Antibiotic Resistance
Many concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) operators give antibiotics to animals to make them grow faster and prevent diseases that are caused by the extreme crowding and other stresses on the animals. An estimated 70 percent of antibiotics and related drugs produced in this country are used in animal agriculture for these nontherapeutic purposes. This amount is estimated to be more than eight times the amount of drugs used to treat human illness. Many of these antibiotics are the same antibiotics used to treat diseases in humans. The use of these antibiotics in CAFOs contributes to the development of antibiotic resistance in disease-causing pathogens. The result is fewer effective antibiotics for medical doctors to use against human diseases.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition works closely with the Union of Concerned Scientists and Keep Antibiotics Working who are leading a grassroots campaign to win legislation that will phase out the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics as feed additives for animals.