Comic Book Mom: Supermoms Against Superbugs

Well, this initiative commanded attention at the mention of "supermoms," so exploring a little deeper, turns out this is a pretty nifty event with some super moms who are taking on some pretty icky super bugs...

And since I'm anti-bug of just about any kind (well, except for Spiderman, Antman, and well, you get the point,) I'm all about squashing 'em.

Turns out, on May 15, about 30 chefs, farmers, pediatricians and consumers will meet with officials in the Obama Administration and Congress and ask them to end the overuse of antibiotics on industrial farms. This practice is know to help breed drug-resistant superbugs that in turn, make us sick.

So, yeh, it's an interesting and cool initiative, but you don't have to sit back and simply observe, you can participate virtually by following the events, signing the petition, or joining in on the conversation.

If you'd like to join the battle of the bugs, you can find the full deets here: http://saveantibiotics.org/moms/Virtual.html

(Yes, every once in awhile we do offer some serious, practical information...)

4 comments:

UnknownMay 15, 2012 at 8:46 PM
I have to chime in here as a farmer(ess), but most animal producers only use antibiotics to help a sick or injured animal, be it cattle, swine, chickens, etc. The animals aren't just given antibiotics if they don't need them. Hormones are the big issue in the industry.
LezrtstMay 17, 2012 at 1:47 PM
Unfortunately, Isabella is the exception. Many of the industrial farms have animals in unhealthy conditions, crammed together in small cages (CAFO: concentrated animal feeding operations). They do this to limit movement and to facilitate feeding. Antibiotics, the same ones used in human treatment are combined with the feed to, along with CAFOs, speed the weight gain and enhance it. The antibiotics are fed to ALL the animals in the feedlot, not just the sick ones.
LezrtstMay 17, 2012 at 1:54 PM
One more thing: only 20% of the antibiotics used in the US are for human treatment. The other 80% are used for animals. Have you ever looked in a pet catalog and seen pounds of antibiotics offered, WITHOUT PRESCRIPTION, for sale to anyone? Yep, and they are offered at MUCH lower prices than you pay when you have an infection. So, it's not just the livestock industry that's to blame. The pharmaceutical companies are selling crucial antibiotics at bargain prices to the industry.