A recent study predicts that by 2050 about 10 million people
will die a year as a result of antibiotic-resistant infections.
The primary cause? Factory farming.
“Since the 1970s, meat producers have been dosing livestock
with regular, low doses of antibiotics, a
recent article from Mother Jones
reports. “For reasons not entirely understood, this regimen helps animals
grow bigger.
Such practices are commonplace worldwide and growing. Global
antibiotic consumption is slated to increase 67 percent by 2030. And even now it’s
no small problem: eighty percent of the U.S. antibiotic supply is currently
going to livestock.
“As antibiotic use skyrockets, experts expect that germs
will evolve to resist them, the article continues. “That’s scary, considering
that some of the same drugs we use on livestock are also our best defense
against infections in humans. And suberbugs [sic], several recent studies have
shown, can and do jump from animals to people.
If this continues, it’s likely we’ll see the development of
new bacteria against which antibiotics are powerless. As a result, more people
will succumb to related infections, resulting in millions of deaths a year in
less than half a century.
Worried about antibiotic-resistant bacteria? Leave meat off
your plate.
Visit ChooseVeg.com
for more information on following a healthy and humane diet.