Side of antibiotics with your steak, Sir?
Last week the FDA released its first report on antibiotic use in livestock in the US. It was a short report, with almost no press. But it said that in 2009, livestock producers used 29 million pounds of antibiotics on their animals. Some, yes, are used to treat sick animals.
But antibiotics are also used to treat perfectly healthy animals that might get sick, or that live in unsanitary conditions as a precautionary measure.
Why is this an issue?
Many strains of e.coli exist in parts of livestock we wouldn’t normally eat anyway, like the intestines. (Yes you can eat them, but you don’t often see them for sale at your local supermarket) They spend their lives with other bacteria, playing cards and doing whatever it is bacteria do when they’re not infecting people. They are harmless and would continue to be that way if the animals were properly cared for. But when antibiotics are used merely as a precautionary measure, drug resistant strains begin to develop, and have been developing for years now.
Which means you could get sicker, and in a manner that we are not yet able to cure with existing medicine. Hmm. Frightening.
In 2009 the FDA released a report detailing safe use of antibiotics in livestock. Included were these choice phrases:
Misuse and overuse of antimicrobial drugs creates selective evolutionary pressure that enables antimicrobial resistant bacteria to increase in numbers more rapidly than antimicrobial susceptible bacteria and thus increases the opportunity for individuals to become infected by resistant bacteria. Because antimicrobial drug use contributes to the emergence of drug resistant organisms, these important drugs must be used judiciously in both animal and human medicine to slow the development of resistance. Using these drugs judiciously means that unnecessary or inappropriate use should be avoided….
In regard to the use of antimicrobial drugs in animals, concerns have been raised by the public and components of the scientific and public health communities that a significant contributing factor to antimicrobial resistance is the use of medically important antimicrobial drugs in foodproducing animals for production or growth-enhancing purposes.
So not only can you get fatter, you can now also get sicker.
Here’s a very clear, slightly revolting example of why preventative antibiotic use should be avoided.
One of the most harmful strains of e.coli is O157:H7. This strain exists in the intestine of most cows, and doesn’t usually cause an issue with them. In order to infect a human, it has to exit the intestinal tract and be ingested by a person. If that’s not clear enough – you got sick because you ate fecal matter!
Cows that require preventative antibiotics spend their lives in confinement, close to other cows and usually without proper sanitation for their byproducts. They are quite literally covered in manure. When they go to get butchered, the knives, saws, what have you cut through whatever layer of feces is on the cow’s hide to butcher the animal. This bacteria is then transferred to the meat, which you then ingest and get sick. Really though, we’re not supposed to be eating manure so you shouldn’t be too surprised by the connection there.
So, in order to eat less crap, consider shopping at your local butcher, your local farmer’s market, at Whole Foods, or at a place like La Cense Beef, which is a great online supplier of grass fed products.
Less poop. More meat. Happy eating!
Will travel for bacon.
“Run faster, the zombies are chasing you!”
That’s how, by mile 2, I knew I was going to love running the Dallas marathon. This seemingly simple, pointed trip turned out to be much more fun than I anticipated.
Due to a SNAFU, I had to find lodging via a good friend of mine in Milan. As in Italy. So Jenny hooked me up with her friend Nick, and this guy was nice enough to let some random crash at his place for a few days. The main purpose of this trip was to run the Dallas marathon, but on Thanksgiving I was watching a TV show about bacon and the first stop was a little cafe in Dallas called the AllGood cafe.
Perfect.
Truth be told when I got off the plane I knew I was going to have fun. I saw two guys walking toward security with maroon shirts that said “Don’t touch my junk.”
What made it better was that one guy was tipping the scales at over 300 lbs, and one guy was…well…vertically challenged? I don’t know what the politically correct term is. Either way they made quite the pair, shuffling up to security telling the TSA clearly what they thought. And since the TSA is the US government’s form of a practical joke, staffed with ex-convicts, these guys were instantaneously new friends.
The marathon itself was about 95% excellent. Good expo, mostly good race organization, a great course, and some pretty interesting fans.
One entire block was set up as a luau, with all the people wearing grass skirts, handing out leis, and passing out cans of beer to any runner who wanted one. One guy was also holding a gigantic baking sheet mounded with bacon. If it wasn’t only mile 8 I would have taken some of both.
By mile 19 I was eating the sugar glazed donut holes people were passing out though…
At mile 21 one of the local Hooters restaurants was staffing the hydration station. I don’t think I really need to go too in depth here…it was pretty amazing.
Not to be outdone by the Hooters girls, mile 22 had an interesting group of characters. We encountered two rolling hills, and just before we passed through them was a sign. ”You are now entering the Dolly Parton hills.” Fantastic. Except that the “Dolly Parton’s” were all dudes dressed in drag with enormous fake man-boobs. I preferred the Hooters girl, but you can’t knock their effort!
After setting a new PR by 5 minutes, I rested most of the day on Sunday, in preparation for breakfast on Monday.
On my way to the airport I stopped off at AllGood Cafe and took some mediocre pics with my phone.
The place itself is very cool. It’s got a small stage, and they host shows there all the time. I saw signed posters by Wilco, Steve Earle, The Old ’97s, Paul Simon, and Los Lobos.
When I walked in the four cops sitting in the middle of the cafe just glared at me, like they could smell the Yankee on my coat.
To my dismay, they were OUT of chicken fried steak. Out of it! Thankfully they still had bacon. I settled on a “mega breakfast sandwich” and a side order of bacon.
Ham, fried egg, avocado, bacon, cheese, mayo, and dipped in tabasco sauce.
If you like your meat thick and full of spice…
If you’re in Dallas make sure to swing by The AllGood cafe. And look for the “Kinky for Governor” signs. As one of them says – How hard could it be?
