John Robbins had a great post on HuffPost this morning, and I had to share it with you all. I don't know who he is, but he makes some great points about factory farming in America.
As some of you may know, I have a newfound fear of regular food found in America. Whenever possible, I make my own food (instead of buying processed), and buy the ingredients from a farmer's market (LOVE my downtown Boise market!) or from the organic section at the grocery store. (Yes, I'm aware that "organic" doesn't necessarily mean healthy, but it's better than eating all the chemicals sprayed on foods these days.) I also try my darndest to buy grass-fed beef and organic, free-range chickens. The reason? All the antibiotics they feed these animals to counteract the deplorable conditions they are forced to live in and die in. Have you seen Food, Inc?
This is the part of the post that really makes my skin crawl:
"According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, only about 30 percent of the antibiotics used in the U.S. are administered to people to treat diseases. The other 70 percent, the vast majority, are administered to U.S. livestock, primarily to compensate for the unnatural and unhealthy conditions of factory farming."
The overuse of antibiotics has led to resistant bacteria, which actually kills "between 70,000 and 100,000 Americans" each year, according to Mr. Robbins. These poor souls might have been saved with readily available antibiotics before the new resistant strains had been created.
It just doesn't seem like the prudent thing to do to myself or my kids, constantly ingesting toxic chemicals and antibiotics we don't even need. It's not just bad for the animals and the land, it's truly bad for our bodies and our health! I sure wish more people felt this way. We could have ourselves a food revolution!
As for now, I will continue to shop the local farmer's markets and (gasp!) the local health food stores (where, before cancer, I thought only hippies and weirdos shopped.) It's too bad I had to get a devastating disease to make me realize how unhealthy I truly was.
No comments:
Post a Comment