About antibiotics and livestock production
What does factory farming have to do with the diminishing effectiveness of antibiotics? A lot more than you might think...
Increasing antimicrobial resistance is presenting challenges to caregivers trying to rid resistant ‘superbugs’ such as c. difficile from hospitals and other care facilities across the country. Some experts suggest over prescription of antibiotics in treating human illness is contributing to the problem, but another potential source of resistance is the overuse of antibiotics by factory farming operations.
Choose Antibiotic-free Food
One of the easiest ways to curb the overuse of antibiotics in livestock production is to make informed and wise decisions when choosing what to eat...
As people gain more knowledge about how their food is produced and start demanding healthier options, more meat and dairy producers are electing to raise their livestock without the routine use of antibiotics. However, when you go into a supermarket, grocery store or farmers’ market how can you tell if the meat or dairy product you are purchasing were raised with or without the use of antibiotics?
The following labels can help inform you to make the choice that is right for you:
How can you help reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics in livestock production?
Here are two easy ways in which you can act...
A) Pressure your MP to support the establishment of a Canadian Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance
While broad-based public interest groups are calling upon the Canadian government to end the widespread use of antibiotics as growth promoters in livestock production, Ottawa has chosen to disband the ten-year-old Canadian Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance (CCAR) and ignore pleas from health experts and scientists to establish a Canadian Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance.
Documentary Returns to the Source of Swine Flu Outbreak
and points the finger at factory farms...
This excellent documentary, originally broadcast in French by Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR) and now available in English at grain.org, leads viewers to La Gloria, Mexico- the small village where the first cases of the H1N1 pandemic were initially reported in April 2009.
Once there, reporters learned villagers in the area were suffering from severe respiratory illnesses, water shortages, rancid-smelling air and a plague of rats- all of which coincided with the arrival of several enormous factory pig far
Ontario Agriculture Minister Swayed to Save Organic Turkey
In a move that came better late than never, Leona Dombrowsky, Ontario's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, has indicated she plans to accommodate the province's organic turkey farmers handcuffed by Turkey Farmers of Ontario regulations that prevented them from raising their birds in a fashion that qualified for organic certification.
Swine Flu Pandemic 2009
Read a selection of informative and revealing media articles, stay on top of the latest developments, or link up with government and international health organizations tracking the swine flu outbreak at our Swine Flu Pandemic webpage. For more information visit our Swine Flu fact sheet.
