Regarding the Jan. 29 article, “Chicken industry argues against ‘slow-growth’ campaign”: In some twisted game of chicken, the poultry industry is waging public health against profit. The “slow-growth” movement, a campaign that rejects the breeding of unnaturally large birds that grow dangerously rapidly, seeks to dismantle that. After all, the bottom line is the most important thing, right?
As mentioned in the article, generations of selective breeding have produced the Darwinian failure that is the Cornish Cross, a chicken that cannot even support its own weight. As a result, these unfit birds are, “constantly lying in their own waste (which) causes open sores on their breasts and feet.” To keep these poor creatures alive, they are fed routine antibiotics to prevent disease. Years of comparable negligence within the animal agriculture industry have fueled the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria that gravely threaten our health today.
A recent study commissioned by the UK estimates that unless dramatic action is taken, antibiotic resistant infections may kill more people worldwide in 2050 than cancer does today. It’s not only animal welfare that we must fight for; it’s public health.
Luckily, some are already fighting this war. Coffee conglomerate and Washington native, Starbucks, just committed to exclusively serving poultry raised without routine use of medically relevant antibiotics. With nearly 25,000 locations and an expectation to surpass McDonald’s as “Restaurant King” in 2017, this is a big win for global health.
As wonderful as this is, is it enough? I challenge KFC, Olive Garden, and every other major meat producer to make the switch to antibiotic free. There is no legitimate reason to perpetuate this barbaric practice, it’s merciless for animal welfare, it’s detrimental to human health, and it’s destructive on the environment. If even our last resort antibiotics are beginning to fail, isn’t it time to take this seriously? I like my antibiotics to work, do you?
Lindsay Hutchison
Seattle
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