“70 percent of the antibiotics used in this country --
70 percent! -- go into livestock production. And that's before you even get to
the antibiotics that are used on animals who actually fall ill.
The reason is simple enough: If we didn't pump our
livestock full of antibiotics, they would get sick. They are, after all, packed
into dim and dirty enclosures. They're stacked on top of one another. And
they're being fed food they didn't evolve to eat. All of this makes animals
sick. But rather than raise them in a way that doesn't make them sick, but
costs somewhat more, we just keep them on constant doses of antibiotics.
And then we eat them. Which means we get constant,
low-grade doses of these antibiotics. Which means common bacteria get constant,
low-grade doses of these antibiotics. And there's mounting evidence that this
background exposure to antibiotics is contributing to the startling rise in
antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”
Are you surprised?
Well, I knew the phenomenon but was not sure about the extent. What do you
suppose to do? To become vegetarian, definitively!
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