ColumnIf you eat at a restaurant or fast food chain, you won’t get served a pill of antibiotics with your meal, but big chain restaurants across the U.S. are full of products that are dependent on antibiotics to get them from the factory farm to your table.

We have taken a look at the issue of antibiotic use before. In the U.S., 70 to 80 percent of the antibiotics go to factory farms, and most of the antibiotic use is preventative, called “non-therapeutic” because the conditions at many factory farms are so bad that giving animals antibiotics is simply a way to ensure animals don’t get sick.

Why should we worry if there are antibiotics in our food? First and foremost, because scientists around the globe are warning us about the severe threat of antibiotic resistant bacteria, what some refer to as the issue of “superbugs.”  For World Health Day in 2011, the World Health Organization took on the issue, noting “in the absence of urgent corrective and protective actions, the world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era, in which many common infections will no longer have a cure and, once again, kill unabated.” But that was 2011 and things haven’t really improved.In November, the WHO will hold the first ever World Antibiotic Awareness Week in the hopes of raising awareness and tackling the issue.

There is also a growing group of scientists who are talking about the link between antibiotic use and obesity, the most recent a study focused on children which showed a connection between antibiotics and childhood obesity.

Knowing that so many of the antibiotics in the U.S. go to factory farms, part of solving the problem is putting pressure on not only the farms that are antibiotic dependent, but also the restaurants and food brands that use their products.

Last week Friends of the Earth published a new report that gives a grim look at restaurants and the use of antibiotics in their meat supply. Of the top 25 American restaurant chains, all but five received a failing grade.

There is some movement, but it’s slow. As you can see from the graphic, the majority of the restaurant chains are right at the bottom. Panera and Chipotle are the only two who publicly state that the majority of their meat and poultry served is raised without antibiotics. McDonald’s has established policies limiting antibiotic use in the chicken that they use, along with an implementation timeline. Other chains like many at the bottom have absolutely no policies in place at all.

Given the ramifications of the overuse of antibiotics, the lack of policies at these huge food chains is significant.

“In order to protect the health and wellbeing of humans and animals alike, the way we perceive animals and how we raise them for food has to shift dramatically,” wrote Cameron Harsh in a blog for Center for Food Safety.

The report is a call to action to consumers to challenge these companies to change their policies. While action from the FDA is crucial in applying stricter guidelines on antibiotic use, we as consumers also need to challenge more restaurants and food chains to rethink and change what products they buy. Want to take action immediately? Sign FOE’s letter calling on Subway to change its policies.

We do have power; we just have to use it.

Related on EcoSalon

The 10 Biggest Issues with Global Food

Antibiotic Resistance and the Industrial Meat Industry: Foodie Underground

Rise of the Superbugs

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Image: Mike Mozart

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The USDA approved four Chinese plants to process chicken that will be sold in the U.S. without any country of origin labeling. Prior to this decision chicken sourced from China was not approved for human consumption in the U.S., only for animal consumption. The fact that 2,200 animals became ill and nearly 360 died as a result of eating tainted jerky treats made with chicken sourced from China didn’t seem to phase the USDA. Are humans next?

Though the USDA claims there is equivalent food quality standard at Chinese plants, no USDA inspector will be present to make sure it’s being enforced.

“Given the well-documented shortcoming of the Chinese food safety system, we shouldn’t allow unmarked meat into our markets that is processed in Chinese facilities that are not subject to food safety inspections,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said in a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, reports Food Safety News. “This action could endanger the health and safety of American consumers and potentially undermines confidence in our nation’s food safety standards.”

Did USDA Officials Cut a Deal?

Chicken sourced from China had formerly been blocked by lawmakers because of that country’s troubles with avian flu. Despite questions about quality standards, some feel that U.S. officials are willing to look the other way on chicken imports so that China will lift restrictions on U.S. beef. Of course, U.S. officials deny such a motivation. China currently imports its beef primarily from Australia, Uruguay, New Zealand, and Canada because of concerns about mad cow disease in U.S. beef.

It’s important to note that the chicken imported from China will only have been processed there–it will be raised and slaughtered in the U.S. or elsewhere. This only calls into question the dark underbelly of chicken production in the U.S.

According to Salon.com, “The vast majority of the almost 300 million egg-laying hens raised in the U.S. every year are kept in cages too small for them to spread their wings, and this practice is beginning to take hold in raising our 8 billion broilers (the ones we eat) as well. The broilers are fed a diet laden with arsenic and antibiotics.” Additionally, a 2009 USDA study found that 87 percent of chicken cadavers were laden with e. coli [PDF].

Antibiotics and Environmental Devastation

Chickens forced to live in horrific conditions can only be kept healthy with inordinate amounts of antibiotics. It’s these antibiotics, used to both fend off disease and to fatten up chickens prematurely, that are causing antibiotic resistance. Each year, more than two million people are infected by drug-resistant germs and 23,000 die of their infections. Overtime, the constant use of low doses of antibiotics allow the surviving bacteria to become resistant, which creates the superbugs that are making us sicker and sicker each year.

And we haven’t even started to discuss the environmental pollution caused by chicken production in the U.S. Producers dispose of manure by spreading it on open fields or cropland. It’s over applied and dangerously managed, contaminating soil and creating water-quality problems.

“In just over 50 years, the broiler industry has been transformed from more than one million small farms spread across the country to a  limited number of massive factory-style operations concentrated in 15 states,” said Karen Steuer, who directs Pew’s efforts to reform industrial animal agriculture, in a 2011 statement. “This growth has harmed the environment, particularly water, because management programs for chicken waste have not kept pace with output.”

The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know. Though U.S. chicken production is the devil we do know, it shouldn’t be a beacon of hope either. Chicken newly sourced from China as well as an already problematic industrial chicken complex are all the more reasons to buy organic and even better, buy from small, local producers whenever possible.

Related on EcoSalon:
Will Eating Chicken Wings During Pregnancy Affect Your’s Child’s Penis Size
Jesus, Enough With the Chicken
The Green Plate: Down with Factory Chicken Flesh

Image: qmnonic

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How overuse of antibiotics and germ phobia may contribute to our most serious health problems.

We are more bacteria than human. More “other” than ourselves. It’s true. Bacteria cells in our bodies outnumber human cells by 10 to 1.

Scientists are just now discovering the role that the beneficial bacteria in our bodies play in governing how our bodies react to food, regulating appetite and digestion, and enhancing immunity to a host of chronic diseases. An article in May’s Scientific American (synopsis here) outlined the incredible diversity of the microbial systems living within us (our microbiome) and told how scientists are mapping the DNA of these bacteria to discover the important role microbiomes play in our health.

We’re pretty much sterile in the womb, only beginning to build our rich bacterial inner lives as we pass through the birth canal. Another early source of bacteria for infants is through their mothers’ milk and through interacting with family members, pets, and the world around them. Compared to two generations ago, children today have a deficit of beneficial bacteria in their bodies. The reasons for this include the increase in Cesarean births, formula feeding, antibacterial soaps and hand-sanitizers, and the prescription of antibiotics for childhood infections. Other possible reasons include the overuse of antibiotics in both human medicine and animal agriculture, and our modern American diet.

As scientists discover the specific roles some of the bacteria play in regulating functions such as digestion and appetite, they are beginning to hypothesize that a deficit in beneficial bacteria may be the cause of many of our modern health problems including obesity, food sensitivities and allergies, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and even cancer.

For example, the bacteria, H. pylori regulates the hormones that govern hunger. In studies, people who lack the bacteria due to treatment with antibiotics gain more weight. According to Scientific American, less than 6% of American children have H. pylori in their bodies now, while 2 to 3 generations ago, 80% of Americans had it, corresponding with the generational rise in obesity.

The article also talks about another bacteria called B. thetaiotaomicron, which coaxes nutrients out of indigestible carbohydrates like whole grains. A deficit of B. thetaiotaomicron can create problems with digestion that lead to serious illness, and may be behind the rise in autoimmune disorders. Nishanga Bliss, Master of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine, licensed acupuncturist, and author of the book, Real Food All Year, on the benefits of eating seasonally from both a Chinese and Western medicine perspective, explains how this works.

“When your body doesn’t get the nutrients it needs from food, it sets up an inflammatory cascade through your systems, and this can contribute to a lot of our chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and autoimmune disorders.” Bliss goes on to tell EcoSalon, “About a decade ago, scientists started to figure out that inflammation is a factor in all of these diseases. At current rates, one in five people will be diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder within their lifetimes.”

Bliss adds that a lack of beneficial bacteria in the gut is likely the cause of many food allergies and sensitivities, which cause inflammation in the body that can lead to disease.

“Your body shouldn’t have an immune response to food unless it’s bad. It’s the microbiome’s job to tell your body not to freak out about the food you eat.” Without a healthy, balanced microbiome “your body attacks the food, causing an allergic response and inflammation,” Bliss says.

So what are five things you can do to make sure your microbiome stays healthy and keeps you healthy?

1. Eat Foods That Contribute to a Healthy Microbiome

These include fermented foods such as sauerkraut, fermented pickles, kimchi, yogurt, and a modest amount of beer or wine, and sourdough bread (even cooked fermented foods like sourdough have a positive impact on digestion according to Bliss). She also recommends fiber rich foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans. The reason is because beneficial bacteria feast on these foods to make them digestible to our bodies. In turn, they gain nourishment and increase in numbers, said Bliss.

2. Stop Sanitizing

Lose the hand-sanitizer unless you’re in a dangerous or particularly dirty situation or working with an immune compromised individual. Soap and water are plenty effective for everyday hand washing. If we make our environments too sterile, our bodies won’t be able to handle stronger bugs they might come into contact with.

3. Use Antibiotics Sparingly and Replenish Gut Flora

Don’t take antibiotics unless you know you have an infection. If you do take them, make sure you finish your course so as not to create resistant survivors. Always up your intake of fermented foods to rebalance your gut flora. Bliss says go straight to food sources as the probiotic capsules available in health food stores, though perfectly fine, are made from fermented foods anyway.

4. Urge Regulators to Prohibit the Routine Use of Antibiotics in Agriculture

The overuse of antibiotics in healthy animals to make them grow faster or help them withstand the filthy conditions on factory farms is a growing problem that we talked about recently. This practice could be leading to drug resistant superbugs, and their residues might be finding their way into us, killing our good bacteria and affecting our health.

Industry representatives contend that meat and milk are routinely tested for antibiotic residues and that it isn’t a problem in our food supply. However, testing data from dairy cows presented here from 2008 show that scheduled inspections included only 1,099 of the 2.7 million dairy cows slaughtered for meat in total – less than half a percent. Inspector generated sampling, on the other hand, targets animals with signs of disease or animals from producers with questionable histories. In 2008, inspector generated sampling covered 80,131 dairy cows – still fewer than 3% of all dairy cows slaughtered for meat. But, 788 cows tested positive for a wide range of drugs, with many testing positive for more than one type.

5. Join Fix Food’s Campaign to Get the Drugs Out of Our Meat

In the absence of real regulation by FDA, a new campaign launched by Fix Food goes straight to consumers, asking them sign a petition demanding that Trader Joes sell meat raised without antibiotics. Robert Kenner, Director of Food Inc., is on the board, so you can see more of his great work in the video announcing the campaign.

Images: kaibara, AlegnaMarie, BeinKorean

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In companion animals, severe wounds often result in severe consequences: amputation, infection, sometimes even death. As unbelievable as it sounds, an unexpected savior has emerged.

Medical-grade maggots.

In 2004, the FDA classified sterilized maggots as a medical device – in other words, you can purchase a prescription for fly larvae. Recently maggots have been used to clean human wounds, but veterinary medicine only recently has begun exploring the usage of these little wrigglers.

According to Monarch Labs, a supplier of medicinal maggots, these worm-like insects work wonders on hard-to-heal wounds. The maggots clean infected and dead tissue in a process called “debridement.” They also kill the bacteria while stimulating new tissue growth. Maggots eat dead flesh but avoid live flesh and were used medically in the Middle Ages – but since they weren’t sterilized back then, the results were mixed.

The process involves a veterinarian applying the medicinal maggots to your pet’s wound along with a special dressing that prevents the maggots from squirming away.

According to Monarch, “World-wide, approximately 50,000 treatments were applied to wounds in 2008.” That statistic applies to people, though – veterinarians seem hesitant to adopt the treatment. It might seem creepy at first, but it might also be a safer alternative to antibiotics that have incredibly harsh side effects.

If your dog or cat had a severe wound, would you consider medicinal maggots as a treatment?

Image: aslakr

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Every time you leave the water running while brushing your teeth, you vow you will break the habit soon because you care deeply about the planet’s resources. Eating meat makes you feel sad, knowing we are no longer hunters who cannot survive without animal protein, yet those subliminal burger ads are bringing out the Edward in you. And every time you leave the TV on all night, you wake up without the proper REM sleep and a higher power bill.

Be compassionate with yourself. Baby steps, dude. Baby steps.

At EcoSalon, we are proud to hold your hand and walk you through those first steps to becoming the conscious citizen of the world you envision. Here are 10 resolutions to get you from A (affluenza) to Z (zooplankton).

1. Phantom Energy

The no-brainer action you can take right now in your home to eliminate daily waste is to pull the plugs on appliances, machines and lights not in use. You will discover the savings and rewards by checking out this post.

2. Downer Meat

If you are what you eat, do you really aspire to be a sickly cow, pig or chicken? That’s exactly what you are pumping into your bloodstream and your family’s diet every time you buy and serve meat that has been treated with growth hormones and antibiotics and raised in inhumane, filthy conditions. Review how to avoid this putrid protein which is not only harming your body but the natural resources we treasure. Eat this up.

3. Over Dependence on Electric Appliances

Hanging your laundry out to dry will not bring down the hood! Give it a go and see how much it cuts down your power bill. Also, switch to Energy Star appliances to reduce the waste. Other steps include buying rechargable solar batteries, watching commercial-free television (meaning less TV) and yes, finding a mate more satisfying than your computer and other electric gadgets. Turn on here.

4. Refusal to Compost and Recycle at Home and at Work

Seriously, this is the new way of keeping up with the Joneses. It’s not about the new car in the garage but the bins on the curb. Our landfills are rapidly filling up, and said to be the most telling time capsules of our history as a modern people. Reuse and composting is everything because when you are throwing something out, remember, there is no “out.” Get on board, January 1! Back peddle to find out more.

5. All Driving and No Biking

We’ve told you how to improve your gas mileage, but you should also do what you will be forced to do in the future: Drive less because gas is pricey and bad for the air. Bike when you can, walk or take public transportation and get more fit a the the same time. You’ll also save on dreaded parking tickets! Looks good!

6. Wasting Water

Turn off that tap, shorten that shower, switch to a low water flush toilet, use towels more than once, switch out your green lawn for succulents. It’s that easy to make a difference for a thirsty world – growing more thirsty every day. Extra reading here.

7. Using Plastic and Other Disposables

Buy reusable water bottles and challenge yourself at the market to avoid single use plastic bags and packaging of all sorts. Take reusable bags with you, and when you forget, keep reusing the paper ones the market issued until they are ready to be recycled. Carry a reusable lunch box to work. Use cloth napkins, biodegradable utensils and plates. Say NO to plastics no matter what you hear in The Graduate. Save paper, and save trees! More info here, here and here.

8. Being Too Rushed to Buy Fresh, Local and Organic

You love your body, right? Not loving it means not taking the time to shop and eat sustainably, whether frequenting the local farmer’s market to choosing organic from the shelves of your neighborhood market. It’s not just about shedding pounds in the new year, but taking stock in the crock, and slowing down on the cooking and consuming. You will find healthiest people love their bodies this way.

9. Not Shopping Eco Wear

Wear your green on your sleeves in the coming year by investing in eco wear. It’s a matter of putting quality above quantity and supporting emerging vendors of garments woven of healthy fibers sans the harsh chemicals and dyes. Shop the top online eco boutiques.

10. Consistently Exposing Yourself to Chemicals You Can Avoid

Our moms got their hair and nails done weekly, and used make-up laced with poison that seeped into the skin. We don’t have to expose ourselves to chemicals in our everyday beauty and household products, but it takes discipline. Beauty background here.

Image: Sally M

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