I came across this article, well worth reading, Half Of Supermarket Chicken Harbors Superbugs, Consumer Reports about the chicken we consume, especially for those of us who eat limited meat, and turn to chicken as a less "offensive" (or so we thought) protein source. This article will definitely make you think.
The thing is if we think about it, while chicken might be easier to digest for us, say than red meat is, commercial chicken production is one of the worst livestock conditions for the animal, and ultimately the consumer. Commercial chicken is kept in very close quarters and in very tiny containers. I have heard that the inside of commercial chicken coops are so toxic that workers must wear respirators in order to work inside them, due to the horrendous fecal and urine fumes. Close conditions like these are rampant breeding grounds for bacteria and infection, hence the use of antibiotics being standard policy for commercial chicken production.
Because there is such a large demand, especially in the US, for meat products, commercial livestock plants are really the only "efficient" way to keep up with consumer demand, but the real question is why are we willing to sacrifice our health just to have meat on our plates each night? (And this isn't even addressing the issue of the animals' health)
The whole scenario is a double-edged sword, we consume a lot of meat products, so therefore the industries must keep up with demand, and in order to do that, efficiency and cost-effectiveness are major players in the decision process of how our food is handled. By default most commercially handled, processed and packaged meats are at some point given antibiotics, and lots of them. Antibiotics make sense, with the efficiency, ie cramped, spaces the animals can't afford to be sick, so antibiotics are often mixed into the feed to eliminate the frustrating, and expensive, hassle of sick animals. Antibiotics also ensure that if one animal gets sick the rest in the pen/crate won't get sick either.
While the article focuses primarily on the bacteria of the raw product, either
in the package, during handling or not being cooked thoroughly; we all knew this though, chicken equals salmonella, we all should handle it with care and sanitize all surfaces that could potentially come into contact with any chicken goo. But the major question, I see, and is only briefly mentioned in the article, is what effect does all those antibiotics have on us, the people eating those raised from birth-antibiotic-laded animals that end up on our dinner plates night after night after night?
Ever eat commercial meat and feel aggravated after? Ever eat commercial meat and feel particularly emotional? Ever even noticed.... If you have I guarantee you, you are feeling the effects of a large dose of antibiotics. If you haven't, maybe now you might. We live in an antibiotic world. We are prescribed antibiotics at the slightest hint of an infection, we use antibacterial sanitizers on a daily basis to "clean" our hands, there is antibiotics in our food, we are basically consuming antibiotics all the time. And yet there are more bacteria and germs we learn about each day to be even more afraid of. "Pass the Purel please!" So this begs the question, what happens when you actually need antibiotics? Say you have a major infection and you are prescribed antibiotics, but they don't work? The dose is upped, the strain changed, ultimately if you are the average antibiotic consuming American, when you really need antibiotics, they won't work for you. "The more antibiotics that are doled out to people and animals,
especially when given at low doses over a long period of time, the
faster that microbes can evolve and outsmart those drugs, experts warn." With all the sanitizing products available in our everyday lives, we keep trying to wipe out the bacteria and germs, without thinking wait, maybe I can prevent them from effecting me in the first place, by thinking about what I eat and my lifestyle choices.
So what does this mean for you? Be aware. Know what you are eating! Be conscious of the meat you buy. And if you can't afford the antibiotic free, organic meat, maybe you don't need to eat meat that night. Americans eat on average 185 pounds of meat each year, when you figure the recommended portion size is 7 oz., you are looking at a minimum of 7 oz every day of the year, plus 57 extra meals of consuming meat! This means even further that we are eating antibiotics 423 times a year, and that is just from meat! This isn't taking into fact all the dairy products that come from the same commercial feed lots and the same animals that are injected with antibiotics from birth. And then we expect the antibiotics to work for us when we are sick!? How can they? We already have a steady dose of antibiotics coursing through our bodies at any given time.
What I walked away from this article thinking was, eat less meat, eat less dairy (of which I eat very little of as it is, but I need to almost remove them entirely) and if and when you do eat meat or dairy, buy antibiotic free, free range, organic and cook it completely, and if you can't do all those things, then say to yourself, do I really need meat tonight?
