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Antibiotic Resistance


According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, antibiotics are one of the greatest public health achievements of the past 100 years. However, one of the most critical public health and economic issues we currently face is the loss of these drugs’ effectiveness, due in large part to their misuse and overuse in indus- trial agriculture. Dr. David Wallinga, senior advisor in science, food and health at the Institute


of Agriculture and Trade Policy, says that about 80 percent of all antibiotics are given to farm animals for two reasons: to prevent illness associated with living in crowded, stressful and often unsanitary conditions; and to promote “feed efficien- cy”, or weight gain. However, bacteria naturally mutate to develop resistance to antibiotics when exposed to doses that are insufficient to kill them. Wallinga points out that antibiotic-resistant infections, such as methicillin-


resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), cost our nation at least $20 billion annually and steal tens of thousands of American lives each year. Most recently, hard-to-treat urinary tract infections (UTI), were traced to antibiotic-resistant E. coli bacteria in chickens.


Antibiotic-resistant bacteria exist in our environment, but are more likely to be found in conventionally, rather than organically raised meat and poultry, which by law must be raised without antibiotics. Consumers beware: the word “natural” on food labels does not provide the same protection. The good news is that ac- cording to Consumers Union research, raising meat and poultry without antibiotics can be accomplished at minimal cost to the consumer—about five cents extra per pound for pork and less than a penny per pound extra for chicken.


Melinda Hemmelgarn, aka the “Food Sleuth”, is a registered dietitian and award- winning writer and radio host at KOPN.org, in Columbia, MO (FoodSleuth@gmail. com). She advocates for organic farmers at Enduring-Image.blogspot.com.


Food Supply


News Sources Antibiotic Resistance n Healthy Food Action: HealthyFoodAction.org


n Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy: iatp.org


n Keep Antibiotics Working: KeepAntibioticsWorking.com


n Meat Without Drugs: MeatWithoutDrugs.org


n Not in My Food: Tinyurl.com/ NotInMyFoodNoAntibiotics


Fish Food Safety n Center for Food Safety: CenterForFoodSafety.org


n Food and Water Watch: FoodAndWaterWatch.org


n Food Sleuth Radio interview with fisherwoman, Anne Mosness: Tinyurl.com/


FoodSleuthRadioAnneMosness


GMOs n GMO Food Labeling: JustLabelIt.org


n GMO OMG: GMOFilm.com


Local/Organic n Eat Local: Simple Steps to Enjoy Real, Healthy and Affordable Food, by Jasia Steinmetz: TableOfTheEarth.com/ eat-local-simple-steps


n Organic Farming Research Foun dation: ofrf.org


Pesticides n Safe Lawns: SafeLawns.org


n Xerces Society: Xerces.org/mission


Seed Freedom and Food Choice n Kitchen Gardeners International: kgi.org


n National Center for Home Food Preservation: nchfp.uga.edu


n Seed Libraries: NewDream.org and Tinyurl.com/StartLocalSeedLibrary


n Seed Matters: Tinyurl.com/


SeedMattersCommunityProject 34 Collier/Lee Counties swfl.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com


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