Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)

Most U.S. Beef cattle and pigs are raised in Feed Lots called CAFOs

CAFO cows are fed GRAIN, a food they are not naturally equipped to process

80% of U.S. beef cows are raised in feed lots, where they have no choice but to eat a grain-based diet(typically wheat, corn /maize, rice, barley, and also soybean and cane sugar).   Since their 4-chambered stomachs were designed to process grass not grain, the cows are frequently sick and bloated, and usually develop liver disease, which would eventually kill them if they were not fattened in accelerated time.

Antibiotics are given to CAFO cattle, pigs and poultry, which cause us problems

CAFO cows are given antibiotics to promote growth in livestock

Dietary antibiotics can add 4-5% to bodyweight.   They are not just given for the obvious reason of preventing disease from their being in a manure-laden environment.

In 2013, 14,788,555 kg (over 32,603,000 lbs) FDA-approved antimicrobial drugs were sold for use in food-producing animals in the U.S. and  62% of them were medically-important-to-us OTC drugs.   FDA 2013 SUMMARY REPORT On Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals. 

After FDA guidelines designed to limit AB use in livestock (effective 1/1/2017), numbers had reduced quite a bit: . 10,933,367 kg (~24,104,000 lbs) antimicrobial drugs sold for use in food-producing animals in the U.S. and ~50% of them medically important.  So we're headed in the right direction.  FDA 2017 Summary Report On Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals

Kudos to Purdue.  By 2014, Purdue was marketing their "Harvestland" Simply Smart and Perfect Portions chicken as "antibiotic-free", having phased out the use of human antibiotics and ionophores (a type of antiobiotic not used by humans) from its feed. By 2015, about half of their chicken was antibiotic-free.   WIkipedia

In 1998, The E.U. banned the use of antibiotics important in human medicine from use as growth promoters in livestock production.

Consuming antibiotic-laden beef having detrimental effects on health:

Antibiotic resistant bacteria develop in cattle which can easily be transmitted to humans via consumption of meat or human contact with living animals.   A Harvard University study showed that antibiotic-resistant genes found in bacteria infecting humans were identical to some of the same bacteria infecting animals [O'Brien et.al., 1982]. Some strains of salmonella are now resistant to commonly used antibiotics.

increased susceptibility to intestinal infections.   Consequential to reduced levels of favorable intestinal bacteria.

How do antiobiotics increase the rate and efficiency of weight gain in healthy livestock ?

The presence of antibiotics likely changes the composition of the gut flora to favour growth.  Debate continues as to how that gut flora are changed; change may simply be a reduction in numbers and/or a change in species composition. For example, a low, continuous dose of antibiotic may:

• Eliminate bacteria that "steal" essential nutrients required by the animal for growth
• Reduce competition allowing beneficial bacteria that produce essential nutrients required by the animal for growth to multiply
• Control growth of bacteria that cause low-grade infections or produce toxins-both of which result in thick intestines that do not absorb nutrients well.
• Some antibiotics may also enhance feed consumption and growth by stimulating metabolic processes within the animal

HGP'S are injected /implanted into CAFO cows or added to their feed to speed up their weight gain

Hormone Growth Promotants (HGPs) are carcinogenic

Although the U.S. have approved the use of HGPs, many other countries have banned them.   The E.U. has banned importation of American and Canadian beef raised with growth hormones because studies indicate thatthey are carcinogenic. Hormones used in beef cattle include the male hormone Testosterone(and its synthetic equivalent trenbolone acetate), and the female hormone progesterone(and 3 of its synthetic derivatives).

Progesterone-Imitator Presence linked to Cancer.   Synthetic progesterone imitates other hormones in the body and is linked to diseases such as cancer. An Ohio State University study found that when breast cancer cells were exposed to Zeranol, another progesterone-imitator, it increased cancer growth. www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/20/eveningnews/main554857.shtml

HGPs affect ecology

Hormones are not only present in the beef, but also end up in farm run-off and can flow into nearby rivers and streams -ending up in underground aquifers and so in our drinking water.An EPA fresh-water study in Deluth, MN found that fish exposed to trenbolone in water produced a general pattern where female fish were slightly masculinized and male fish slightly feminized.This raises concerns that these hormones might be a factor in the rising incidence of premature development in girls

Lemonick, MD, "Teens before Their Time",TIME Magazine, Oct.30, 2000 and lower sperm counts in men Cone M, "Changes in Fish Tied to Feedlots.", LA Times, Dec 11, 2003.

CAFO Produced Beef is High in Omega-6 and Low in Omega-3 FAT

The cows' grain diet yields a high proportion of Omega-6 fat, as opposed to providing us a natural source of Omega-3 from a grass diet.   Thus, eating grain fed beef contributes to an imbalance of the important Omega-6Omega-3ratio.