THE HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF FEEDLOTS IN AMERICA
Chanel Bailer
AP Capstone Mrs. OT Period 5
Word Count: 1432
Most American beef is raised on feedlots, to provide a lot of beef in a short period of time. These feedlots are crowded, which can cause the corn-fed cows to breed diseases that could be potentially harmful to the consumers. Feedlot owners have to give cows antibiotics to try to prevent the spread of diseases from animal to animal. Yet, sometimes these antibiotics are often unhelpful, and, therefore, it is possible for the number of these diseases cross over into humans. Bacteria such as Salmonella and others can cause infections in cattle and calves in turn affecting humans, if tainted meat from the
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Antibiotics are intended to kill bacteria. However, not all bacteria are alike, and they often mutate over time. Some types of bacteria are resistant to certain antibiotics. Therefore, as an antibiotic is more often used, the population of bacteria will gradually be replaced by a population of bacteria which the antibiotic cannot kill. (In simpler terms: more antibiotics that are used can cause the bacteria to not be affected by it at all.) (National Resources Defense Council, n.d).The regular use of antibiotics is so common because of the promotion of the increased growth rate in animals, and it is also used to increase profits (Dr. Tim O’Brien, 1997). The use of antibiotics should not be used to solely benefit large meat companies. Angela Browning, Junior Agriculture Minister, mentions that over 62 different antibiotics were authorized for use in the feed of cows (Dr. Tim O’Brien, 1997). In a business where profits are counted in pennies per cow, the weight gained with antibiotics and hormones is profound. Patrick Boyle of PBS states that “there is some evidence to indicate that the antibiotics kill the flora that would normally thrive in the animal's' intestines, thereby allowing the animals to utilize their food more effectively” (2014). This antibiotic can pose more health risks to humans. The biggest disputation over antibiotics concentrates around taking antibiotics that are used to heal human diseases and giving them to cattle. Microbiologist Dr. Glenn Morris states that the main problem for people is that, if someone consumes the bacteria through improperly cooked meat, he or she may not react well to antibiotic cure. Antibiotic resistance can become a big issue with the cows. The World Health Organization (WHO) specifically is worried about this issue, so they often suggest restraining the use of antibiotics in the animals we eat. In a
A growing issue in the world today is the use of antibiotics and growth hormones in animal production industry. However, for over sixty years Americans have been exposed to hormones on a regular basic when they consume beef. (Organic Consumer Association) On average eighty percent of all feedlot cattle are given hormones to help them grow at an increased rate. (Communication Foundation) “In 1988 the European Union banned the use of all hormone growth promoters.” (Organic Consumer Association)
middle of paper ... ... There are also many people that are worried that the use of antibiotics for treating bacteria on farms could cause the drugs to become resistant to the bacteria, which also infect humans. It is said that hormones are used more in the beef cattle operations than in dairy cattle operations.
Every beef cattle produced is injected with steroids. With the injection of steroids it makes the cow grow at an alarming rate, and helps turn food into muscle at a quicker rate. But this is the obvious information. What are they putting into both dairy cattle and beef cattle that could cause harm to us? There is a harmful hormone called IGF. Now, this hormone is not directly put into the cattle. But, all cattle are given rBGH (to put simply it helps them produce more milk/meat). But, rBGH is directly linked to IGF, a hormone that mimics the effects of the growth of human hormones in dangerous ways. It is said that cattle containing rBGH produce 10 times to IGF than cattle without rBGH. “In a 2004 study, patients with above-average IGF levels had nearly a 50% higher risk of prostate cancer and a 65% higher risk of hormone-dependent premenopausal breast cancer than people with below-average levels.” says Carina Storrs of Health.com. Also, a lot of cattle are dosed with high amounts of antibiotics, like penicillin. It is said that a lot of the antibiotics that humans use become ineffective from being exposed to antibiotic resistant bacteria from eating beef! These are just a few of MANY drugs put into cattle. Do you see how consuming high amounts of beef could be harmful to
According to USA Today, U.S. doctors are prescribing enough antibiotics to give to 4 out of 5 Americans every year, an alarming pace that suggests they are being excruciatingly overused. In fact, Dr. Aunna Pourang from MD states, “to give you an idea of how high the pressure is to prescribe antibiotics, I didn’t get a job once because during the interview I told the lead physician that I only prescribe antibiotic prescriptions when they are warranted.” The development and widespread obsession of antibiotics, or drugs that kill bacteria and thereby reduce infection, has helped billions of people live longer, healthier lives. Unfortunately, the more we rely on and abuse antibiotics, the more bacteria develop resistance to them, which makes treating infections that much more challenging and leads to the growth of drug-resistant strains of bacteria. Research from the Center of Disease Control found that two million people in the United States become infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria, while 23,000 people die from such infections each year. Americans often aren’t informed on the power of the human body and rush to assumptions when perfection isn’t present. In a nutshell, the obsession of antibiotics is quite deadly and needs to be addressed before it’s too
...eats contact. Finally, families who eat spinal or nervous tissue of cows can greatly reduce their risks of developing mad cow disease by not purchasing such items. The beef industry is willingly under surveillance, making all attempts to produce safe and healthy products. American residents should be assured that all necessary precautions have been taken to keep Mad Cow Disease out of the United States and consumer-friendly beef on market shelves. An excerpt from the FDA Consumer Magazine leaves the nation with this very “important message from both the Harvard and GAO studies. . . We must continue to work hard to make a good system even better. The FDA and the states will continue their aggressive inspection program and will continue to work closely with all components of the cattle and feed communities to help make a, thankfully, low public risk even lower.”
Pollan’s words, “You are what what you eat eats, too”, got me thinking about how not only am I eating my food, but I am also eating what my food ate (Pollan 84). For example, when I eat a hamburger, I’m not only eating cow meat and bread, but I’m also eating what the cow ate, which is now mostly corn and antibiotics. When I first learned that cows are mainly eating corn and antibiotics, I was appalled. Though many may say that animals are being fed antibiotics to combat all sorts of disease, an article written by Sabrina Tavernise, who wrote for the New York Times, even states, “Farmers learned that antibiotics helped animals grow rapidly, and they began to add the drugs to feed and water, with no prescriptions or sign of sickness in the animals” (Tavernise 2014). The main reason for cows being fed all of these antibiotics isn’t simply because the animals are sick. Instead the animals are being fed these drugs because these drugs apparently help shorten the amount of time for animals to be sent to slaughter
George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a book that displays what can occur in a society that is ruled by an oppressive government. By using farm animals, George Orwell shows how an oppressive government can prove to be disastrous and also confining. While the book was originally regarded as a book that parallels the effects of communism, in more recent times the book has also shown to parallel the happenings occurring in what is known as the Arab Spring. Currently, countries involved in the Arab Spring has begun to revolt and rebel against their governments that oppress them in hopes of gaining freedom and equality among the people. These countries include Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, and Syria. It is in these countries where the people have grown overly frustrated and angry at their governments that treat them unfairly. While some have become successful in overthrowing their government, there are still those that are struggling. However, Tunisia is not one of the struggling countries but in fact is one that was successful in its revolution. It is in the country of Tunisia were many similarities in its revolution are seen in George Orwell’s book. This paper will attempt to illustrate the equivalences between the events that occurred in Animal Farm but also in the Tunisian revolution.
The “triumph of capitalism” (L3) puts a strain on our resources by food industries burning “nearly a fifth of all the petroleum consumed in the United States” (L3). A study by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations), reports that, “…the livestock sector is exerting mounting pressure on the world’s natural resources” (FAO). Deforestation, caused by clearing of the land for livestock production, releases “enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere” (FAO) causing the extinction of several plant and animal species. Along with deforestation, the livestock sector accounts “for nearly one tenth of global human water use” (FAO) and is “probably the largest source of water pollution” (FAO). The excessive amount of waste created by raising lots of animals in one over-packed place also pollutes our air, land, and water. To counteract the health problems presented by unsanitary and congested living conditions, antibiotics are used throughout industrial farms, creating drug-resistant bacteria as well as putting human health at
When bacteria are frequently exposed to antibiotics it can become resistant to the drug so that it is no longer effective in treating a specific illness (Visser). To compensate for unhygienic environments and to accelerate growth, antibiotics are often given to food animals in the U.S. In 2011, 29.9 million pounds of antibiotics were sold in America for meat and poultry production ("Record"). Many of the types of antibiotics used in food animal production is also used in human medicine, and according to the WHO, “widespread use of antim...
Resistance arises from mutations that are not under the control of humans, but the evolution of bacteria has been sped along by the overexposure of antibiotics to both people and animals. The number of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria in an area is closely related to the frequency that antibiotics that are prescribed (Todar, 2012). Patients often unnecessarily demand antibiotics to treat common colds or simple illnesses that are not caused by bacteria. Instead, these infections are caused by viruses which, unlike bacteria, are unaffected by antibiotics. Incorrect diagnosis can also lead patients to using unnecessary antibiotics, which can sometimes be even more dangerous than otherwise left untreated. Besides the fact that antibiotics kill off beneficial bacteria in the intestines, misuse of antibiotics provides an opportunity ...
However, health concerned organizations want to ban the use of these products due to the increasing fears that they can cause harm to the consumers. For over 50 years, antibiotics have been added to the food of animals such as poultry, cattle and pigs. The main purpose for doing so is to lower the risk of disease in animals. Farm animals are housed together in overcrowded areas, which are very dirty. The hygiene level can get to such a poor state that they are often in contact with their own excreta as well as excreta of the other animals they are housed with and because of tight single air space they share, the likelihood of catching diseases from one another is further increased and very often a whole heard can be infected at one time.
In the last decade, the number of prescriptions for antibiotics has increases. Even though, antibiotics are helpful, an excess amount of antibiotics can be dangerous. Quite often antibiotics are wrongly prescribed to cure viruses when they are meant to target bacteria. Antibiotics are a type of medicine that is prone to kill microorganisms, or bacteria. By examining the PBS documentary Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria and the article “U.S. government taps GlaxoSmithKline for New Antibiotics” by Ben Hirschler as well as a few other articles can help depict the problem that is of doctors prescribing antibiotics wrongly or excessively, which can led to becoming harmful to the body.
Meat cultivation uses more land, water and resources to house, transport, and slaughter animals and their grain and food than it would cost to fund in vitro meat studies. In April 2008 the In Vitro Consortium first met at the Norwegian Food Research Institute. The consortium is “an international alliance of environmentally concerned scientists striving to facilitate the establishment of a large scale process industry for the production of muscle tissue for human consumption through concerted R&D efforts and attraction of funding fuels to these efforts. ”Meat in both its production and its consumption has a number of destructive effects on not only the environment and humans but also live stock. Some of these effects are antibiotic resistant bacteria due to the overuse of antibiotics in livestock, meat-borne pathogens (e. coli), and diseases associated with diets rich in animal fats (diabetes).
It is estimated that over one-half of the antibiotics in the U.S. are used in food animal production. The overuse of antimicrobials in food animal production is an under-appreciated problem. In both human and veterinary medicine, the risk of developing resistance rises each time bacteria are exposed to antimicrobials. Resistance opens the door to treatment failure for even the most common pathogens and leads to an increasing number of infections. The mounting evidence of the relationship between antimicrobial use in animal husbandry and the increase in bacterial resistance in humans has prompted several reviews of agricultural practices by scientific authorities in a number of countries, including the US.
Cows are fed corn in concentrated animal feeding operations or (CAFO) which they aren’t supposed to eat. Cows have evolved to eat grass such as their multiply stomach but these days most the beef your eating will be have eaten corn with a cost to the environment, their health, and to you as a consumer. Grass has also evolved to be eaten by cows too, when a cow eats grass it won’t die as long as it gives it time to recover. Cows protect grass by eating shrubs and things that might compete; also they spread grass seeds and fertilizer with manure. Their daily diet in CAFO contains corn, protein supplement (containing molasses and urea), antibiotic drugs, alfalfa hay, and silage, these will be ground up and turned into feed. Cows used to be feed cow even though these animals are herbivores it was protein. They put scarps of meat into the feed. In till an outbreak of mad cow disease in England, mad cow disease is when something eats infected cow brain. Since they were eating cows and we eat the cows we were getting it to, the disease is always fatal. It was banned in 1997 but there are still some exceptions, we are still allowed to feed cows beef tallow and other animals. Some people worry that this could start mad cow disease again.