The Use of Antibiotics in Meat Production

A message about the use of antibiotics in meat production from Stephen McDonnell, founder and CEO of Applegate Farms.

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News & Politics

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[7891midnight]

@steer1300 If thats true how does applegate produce their meat with almost all the livestock anitbiotic free???

[katfurtado13]

The reason why American livestock tend to become sick is because there is an ever increasing human population, thus more animals must be produced to feed all of us. In America there are a lot of large scale farms that use very little space to raise lots of animals, and in those cramped conditions, disease spreads very rapidly.

[MTOTOwaNYAYO]

@steer1300 why are american animals sick in the first place... i lived in france b4 i came to states and animals dont have the same deathrate what gives?

[steer1300]

@grimslider75 heres the thing many genreations ago when their were no antibiotics the survival rate of our livestock was far lower. very rarely could you save 75% now with antibiotics it is more common to see rates of 100%. but most producers usually end up losing one or two head due to birth defects or weather. People want us to treat our livestock humanely which we are but if we gave up antibiotics people would be complaining that we should do something for our sick animals.

[grimslider75]

@steer1300

True. This is what our market economy propagates: more losers (business-wise, that is...)

[grimslider75]

@steer1300

what you have stated is the immediate, inescapable "aftershock" of continuous anti-biotic usage. If the long term recovery were able to at least be recognized, one would see that the animals will over generations, return to their natural state, as they were many generation ago in the farms themselves.

[steer1300]

Denmark banned all antibiotic in livestock feed and it failed in everyway. Food born illness increased, livestock death increased, food prices increased, and many small farmers went out of businness because they couldn't handle the increased death loss. The exact same thing would happen here too if such a bann was imposed

[steer1300]

People use more antibiotics than what we give livestock. Most people take a pill for every single ache and pain they have. Each animal is given a very small amount. There is no scientific evidense out there that antibiotic resistance comes from livestock. There antibiotics don't work on us plus there is not enough to be in the meat. Just because you buy meat from a farmers market doesn't mean that they haven't used any

[Supadupatight]

I don't have a problem with a use of a little antibiotics here and there, but with factory farms, they use about 15-17 million pounds a year. Antibiotics can be dangerous to us because we aren't used to that. Think about it, animals digest the antibiotics and you don't think it's going to end up in our next hamburger? I will not eat processed meat, I will only eat meat from a farmer's market.

[steer1300]

@crabfishlion We care more about our livestock than you ever will because raising livestock is our job our living.  I can't stress this anymore you don't know what goes on beyond the media which is sad. The media only tells you the negatives and nothing about the positves that far more farmers do