In Honor of Earth Day Make a Huge Impact By Choosing Protein Carefully
Posted Apr 21 2011 12:41pm
Photo: Sara Novak
Earth Day is tomorrow, yay! It’s a time to take a look back at your year and see where you can make changes that positively impact the planet. So in honor of this Earth Day, consider one of the biggest changes you can make. Choose to give up or cut way back on meat and dairy. And in those times when you do eat it, vow to avoid conventional factory farmed meat and dairy in all cases.
We’ve discussed the importance of choosing local, sustainably produced meat and dairy before. If you’re going to eat meat and dairy, make sure that the animal products that you eat were raised humanely, in fair conditions with ample room. Make sure that they weren’t fed antibiotics and hormones.
Today, this has become an even larger issue. The subtherapeutic use of antibiotics runs rampant in our country. That means using antibiotics for any use other than on a truly sick animal. For example, using them to increase weight or to ward off future illness caused by animals living in poor conditions. It’s completely appalling and cruel to treat animals in this way, but even more than that a new phenomenon of superbugs and drug resistance is on the rise.
Scientists believe that these superbugs are caused by the excessive use of low doses of antibiotics in livestock. These superbugs are creating resistance to the antibiotics that we have to treat them. The bacteria that survives these low doses molds a resistance that will cause real problems in our food and health system. Already, resistant salmonella and e coli strains have popped up in Britain, India, and even in the US.
Make sure that you choose meat and dairy that has never been treated with subtherapeutic antibiotics and tell your local representative that you want policies put into place that control the use of subtherapeutic antibiotics in our nation’s livestock. It’s more important than ever to stick to these green ideals.
Photo: Sara Novak
Earth Day is tomorrow, yay! It’s a time to take a look back at your year and see where you can make changes that positively impact the planet. So in honor of this Earth Day, consider one of the biggest changes you can make. Choose to give up or cut way back on meat and dairy. And in those times when you do eat it, vow to avoid conventional factory farmed meat and dairy in all cases.
We’ve discussed the importance of choosing local, sustainably produced meat and dairy before. If you’re going to eat meat and dairy, make sure that the animal products that you eat were raised humanely, in fair conditions with ample room. Make sure that they weren’t fed antibiotics and hormones.
Today, this has become an even larger issue. The subtherapeutic use of antibiotics runs rampant in our country. That means using antibiotics for any use other than on a truly sick animal. For example, using them to increase weight or to ward off future illness caused by animals living in poor conditions. It’s completely appalling and cruel to treat animals in this way, but even more than that a new phenomenon of superbugs and drug resistance is on the rise.
Scientists believe that these superbugs are caused by the excessive use of low doses of antibiotics in livestock. These superbugs are creating resistance to the antibiotics that we have to treat them. The bacteria that survives these low doses molds a resistance that will cause real problems in our food and health system. Already, resistant salmonella and e coli strains have popped up in Britain, India, and even in the US.
Make sure that you choose meat and dairy that has never been treated with subtherapeutic antibiotics and tell your local representative that you want policies put into place that control the use of subtherapeutic antibiotics in our nation’s livestock. It’s more important than ever to stick to these green ideals.
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