By John Kikkert
Antibiotic use for farm animals is coming under greater scrutiny. It was the focus of a meeting I attended at Floradale Feed Mill hosted for their sales staff and employees on Tuesday February 16. The speaker for the day was Dr. Leah Dorman. Dr. Dorman is a large animal veterinarian, trained as a foreign animal disease diagnostician, who lives on a farm in Ohio. She runs a website called animalantibiotics.org.
Listen here:
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Dr. Dorman pointed out that many countries around the world, especially those in Europe and North America, are raising questions about the use of antibiotics in the production of food by today's farmers. Some European countries have been setting regulations to reduce or eliminate the use of antibiotics for livestock production. For the past year, a major fast food chain has been using this item as a key marketing tool to differentiate their products from their competitors. But she asks, "Is this right? Is this fair play?"
Dr. Dorman advocates that the responsible use of antibiotics to treat animals benefits society by making food safer. Antibiotics are a tool used by veterinarians to keep animals healthy and, in turn, reduce bacteria entering the food supply. We all want to eliminate harmful bacteria in all parts of the food supply chain.
She points out that keeping animals healthy also allows farmers to produce food more effectively, which has the added benefit of making food more affordable for the consumer. Healthy animals allow farmers to produce food more efficiently. When left untreated, sick animals grow more slowly and need more food and water. This means more grain must be grown, which requires more fertilizer, water and acres of land. Keeping animals healthy and treating them when they get sick is good for the animal, the environment and good for everyone.
Good animal care is perhaps the most important reason to use antibiotics on farms. As Dr. Dorman pointed out, antibiotics have been used in farm animals for decades for the same reasons they are used in people-to treat or prevent diseases that cause pain and suffering. We recognize that when an animal is sick with a bacterial infection, treating it with antibiotics is the ethical thing to do.
Dr. Dorman spoke about the need for all those involved in the food supply chain to change the conversation about antibiotics with consumers. Farmers can increase the awareness of the benefits of antibiotics used for farm animals. This may help consumers to look beyond the flashy marketing messages to what is really at stake for the food system, for the care of animals, and for our health.
If you would like more information on this topic, you can contact Dr. Dorman at AskDrDorman@pahc.com. ______________________________________________________________________________________ John Kikkert is the Vice - President for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario. The CFFO Commentary represents the opinions of the writer and does not necessarily represent CFFO policy. The CFFO Commentary is heard weekly on CFCO Chatham, CKNX Wingham, and UCB Canada radio stations in Chatham, Belleville, Bancroft, Brockville and Kingston. It is also archived on the CFFO website: www.christianfarmers.org. CFFO is supported by 4,000 family farmers across Ontario.
