Humanity has a mental problem. We are thick. Stupid. Dumb. And vain, vain vain. Proof of this comes in a recent article by Robin McKie for the Guardian.[1] To get better yields (in this case, pigs) farmers are drenching their livestock in antibiotics. As you might guess this practice has led to a colossal rise in antibiotic-resistant organisms . Robin highlights one particular nasty called Clostridioides difficile which has now evolved to be resistant to all but three antibiotics. The last three, that is. After they fall, it will kill and kill and kill. Horribly.
And the stupid bit? All this over antibiotic-ing is in the name of short term yields to farmers. So they in turn can sell on cheap meat to fat bloated consumers for whom these colossal levels of protein and fat consumption are positively harmful. Please tell us: where is the intelligence in all this? And: have you ever watched a group of fatties tucking in at your local fast food outlet? Edifying, isn’t it?
Robin concentrates on C. difficile and the pig industry; but antibiotic squandering is widespread across all kinds of farming, and all kinds of resistant organisms are springing up, which you can read about here [2] in this introduction from the charity antibiotic resistance uk. There are many types of mental disorders, and we feel sorry for the individuals who suffer from them. But the worst disorder of all is plain stupidity; and we all suffer from that.
#antibiotic resistance #foodproduction #obesity #farming practice
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