No Antibiotics

Living in the U.S., it’s crucial to understand that antibiotics are allowed in your food

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) report that about 70 percent of all antibiotics made in the United States now go to fattening up livestock. In the mid-1980s, 16 million pounds of antibiotics were used in livestock production. But twenty-five million pounds are being used today. This ever increasing use is contributing to the creation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. According to the UCS, more than 95 percent of a common bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus is now resistant to penicillin, requiring the use of newer and stronger drugs. One of the main uses for antibiotics in the cattle industry is to combat so-called “feedlot diseases.”  These are diseases that are common when cattle are shipped to distant feedlots, mingled with animals from other herds, and switched from their natural diet of forage to a grain-based feedlot diet. Animals that remain on pasture from birth until market are so healthy that they rarely require antibiotic treatment.¹

Strong Link Between Antibiotic Use in Food Animals & Antibiotic Resistance in Humans

In November 2010, Director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden confirmed the department “feels there is strong scientific evidence of a link between antibiotic use in food animals and antibiotic resistance in humans.” (This in response to a letter asking the Center for Disease Control and Prevention address the issue of antibiotic use in industrial farm animal production).²

As an organic farm, Weatherbury uses no antibiotics!

Two recent studies from Denmark and Canada showed that when farmers there stopped administering antibiotics to animals, corresponding antibiotic-resistant diseases decreased in humans.³