way into the human population. That terrifying fact
means that even if you don’t eat meat treated with antibiotics, you
could still be negatively affected by them.

Animals given antibiotics are often kept in horrific conditions that
force them to be medicated in order to compensate for these bad
conditions, and gain weight so they will produce more meat to be sold.
The problem of industrial agriculture means that corporate interests
are not in favor of public health.

Many hospitals are coming together to ban meat treated with
antibiotics for their patients. According to the Chicago Tribune, some
hospitals have already banned antibiotic-treated meat in their menus.
(Source: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-07-20/health/ct-met-hospital-meat-20100718_1_antibiotic-free-antibiotics-for-growth-promotion-food-producing-animals)

The FDA issued a report in 2010 urging meat producers to stop giving
their animals antibiotics, but shockingly, still allow the practice.
The strong financial interests in keeping this broken system alive
will likely continue unless enough citizens and public interest groups
are able to put significant pressure on the FDA to stop these
practices. Luckily, we can get all the nutrition that we need from
organic plant-sources, and as people shift away from a meat-centered
diet, demand for high production of animal agriculture will diminish
and help preserve our precious personal and planetary ecosystems.

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