This is going to be hard to get your head around but it's claimed that 80% of the antibiotics used in the United States is used in meat animals.
And experts now worry that medicated meat now poses a very serious health risk to humans.
As in humans, bacteria growing inside animals that are given antibiotics can develop a resistance to the medicines, Newland explained. That resistant bacteria can then be transferred to the soil through animal waste.
During severe storms, such as the EF5 tornado which killed 161 people in Joplin, that contaminated soil can end up in open wounds, and even modern medicine is challenged in combating the serious infections that can occur.
“We are increasingly treating kids with antibiotic-resistant infections who were at the last antibiotic we could possibly use on them,” [Dr. Jason Newland, of Children's Mercy Hospital] said. “In the next 20 years will we see antibiotics resistant to everything?”
A yearlong investigation by The Kansas City Star found a multimillion-dollar-a-year pharmaceutical arms race in the beef industry is not just about curing sick cows.
It’s also about fattening cattle cheaply and quickly, driven in part by efforts to maximize profits, according to food safety advocates. In fact, the same number of cattle today are producing twice as much meat as they did in the 1950s because of genetics, drugs and more efficient processing.
Despite decades of warnings, the federal government has failed to pass meaningful regulation of animal drug use, failed to adequately monitor the harmful residues they leave behind, and failed to stop the consumption of meat contaminated with such substances.
So we're breeding livestock that are medicated and eventually produce antibiotic-resistant and potentially deadly bacteria that they transfer in their waste to our highly organic soil after which they're transferred to us on the winds. And, of course, we have to heavily medicate them with antibiotics just to keep them alive in our industrial feedlot production system.
Brilliant, f**king brilliant. And if that's not enough, here's another McClatchey piece exploring the perils of mechanically tenderized beef.
With the sale of Nexin to the Chinese, gas prices jumped today in some cases by 8 cents a litre...way to go Canada....how's that for the shareholders. Good Christmas present I'd say and to hell with general public of this country.
ReplyDeleteIs there any clear linkage between the two events? I don't see it. There could be but I have trouble grasping the Nexen/domestic fuel price connection.
ReplyDeleteBut, yes, the Nexen deal was very good for one group - the former Nexen shareholders who saw their company delivered into Chinese hands for a 60% premium.
Hormone growth implants make a nice addition to the cocktail too. It's not the best stuff though if a young female happens to get pregnant, as there have been numerous cases where they couldn't produce any milk.
ReplyDeleteThey are not recommended for young bull calves either as they have a tendency to mess with their reproductive ability as well.
Here's some info from the Gov. of Manitoba on those and note 3/4 of the way down the page you will find this;
Heifer calves maintained for breeding proposes should not be reimplanted. Bull calves intended for breeding should not be implanted.
Add some GMO feed and you're off to the meat counter at your favorite grocer.
I haven't missed eating meat since I quit... So many good reasons.
ReplyDeleteAnd definitely not good for the colon....causes ulcerative colitis which Canada is the leading country and Alberta is in the forefront for this medical problem which Canadian doctors like to call ...an auto immune desease...however, Asian doctors say different and have researched this.
ReplyDeleteMOS who is going to gain from the sale of Nexen? It certainly isn't the working Canadian or .... is it? I seem to be missing something here.
ReplyDeleteWho is gaining out of this? The Nexen shareholders who received 60% more than their company was worth. Enbridge gains because the deal almost certainly comes with a side deal between Ottawa and Beijing to force the Northern Gateway through over British Columbia's objections.
ReplyDeleteRead Nikiforuk's article in The Tyee. This was an act of desperation and nothing but. Even the Wall Street Journal is observing that the Tar Sands are economically weak in today's energy markets. Canada and Alberta have so much invested, politically and in capital and subsidies, in the Tar Sands that they have to do whatever it takes to pump some life back into the bitumen fields. And it's beginning to look like the only game in town for this high-priced, high-carbon sludge may soon be China.
Without China it's quite possible that the Tar Sands could collapse. And so Harper won't hesitate to put Canada over the barrel for the pleasure of Beijing.
MOS...That is nothing different from what I think and what I know.
ReplyDelete