I recently read an article that eating meat from farms and ranches that use antibiotics to keep their animals from getting infectious bacteria’s is unhealthy, even possibly dangerous, for us. While I can understand that people could be worried about what they eat and easily believe an accusation like that, I don’t understand why you would believe it when it comes from an incredible source. If you want the truth about something that pertains to an agricultural subject ask a person who actually raises animals for food consumption or an animal science professor at your local college. Don’t ask a person who probably hasn’t stepped onto a ranch or farm or ever handled animals like cattle or pigs.
Right now I’m going to practice what I preach. I don’t raise pigs or chickens and certainly am not an expert in that department, but I have lived on a ranch my whole life raising cattle for beef and know a thing or two about how they are raised and processed for food.
Let’s take a look at the first accusation that beef that has been injected with antibiotics, like penicillin, poses a health problem. The article states that if we eat meat from a healthy steer that has antibiotics in his system when we get sick and need antibiotics they won’t work for our bodies. First of all antibiotics do not fight viruses, they kill bacteria (medicalnewstoday.com). Animals and people already naturally produce antibiotics to help fight infections. It is also not a common practice for ranches to give an antibiotic to an animal unless they believe it is at risk of getting an infection or already has an infection of some sort. Then there is the common sense to realize that the small quantity of antibiotics given to an animal is going to be distributed through their whole, very large, body. So how likely is it for that small dose to end up in just your steak, because it would take a major quantity of that antibiotic to be in just the piece of meat you’re eating to ever effect you negatively (sustainabletable.org).
Then the article went on to say that it is believed by the veterinary and ranching community, that antibiotics help prevent disease outbreaks that could wipe out entire herds. This should get a few chuckles out of anybody who raises cattle. Antibiotics are not used to prevent disease; vaccines are used to prevent them. To put it simple a vaccine is kind of like a flu shot for cattle. It helps prevent common diseases that can spread from cow to cow. So tell me would you rather eat a cow you know is healthy, or one that hasn’t been treated to prevent any unhealthy viruses?
The last statement by this article that angered me a little was how cattle are treated inhuman on these giant “factory farms”. Seems like someone has watched Food Inc. too many times. If you agree with this article and believe cattle aren’t raised on a family owned ranch you are dead wrong. All of your beef cattle will be raised on a family ranch that comes with the green grass and all that other good stuff. Cattle won’t see the feedlots in tell the last few months of their lives before they are butchered. This is a normal process that puts the last weight gain and pounds on them so we are efficient at what we do. If we are not efficient at this we would have to kill more lighter weight cattle. The statement about beef cattle having all their tales cut off at feedlots is so absurd and ignorant, I do not feel the need to make a rebuttal to it.
I encourage you to go out and talk to your local veterinarian maybe even tour a feedlot or slaughter house if you have the time. All of which have open door policies. You deserve to know the truth about where your food comes from just don’t be surprised when it isn’t all the dark savage stories uninformed people makeup.