Manmade Problem Turned Deadlier than AIDS - Is There Still Time
to Correct Course?
Link:
Picture:
This is a picture of what life is like for most animals on
factory farms.
Summary:
Animals in factory farms are given
antibiotics to help them grow and survive in the horrible conditions where they
live. From the increased use of steroids
bacteria, such as a form of staph called ST398 are becoming more resistant to
antibiotics. In 2009 the FDA released
the amounts of antibiotics used by factory farms that totaled 29 million pounds
used just in that year. The disease was
first discovered in 2004 in the Netherlands and has been spreading all over
Europe, Canada and the United States.
The disease can be fatal and the human strain of this disease kills
about 20,000 people a year. This disease
is a manmade problem created by overuse of antibiotics. In 2001 a report said that the use of
antibiotics for growing was total for 70% of the total usage. Many studies show that when farmers stop
using as much antibiotics on animals it also lowers the strength of the human
disease. Also when farmers use
antibiotics and poultry there is a long lasting harmful effect on humans. Antibiotics kill off the good bacteria too in
your body and when the good bacteria die the bad ones grow a lot and can cause
you to get sick or become overweight.
Opinion:
This article was very interesting to
read and I learned a lot from it. I was
very surprised about how much antibiotics were used in one year. I couldn’t believe farmers used 29 million
pounds. I don’t support all this use of
antibiotics because of all its negative effects. Overuse by antibiotics has many bad effects
such as making viruses become more resistant to antibiotics, which is bad for
humans and animals alike. This is scary
to think about because eventually after awhile some viruses could be almost
immune to antibiotics and they could wipe out huge amounts of animals or even
humans. Farmers must think about these
consequences and must stop using antibiotics in ever increasing numbers.
Questions:
1.
Are there any other negative effects from
steroids that humans should be worried about?
2.
How bad is life for these many animals on
factory farms?
3.
Is there a significant difference between meat
with antibiotics and meat without it?
Opinion:
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to this article is negative in many ways. I believe that antibiotics should not be given to animals or crops in large doses *cough* such as 29 million pounds of them. This number completely insane and illogical. It is a waste of money, time, and resources. As we learned last quarter, natural selection can occur in bacteria, making it a "super germ" (resistant to all antibiotics). And if this happens wildlife, the environment and humans will all be severely affected. What are we going to do when natural selection does happen and we are unable to kill off diseases? Many animal and human populations will begin to decrease or become eliminated. Overall, I believe that much less antibiotics should be used for the safety of our future. However, scientists will have to discover a new way to save our crops from disease as well, while preventing animals and humans from falling ill.
Expansion:
This topic really interested me, so I went out and found another article that is closely related. If you click the following link, you will find an article that goes in depth about the extreme use of antibiotics and its relation to resistant bacteria. What I found interesting is that the resistant bacteria is being found in animal feces that are washing into waterways. These waterways are then carrying the "strong bacteria" all throughout the world, affecting all living things. Many college scholars and professors give their opinions on the topic as well. Like I said in my Opinion Paragraph, the only solution to the problem is not overly using antibiotics to enhance growth, we should use them to treat illnesses.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/antibiotic-resistance-environment-livestock_n_1502749.html
Opinion:
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young, I ate my food without a moment’s thought, assuming it was safe. Now, I’m not so certain everything was so safe after all. By “second handedly” sending antibiotics into my body, I have been reducing my chances of one day getting rid of an antibiotic resistant bacteria. The correlation between levels of antibiotics in consumed meat and the resistance bacteria is inverse: the higher the intake of antibiotics through treated meat, the lower a person’s resistance to “human diseases caused by an antibiotic resistant strain...of bacteria.” Right now, my mom buys as many organic vegetables as she can because, to us, it tastes better and it seems, antibiotic wise, much better for us. However, I am thinking I would rather have organic meat than organic vegetables. The organic meat seems “too polluted.” I would rather put the organic food into my mouth than the meat that has been loaded with 29 million pounds of antibiotics. Still, it is hard to shop purely organic because of the price. You have to pick and choose what organic food to buy. Even though the “normal” meat is still safe by government safety standards, when it comes to something that I am putting into my body, I would, in a perfect world, want the best, healthiest product I can have.
Questions:
1) Is having the antibiotics in the meat pass government standards good enough for you?
2) Is the economically possible to switch to all organic?
3) Do you think people are aware enough of the antibiotics and other things that are going into our meat?
Opinion/Reflection
ReplyDeleteI am very mad that farmers overuse antibiotics. Antibiotics are helpful in moderation and can help save animal lives, but as we have learned previously in class with natural selection, the diseases will eventually evolve to resist the antibiotics, and the antibiotics will become useless. 29 million pounds of antibiotics is a large amount, and according to the article nearly 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are used on livestock. If the antibiotics aren't changing over time many will be wasted since diseases can resist the antibiotics. Farms should use antibiotics in moderation, and enhance them over time so the diseases are unable to adapt to the antibiotics. Also according to the article, it is rare to find antibiotic-resistant bacteria in antibiotic free chicken, while in treated chickens the occurrence was much greater. The farms are using antibiotics that eventually will not be able to keep disease away, and yet farms still do this and they know theses are dangerous practices. If I were in charge of a farm personally, I know that I would use antibiotics sparingly, and change them every few years.
Response to Question 3
According to the article, organic meats have far superior nutritional value compared to it's conventional counterpart. Not only that, but since meats not treated with antibiotics are not treated, they have less hormones, antibiotics and pesticides. Without these, the livestock is much healthier and is able to produce the better produce. Meats not treated with antibiotics also have conjugated linoleic acids, or CLA's, which fight cancer/diabetes, lose weight, increase metabolism, maintain healthy cholesterol and improve the immune system. With all these benefits, meats treated with antibiotics have a significant advantage over those treated with antibiotics.
Opinion/Reflection:
ReplyDeleteI always thought that antibiotics were something good for you that would heal you up or make you live longer. However this year in science class we have learned that the body can get used to the antibiotic. This would result in the body being resistant to the antibiotic and thus being more vulnerable to disease. After reading this article I felt concerned and mad about factory farms using so many antibiotics. I am concerned about the over usage of antibiotics backfiring on humans to the extent we will die from disease because of too much resistance. Also there should be concern in what we eat now too. Back when I was in elementary school I would just gobble down anything but now a days I have to be more careful and check labels. I find it unbelievable that 29 million pounds of antibiotics were used during 2009. It gets me mad to see that factory farms are putting people in danger of eating antibiotics to the extent of resistance to diseases where we could get wiped out from a virus. This could also mean extinction to other animals if they take up too much of the antibiotics. I would not be able to imagine disease killing so many animals or humans because of something we should have used a little of. Too much of anything can not be a good thing is what I heard when I was young. I can see now why this saying is so important and applies very well to antibiotics. A moderate amount is okay but too much is just too dangerous.
Questions:
1. Why do you think factory farms use the antibiotics so much if they know about the results? For money? Explain.
2. Do you think the government should put a say into this problem of using too much antibiotics? What are some things you think they should say?
3. If more people knew about factory farms using tons of antibiotics, then do you think people would be more careful of reading labels? Why do think this way?
4. With so much use in antibiotics, what do you see for our future?