By now, most parents know not to give their children antibiotics unless an infection is actually present. We know that years of misusing antibiotics have left us with weakened immune systems, autoimmune disease and superstrains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria with the capability to kill.
In this New York Times Op-Ed by Nicholas D. Kristof, you will learn why Pathogens in Our Pork are a major concern. It was originally published March 14, 2009.
And while I agree that giving antibiotics to healthy animals is unwise, I also understand that it is not solely politics that drives this decision. In CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) so many animals fall ill due to poor care that antibiotics are often required just to keep the animals alive until they are slaughtered for our food. Appetizing, isn’t it?
Probably the scariest statement in the article: “Five out of 90 samples of retail pork in Louisiana tested positive for MRSA — an antibiotic-resistant staph infection — according to a peer-reviewed study published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology last year.”
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March 22, 2009 at 9:44 am
Walter Jeffries
Something that bothers me about the big pork model is they claim “you can’t raise pigs without antibiotics, chemical wormers and certainly not on dirt or they’ll be filled with parasites.” I’ve read vets saying this as well as the national pork groups and quotes in articles.
All of that is false. We raise pigs on pasture, e.g., dirt with a whole lot of grass on our the side of the mountain. They don’t have parasites. I’ve almost never used any commercial a.k.a. commercial wormers. We don’t feed antibiotics and I’ve only given antibiotics twice to a sow that had gotten a bad infection, once on a foot and once on a teat. I won’t withhold medicine to treat disease but we don’t need to be throwing antibiotics at the livestock, or people, willy-nilly.
Pigs have wonderfully strong immune systems and are hardy animals that thrive outdoors. Using proper rotational grazing the parasites don’t build up in the pasture. Raising them outdoors is healthier both for the pigs and the farmers. The solution is to get the animals out of the CAFOs and distributed out onto pastures. CAFOs are like cities, where people are packed together too tightly – rats in a cage.
Keep eating well!
Cheers,
-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org