How to Be a Conscious Eater

Of all the antibiotics sold in the United States, just 30 percent

are for people (think sinus and ear infections). The rest—70 per-

cent—are for farm animals. Keep in mind that farm here is not

the Old MacDonald idyll, but rather the industrial farm model.

And that’s the very root of the problem: If feedlots weren’t so

overcrowded and unhygienic in the first place, there’d be less

inclination to prophylactically pump animals with drugs. The

goal among the users is to prevent disease. And until recently,

it was also to make animals grow faster, although that’s now

illegal in the United States. But it’s unacceptable to give anti-

biotics to healthy animals. The only appropriate use is to treat

existing infections.

What is antibiotic resistance exactly? When you take an

antibiotic to treat an infection caused by disease-causing bacte-

ria, it kills any of those bacteria susceptible to the drug. So, you

feel better and stop taking the medication. But some remaining

OF ALL THE ANTIBIOTICS SOLD

IN THE UNITED STATES, JUST

30 PERCENT ARE FOR PEOPLE.

THE OTHER 70 PERCENT ARE

FOR FARM ANIMALS.

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