RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—About a year after the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production released its findings and recommendations on the state of large-scale agriculture and its impact on environmental and human health, the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming Campaign is taking the matter to the streets. Or rather, the subway. By peppering the D.C. Metro with ad posters featuring the faces of farm animals and factoids of the consequences of overusing antibiotics, the group hopes to open lawmakers’ eyes to a potential nightmare in the making: that antibiotics will stop working when we need them. Which, by the way, is already happening, says Pew and other organizations that include the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization, and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. The campaign urges passage of the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA), which would phase out the routine use of human medicines in livestock, reserving their use for when an animal is sick and actually needs treatment.
THE DETAILS: Most antibiotics used in this country don’t go to sick people, but are given to livestock that are crowded together and living in unsanitary conditions. By some accounts, 70 percent of the antibiotics used in this country are used in the livestock sector, with many used in concentrated animal-feeding operations, or CAFOs. The meds are given in low doses over the course of the animal’s life to spur growth, and to protect them from diseases which likely wouldn’t be such a problem if thousands of animals weren’t crammed together and/or living above or in their own feces. According to the campaign, the combination of using so many antibiotics in one place, in an area with unsanitary conditions and animal crowding, is a perfect storm for the production of superbugs, bacteria strains that are resistant to our medicines.
WHAT IT MEANS: We may already be feeling the effects of antibiotic overuse. Foodborne illnesses, says Pew, are becoming more difficult to treat due to the decreased effectiveness of antibiotics. And some scientists voiced concern when the H1N1 virus, a.k.a. the swine flu, broke out in Mexico near a factory farm partially owned by Smithfield Meats. They said conditions there were a perfect breeding ground for drug-resistant pathogens to mutate into more dangerous forms. The good news is that it’s not too late to break the antibiotic habit.
Here’s what you can do to help get medication out of our meat:
• Speak up. Whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, or Independent, the overuse of antibiotics affects you and your family: If we get sick, we want our medicine to work. Call your rep, write a letter, or sign an online petition supporting House and Senate versions of the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA). This would phase out the routine use of human medicines in livestock, unless an animal is sick and actually needs the treatment. Let your elected officials know that antibiotic-resistant bacteria cost our healthcare system $4 to $5 billion a year; they cause hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, according to Pew Commission research.
• Don’t be tricked. Some companies are now putting antibiotic-free claims on their food labels, even though they still use the treatments that create bacteria strains that are resistant to our medicines. Ninety percent of hogs, and 97 percent of poultry, are raised on factory farms, and those meats are what your supermarket typically sells. Your best way to find meat that isn’t a product of antibiotic overuse is to look for local farmers who allow their animals to graze. You can often find competitive prices if you buy directly from the farmer, or go in with a neighbor to buy in bulk. Check Local Harvest to find a responsible farmer in your area.
• Close your windows. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that cars trailing chicken trucks from factory farms on a highway were covered with increased amounts of MRSA, a drug-resistant germ that can lead to hospitalization or death. If driving behind one of these trucks, researchers suggest closing your windows. Beyond that, the study is a good reminder that you don’t have to live near a factory farm to come in contact with the germs that grow there.
For more information on how to end the overuse of antibiotics in this country, and why it’s so important, visit saveantibiotics.org.