Have you ever been in the grocery store and seen packages of meat labeled with a big fat sticker that says “ANTIBIOTIC FREE”?
Well you're not alone, and I'm sure you're wondreing "why does Antibiotic Free Meat matter"?
Most urban grocery stores are littered with foods that have at least one thing in common... antibiotics. At first glance, the widespread use of antibiotics looks like no big deal, until you broaden the picture.
Most of the antibiotics we are used to, are used with the intention of fighting off infections. Antibiotics in the meat industry are mostly used to fatten up the livestock. The remaining antibiotic usage is to protect cattle from developing pathogenic infections. Due to this, most antibiotics used for livestock are unneeded and are only used with the goal of increasing production, which is the root of the issue.
First of all, most antibiotics are water soluble and will remain in active form even after excretion, meaning that after we give them to cattle, they infest our drinking water supplies, contaminate the plants we eat, and eventually, wind up in our bodies. Why is this a bad thing? Antibiotic resistance!
The widespread contamination of antibiotics in our food and water supply make way for nasty germs called superbugs. Superbugs are pathogens that tend to develop due to frequent, or even constant, exposure to antibiotics, and cattle are often their first victim.
This is because over 131,000 tons (80%) of all antibiotics are distributed throughout the agriculture industry! (Yikes)
For reference, 131,000 tons equivalent to about 18 school busses at full capacity, or a medium sized cruise ship!
Eventually, the bacteria we are aiming to fight off when we use antibiotics, mutate and surpass our man-made drugs as if they were competing with any other run-of-the-mill bacteria. Superbugs are simply living up to the phrase “eat or be eaten”. Once we use up all of our antibiotic ammunition to fight against them, they naturally start to fight us back.
Research shows that those who live near large cattle farms experience superbugs first hand and are 30% more likely to develop MRSA, a nasty skin infection that is resistant to many antibiotics on the market. On top of this, the CDC recited that about 5% of all hospital patients carry MRSA. MRSA is wide spread pathogen and is only one of the bacterial threats caused by the overuse of antibiotics in the agricultural industry. There are many antibiotic resistant pathogens to more to come if we continue to raise the demand for cheap meat!
Long story short- the origin of the antibiotic crisis is probably on your dinner plate. So next time you see "ANTIBIOTIC FREE," maybe give it a try. Antibiotic free is a helper for you, and a helper for me.
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