Science has taught us in the past that if something is subjected to an environment long enough, it WILL adapt. Maybe not today or tomorrow but eventually it will become accustomed to it’s current situation. Let’s take our bodies for example, our bodies can hit something called a plateau (and forgive me if this is a horrible example), but it’s my daytime job to put things in laymen’s terms so forgive me I actually enjoy this *smile*. So! have you ever gone so hard in the gym and lost an amazing amount of weight? What happens the next month still going strong, maybe not as many pounds lost as the first month but it’s something. Well, the third month crawls around and you could have sworn the scale said 130 lbs last month also! Why are you still the same weight? This is because your body has become accustomed to the vigorous workout you have put it through. You are doing the same exact exercise, at the same pace. Your body is no longer affected. This is in a sense what has been happening with the three leading farms feeding our chicken, pork, and other meats human antibiotics. Antibiotics are meant for sick humans, and when we take this medicine the bacteria in our system should never see what’s coming and be quickly done away with. Instead they are multiplying! Our body can’t react to something it’s already used to! Our food has already been given and raised on mass amounts of what is supposed to help us in our time of need. If our bodies are already accustomed to these antibiotics and our bodies won’t budge then it causes death. The bacteria that is supposed to scatter has already figured out a way to fight these antibiotics before it even it our plates. It has had time to adjust during the lifetime of the livestock for generations.
So what’s my point?
Antibiotic resistance in the population is costing the health care system $20 billion and leading to 23,000 deaths annually. So who are the top three culprits?
- Tyson
- Pilgrim’s Pride
- Perdue
With these companies being so big they’re all moving forward to an antibiotic free future. What other choice do you have when you’re in the limelight? So there is some good news. Unfortunately there are a mass amount of smaller companies that have no plans to stop feeding their livestock antibiotics for growth promotion.
*Note: Tyson is also putting resources toward researching alternatives to antibiotics*
Research has shown that probiotics, including the strains of bacteria found in yogurt, and antimicrobial plants like oregano can be highly effective in controlling salmonella and campylobacter infections in poultry. Read More
So while the problem is being semi fixed what can we do in the meantime to protect ourselves? We can support local markets and farms that produce humanly raised and untreated animals. I’ve came up with a list of farms in the local area. Some actually have open markets on some days. I’ve listed my favorites in blue. 🙂
Farmers Markets: farm@Petersburg Farmers Market, 7am–12 noon, Saturdays, May thru October, and 9am–noon Saturdays, November thru April.
Dolce Vita Farm, Kerry Giannotti, PO Box 43, Sutherland VA 23885. (804) 721-3256
::Another great store that I have mentioned before is Ellwood Thompson::
Deciding against the minimum standard of a 400 mile radius to be considered locally grown, they only use farms within a 100 mile radius. How awesome is that! Ellwood Thompson is located on Cary Street right in the heart of RVA! Here is a listing of their farms.
Riseuphealth 