Meat eating in the United States is going out of style. According to a Department of Agriculture report, Americans are projected to eat 12.2 percent less meat in 2012 than they did 2007. And it’s not just the weak economy. As Mark Bittman observes, there’s a real long-term trend here: “Beef consumption has been in decline for about 20 years; the drop in chicken is even more dramatic, over the last five years or so; pork also has been steadily slipping for about five years.”
Why is this happening? The Daily Livestock Report blames rising meat prices in the United States. As countries like China and India get richer, they’re eating more meat, which is helping to drive up U.S. exports and making beef, pork, and chicken more expensive here at home. Ethanol also plays a role: Nowadays, American farmers divert bushels and bushels of corn to make fuel, which drives up feed prices and, again, makes meat pricier.
Perhaps just as significantly, though, it does seem that attitudes toward meat are changing. More and more people appear to be cutting back on beef and pork consumption for environmental or ethical reasons. (Although before vegetarians get too excited, one factor that often gets overlooked here is the aging of the population — as the baby boomers get older, they’ve been eating less meat.)
The Daily Livestock Report, for its part, blames government policy for waging a 40-year information campaign to dissuade people from eating meat. Bittman, on the other hand, finds that notion preposterous — he notes, among other things, that government agencies still shy away from recommending to people that they eat less meat. Read his post for a fuller dissection. The drop in meat-eating has come in spite of heavy government policies, which include heavy subsidies, not because of it.
Related: The environmentalist’s case for eating less meat.
Speaking of MEAT, lol .. FDA Cephalosporin Ban: Agency's Small Step Ignores Larger Issue of Antibiotic Resistance in Farm Animals
By Ashley Portero | January 6, 2012 1:56 PM EST
Two weeks after stealthily announcing .. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/275785/20120103/fda-antibiotics-livestock-withdraws-longstanding-petiton-regulate.htm .. that it planned to withdraw a 34-year old petition to impose real restrictions on the use of antibiotics in livestock feed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement on Tuesday revealing it has prohibited certain uses of a class of antibiotics known as cephalosporin in animals intended for human consumption.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons) The overuse of antibiotics in animals intended for human consumption has led to the rise of deadly antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" that can be passed on to humans.
Citing its concern that the overuse of cephalosporins to treat farm animals could lead to the development of drug-resistant pathogens that could be passed on to humans, the FDA said in a statement that use of the antibiotic at unapproved dose levels or for disease prevention in cattle, swine, chickens and turkeys will be banned effective April 5.
"Cephalosporins are commonly used in humans to treat pneumonia as well as to treat skin and soft tissue infections. In addition, they are used in the treatment of pelvic inflammatory disease, diabetic foot infections, and urinary tract infections. If cephalosporins are not effective in treating these diseases, doctors may have to use drugs that are not as effective or that have greater side effects," the FDA said in the statement.
While the restriction has been praised by organizations such as the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farms and the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics .. http://www.ibtimes.com/topics/detail/631/antibiotic/ .. as an "important first step" toward addressing the adverse human health consequences resulting from the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals, it is ultimately a limited move in the grand scheme of the issue.
The overall use of antibiotics -- often included into livestock feed in order to encourage animal growth and ward off bacteria that could result from unsanitary living conditions -- .. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/275785/20120103/fda-antibiotics-livestock-withdraws-longstanding-petiton-regulate.htm .. has remained steady. The FDA numbers indicate cephalosporins are being phased out in favor of ionophores, penicillins and tetracyclines, the latter of which is by far the most popular, with more than 12 million pounds sold in 2010. Sales of penicillins increased 43 percent between 2009 and 2010, while tetracycline sales rose 21 percent.
Interestingly, penicillin and tetracyclines are the very class of drugs the FDA recommended imposing restrictions back in 1977. In the petitions the agency submitted that year calling for their regulation, the FDA cited scientific research indicating that "animals that have received either subtherapeutic and/or therapeutic amounts of antibiotic and sulfonamide drugs in feeds may serve as a reservoir of antibiotic resistant pathogens and non-pathogens. These reservoirs of pathogens can produce human infections."
The FDA's petition to regulate those classes of antibiotics languished for more than three decades, until the agency posted an obscure announcement in the Federal Register on Dec. 22 .. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-12-22/html/2011-32775.htm .. stating it decided to revoke its petition in favor of encouraging "voluntary reform" and regulation within the industry, essentially reiterating the status quo.
Meanwhile, scientists report antibiotic use in animal agriculture has continued to grow. Approximately 70 to 80 percent of all antibacterial drugs in the U.S. are sold for use in livestock animals, a reality that U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., the author of the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treat Act, said is contributing to the rise in deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
"This irresponsible use represents a serious threat to public health in America. Just last year, 60,000 Americans died in hospitals as a result of antibiotic resistant infections," Slaughter said in a statement.
In May 2011, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), along with a coalition of medical and public health organizations, filed a lawsuit against the FDA alleging that the agency failed to meet its legal responsibility to address the escalating health threat posed by the escalation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in farm animals. Avinash Kar, a staff attorney with the NRDC, suggests the timing of the newest FDA announcement is an attempt to placate the general public from the broader issue by implementing what amounts to be a token regulation.
"Not only are penicillins the most widely used class of antibiotics in human medicine, their use in livestock can also cause resistance to cephalosporins (just as cephalosporin use can cause resistance to penicillins)," Kar wrote on Thursday, explaining that imposing stricter regulations on cephalosporins alone will barely make a dent in preventing the development of drug-resistant pathogens in farm animals that can then be passed on to humans.
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To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: a.portero@ibtimes.com To contact the editor, e-mail: editor@ibtimes.com
The US use of antibiotics in chickens, livestock et al produced for human consumption just featured on my trusty little radio, which btw has hit the floor more times than the worst drunk. Why? The cable gets hooked on my foot or a leg of a chair. The radio gets dragged on the bed then gravity takes over and CRASH! Amazing. It still works. LOL
PS: yup .. i read the meat chat of others. Gutsy stuff. :)
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