Two recent New York Times articles by Nicholas Kristof about MRSA (an antibiotic-resistant Staph infection) popping up on pig farms reminded us of the issues discussed in Omnivore’s Dilemma.
As Americans slowly turn away from overusing antibiotics in hope of creating less antibiotic resistant “super-bugs”, many are surprised to learn that the animals on industrial farms are routinely treated with antibiotics whether sick or not. The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that at least 70 percent of the antibiotics used in America are fed to animals living on factory farms. For cows, antibiotics are administered as a result the all-grain diet which their stomachs are not suited to, causing a change in the acidity of the stomachs and an increasing E. coli presence. For most animals raised on industrial farms, the cramped quarters mean that infections spread quickly and antibiotics prevent this from happening. Except when they don’t of course, which is precisely what happens when viruses become resistant to antibiotics.
The New York Times articles bring this issue to the forefront by discussing the routine presence of MRSA in supermarket pork. This “flesh-eating bacteria” as its often known causes lesions on the skin that quickly spread and is known to have caused more than 18,000 deaths per year. “The peer-reviewed Medical Clinics of North America concluded last year that antibiotics in livestock feed were ‘a major component’ in the rise in antibiotic resistance. The article said that more antibiotics were fed to animals in North Carolina alone than were administered to the nation’s entire human population,” writes Nicholas Kristof. Which is why we’re especially excited about the news that Carolina Dining Services will be serving grass-fed beef in Rams Head on Wednesdays.
Read more:
Our Pigs, Our Food, Our Health
Pathogens in Our Pork
Grass-fed Beef a Welcome Addition to Dining Halls
