Reforming Our Food Production Can Start With Curbing Antibiotic Use

Jonathan Safran Foer's new book, Eating Animals, has inspired a lively discussion here at HuffPo about how we produce the food we eat. One of the most important issues on that subject to me as a microbiologist is the danger of overusing antibiotics.

There is a direct correlation between the inhumane conditions in which animals are kept and the prevalence of dangerous E. coli. One of the immediate steps we can take to improve the conditions of livestock and the health of our fellow human beings is to limit the use of antibiotics to only treating disease.

Effective antibiotics are one of our last lines of defense against food borne illnesses, but overuse of these drugs in livestock is rapidly depleting our arsenal by creating resistant strains of previously treatable bacteria. Last month, experts at the Danish Technical Institute wrote to many Members of Congress, including me, about their country's experience phasing out non-therapeutic antibiotic (NTA) use. Their results are dramatic and encouraging, and help refute many of the criticisms that my bill has faced.

These results show that stopping NTA makes livestock healthier without reducing livestock's growth, and can even increase farmer's production. Even more exciting is the finding that stopping NTA doesn't just stop the rise of resistant bacteria, it actually decreases their prevalence.

In March, I introduced H.R. 1549, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA), which currently has seventy-three cosponsors. This bill would ensure that we preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for the treatment of human diseases by restricting the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock.

I convened a hearing on this issue earlier this year and for the first time took testimony from the FDA, which acknowledged that this is a serious issue that needs attention. Since that time, I have reached out to the White House to encourage President Obama to side with us on this issue as we continue to round up additional co-sponsors and study the field.

We need to rein in the unnecessary use of these drugs to reduce the prevalence of resistant bacteria and preserve the use of these important medications for when they are needed most.

 

Follow Rep. Louise Slaughter on Twitter: www.twitter.com/louiseslaughter

Comments

[larryshs]

One great place to find anti-biotic and hormone free meat (and a lot of great vegetables) is at your local CSA. If they don't raise meat themselves, they probably sell a neighbor's. Check out this CSA in Wisoconsin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMrO-oBEj8c

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

Not in Florida. This state offers VERY little in organic food.... and contrary to the fantasies of others, Florida does NOT, produce any good food for consumption. The tomatoes are bland, the oranges are INJECTED with color.....you read that right.... .the cows are saturated with antibiotics and hormones.

The only time I really eat local is from organic farms and some neighbors that have citrus trees. The citrus in the stores is VERY expensive.

The good 'ol boy system don't care what they feed people.... as long as it make 'em a profffit.

Thank You for all of your efforts Rep. Slaughter!!!

[mlaiuppa]

I am absolutely for this.

I am not a vegetarian and never will be. That does not mean I support factory farming. I believe we should respect our food by treating animals humanely and with respect while they are alive. Their lives should be healthy and their living conditions clean and humane. There is no need for them to experience pain or suffering.

Factory farming violates all of these principles.

Feed animals the foods God meant for them to eat and they'll be healthy.

And keeping antibiotics out of the environment will be healthier for our planet.

If it means less animals, then I guess we'll need to modify our diets. Less protein in exchange for better quality protein? I think we can all live with that.

And keeping our environment clean from the excessive untreated excrement that is the result of factory farming would be another positive outcome.

[lbsaltzman]

The best way to curb antibiotics is to not eat any meat or dairy that is not organic and raised in open pastures. I personally am a vegetarian, but if I were to eat meat that is the only kind I would eat. Organic producers don't use antibiotics.

[mlaiuppa]

Absolutely.

I'm not vegetarian but I do not eat meat every day. When I do it is grass fed beef, free range chickens or cage free eggs. I also buy organic raw milk. I eat wild fish, not factory farmed. I follow the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch sustainable seafood guide.

We Americans eat way too much meat. We can start a meal with a salad or soup or both and reduce the size of our entreé considerably. Fruit for desert and water with the meal further reduces our intake of sugar. (Avoid everything with high fructose corn syrup with is not real food.)

Best to eat local and know who grows your food. Better still, grow your own as much as you can.

[khanti]

Agree. Certain antibiotics used in Avian farms can cause cancer to humans. Even the safe type need to be given time for the bird to eject the antibiotic from its body usually about two weeks after the last dose. Otherwise human will also consume the same antibiotics from eating the meat.
Free range chickens are more healthy and do not need antibiotics. In farms where thousands of chickens are penned together are often given antibiotics to safe guard the farmer's investments.