CBS Evening News just ran the second and final part of its report on antibiotics and factory farming. This time around, they looked at the viability of raising farmed animals without antibiotics.
Near the start of the segment, the National Pork Board’s Liz Wagstrom spews her bullshit just as ineptly as she did on yesterday’s segment. This time around, Wagstrom bashes the idea of following Denmark’s example of switching to antibiotic-free farming methods:
If we did the same thing in the United States we’d have more sick and dying pigs and none of that would result in a benefit to the US consumer.
Happily, the remainder of the segment convincingly shows there are overwhelming benefits that would accompany the banning of routine antibiotic use. But there is one surreal moment where Katie Couric and a farmer walk through an antibiotic-free turkey barn that’s heavily crowded, and yet the farmer is bragging about how he gives the birds more space than his competitors.
Taken together, parts one and two of this investigation make a resounding case that veterinary antibiotics are being recklessly administered to farmed animals at great risk to the public health. And tonight’s segment makes clear that this antibiotics usage could be done away with at very little cost to the consumer. Link.
