COMMENTARY | Most people know that there is a longstanding debate on whether giving perfectly healthy livestock medications is good for humans. In the last couple weeks the FDA has made two rulings regarding this argument. The first ruling states that the FDA pulled the plug on procedures, begun in 1977, that might have ended the practice of feeding penicillin and tetracycline to livestock. The second ruling says the agency issued an order that prohibits certain uses, including preventive uses, of another class of antibiotics also used to treat pneumonia and other infections in people. Just recently the FDA has reported that only 20 percent of antibiotics sold in the U.S. are given to humans, and the remaining percentage is given to animals.
I personally have an argument for and against this issue. However, I feel that one out weighs the other.
I first understand that giving these animals antibiotics will in theory, prevent them from becoming ill. In most cases animals live closely together, so if one becomes ill, then there is a huge chance that all could be infected in the end. Livestock is most farmers only source of income, and the last thing that we need in this country is for our food sources to be in jeopardy.
Secondly, I understand how some might be against giving animals medication on a daily basis. Some say that humans that consume treated meat build up an antibiotic resistance drugs, and farmers who come into contact with these medication are also at risk of building up a tolerance. The effects of this makes it harder, if not impossible to treat simple sicknesses. Furthermore, I think that there are human side effects to digesting meat with growth hormones. Nowadays you see more girls going through puberty early, you see more cancer, and more sickness than ever before.
My father-in-law is a farmer, he has been for a couple decades, and he hasn’t had to use growth hormones in his animals. He keeps a close eye on his livestock and every once in awhile he has to treat a sick animal, but he chooses to not use medication on a regular basis. Because of recent studies, my husband and I choose to only eat organic meat. I know that it’s more expensive, but we value our health more than money.