Taking A Stand
Antibiotics were never meant to be used on livestock — they were only introduced after public demand for reliable meat supplies inspired scientists to experiment. Sixty years later, the livestock industry now accounts for nearly 80 percent of antibiotics sales in the U.S. That’s 63,000 tons of antibiotics each year.
“We are currently running straight toward an antibiotic-resistant outbreak,” Price said. “The influence corporate drug companies have on our government isn’t just disappointing, it’s dangerous.”
Many states have tried to push similar legislation in the past, but California’s the first to get a green light. Unlike a more controversial state bill targeting the meat industry that was approved last year, which requires all chicken farmers to give egg-laying hens 70 percent more space, this one only affects livestock within California — not meat exported from other states.
Opponents pushed California Gov. Jerry Brown to crack down on this practice in the recent, final text of the legislation, arguing that the “disease prevention” loophole is an inhumane shortcut and just another avenue to breed a resistant superbug.