Almost half of the meat and poultry at your local grocery store is contaminated with Staph (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria, more than half of which is antibiotic resistant.
The cause? 80 percent of all U.S. antibiotics are given to animals. It’s routinely added to animal feed so they won’t get sick and die in unhealthy mechanized farming conditions. This creates an ideal breeding ground for antibiotic-resistant Staph strains. I couldn’t find any current numbers, but in 2007, Staph killed more people than AIDS – about 19,000.
Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) reintroduced a bill this week aimed at limiting the use of certain classes of antibiotics in animal agriculture. It’s called the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act. Email your congressperson and show your support (all you need is your 9-digit zip code).
Thanks to Laurie David of the NRDC for bringing this to my attention with her brilliant article.
Robert Mitchell Jr. 