SWA #9

The central claim of John Robbins' article is that use of antibiotics in "factory farming" is the reason for antibiotic resistant bacteria. Over the past 50 years or so the use of antibiotics has become more and more prevalent in the field of medicine. As antibiotics are used more they become less effective and will at some point lose all effectiveness. The general assumption people make is that antibiotics used on humans cause their effectiveness to dwindle, but that is not the case. Robbins points out that only about 30 percent of antibiotics are used on humans. The other 70 percent are used on animals, and a majority of those are used in "factory farming" not just to treat sick animals. A bill has been put before Congress to ban the use of antibiotics in the feed of livestock. This would not stop farmers from treating sick animals. It would only stop farmers from giving antibiotics to all of their animals. Stopping the use of antibiotics in feed would not come with out other changes. Many of these "factory farms" would have to change a lot so their animals would not be at risk of constant infection.