Since the 1940s, when people started regularly using antibiotics to fight bacterial infections, these miracle drugs have saved innumerable lives. Modern medicine relies on antibiotics to stave off infections during treatments ranging from oral surgeries to chemotherapy. However, as the old saying goes, you can have too much of a good thing. For decades, we have overused antibiotics. As a result, while the drugs kill some bacteria, the ones that survive mutate and develop antibiotic resistance. This misuse of our critical medications must stop.
A new World Health Organization report says the rate at which bacteria are developing resistance to antibiotics is accelerating. Given that antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” already kill more than 35,000 Americans each year, this is a crisis.
One of us is an urban public health advocate, and the other a rural cattle rancher. Despite our differences, we both know that we can and must act more quickly to solve this problem. We can both see that this problem will eventually affect all of us if we don’t make some systemic changes to our food production methods.
While some of our antibiotic resistance problem arises from doctors overprescribing drugs to people, incredibly, the vast majority of antibiotics are not given to humans. Instead, they’re routinely fed to animals raised for meat, often when the livestock isn’t even sick, as a prophylactic measure against possible disease.
While some farmers may argue they “have to” routinely feed their livestock antibiotics, we already know that dramatically reducing unnecessary antibiotic use in animal agriculture is possible. Will’s White Oak Pastures did just this, transitioning away from industrial farming practices in 1995. The ranch now supplies consumers with beef, pork, and chicken that are raised drug-free. White Oak Pastures can ensure that it consistently and sustainably raises healthy animals by employing what we like to call “radically traditional farming.” White Oak doesn’t rely on subtherapeutic antibiotics or other drugs, but promotes “old-fashioned” practices that benefit soil health and help the local economy by creating jobs and bringing in tax revenue.
Furthermore, White Oak Pastures didn’t make this commitment because an advocacy organization demanded it or to meet government regulations; we acted on antibiotic overuse because we knew it was the right thing to do. We’re not alone. Thirty-five percent of U.S. ranches now raise livestock without the routine use of antibiotics, according to the Department of Agriculture. Many more would likely be willing to, given the proper incentives and education about drug-free ranching.
Other players in the beef, pork, and chicken supply chains — from farmers to the restaurants and grocery stores where we all buy food — recognize this problem. That is why today, virtually no chickens are raised on routine antibiotic regimens, versus the majority of chickens a decade ago. This knowledge is also why McDonald’s pledged in 2018 to reduce the use of antibiotics in its beef supply — and why it’s so odd that McDonald’s has backtracked on that publicly stated plan.
Given its brand recognition, purchasing power, and international footprint, McDonald’s has an outsize influence on food policies. Therefore, it’s crucial that McDonald’s honor its 2018 commitments, set concrete reduction targets and timelines, require antibiotic use only in cases of diagnosed disease, and monitor antibiotic use and then share that data with the public.
By doing so, McDonald’s would not just be protecting its brand or appeasing public health advocates. It would be playing a huge role in protecting the future of antibiotics.
FARMERS EVERYWHERE NEED A BREAK, NOT A BAILOUT
PIRG and White Oak Pastures are two very different organizations, but we both know that we can, and we must, solve this problem. Standing by while too many people and businesses continue the status quo of overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture is a public health hazard. It means more antibiotic-resistant infections, which, in turn, means more severe disease and death and less security.
The longer we delay, the fewer options we will have left.
Will Harris was born and bred at White Oaks Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia, and has transitioned his family’s farm to one that focuses on sustainability, animal welfare, and humane agricultural and environmental stewardship. Liam Sacino is the public health advocate for US PIRG, which advocates a food system that promotes healthy families, healthy farms, and the preservation of antibiotics.
