It remains to be seen how the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Actwill fare. This legislation could help stem the insane approach to drugs that our food industry has convinced itself is normal and necessary. In a nutshell, the bill would help prevent the routine use of antibiotics in farm animals, which, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, accounts for an incredible 70+% of the antibiotic use in the United States. Most of the animals are not (yet) sick. This drugging is a major factor contributing to the declining effectiveness of antibiotics.
Given the growth of MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant “super-bugs,” obviously we’ve got a problem. Certainly, the meat isn’t getting drugged to help humans… except the few that reap the profits (and they do, believe us). Of course, on the other side, we’ve got the farm lobby who definitely is not down with this kind of proposed law since it would mean (get the tissues out cause it’s sooo sad) they would actually have to stop crowding animals quite so much in confined, inhumane and unhealthy quarters to help prevent disease. Yet, according to the perspective of one farm group, they oppose the bill because they say it would undermine animal health, animal welfare and the food supply. Uh, are we missing something?
Like all such polito-loco matters, in the end, it’s all about who of the illustrious Congress will actually support this. Some will oppose on the grounds it’s better strategically to get to the same end without this law and if you’ve ever been up close and personal with laws-gone-wrong, you might agree. The lobbyists are not going away easily either, as noted by the New York Times.
Maybe it’s time we speak up and let our leaders know that it’s our welfare, let alone the welfare of the animals rely upon in our food chain) not the welfare of the agri-corporations that counts.