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Hello from Washington D.C.! 35 moms from 15 different states were in the orientation yesterday (Lobbying 101, so to speak) and 4 of us from Washington State as a group met with 3 lawmakers (or their aides) at the capitol today.
Here is the central issue: Oppose indiscriminate use of antibiotics on industrial farms. There are 30 million lbs. of antibiotics used in factory farms to grow the animals faster, or for prevention measures to compensate for overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. When the total antibiotic use for humans is 7 million pounds, you can see it’s a staggering amount. And this indiscriminate use of antibiotics in CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation – such as feedlots) is a perfect breeding ground for “superbugs”—antibiotic resistant bacteria.
So our job is to tell our own stories and explain why we oppose this frequent use of antibiotics in factory farms. There were four of us from Washington State; we joined together as a group.
Our group
David Ricci from Snohomish had an accident in India, contracted a rare antibiotic-resistant superbug, almost died. They had to find an old strain of anti-biotic from 1950’s to get it to work as a very last resort since he had exhausted all the available antibiotic options. He lost a leg, and was left with permanent liver and kidney damage. Cheryl, a lovely mom, talks about her bright young son, full of promise, working overseas then all of a sudden he’s being send back home in a medivac plane to Harborview. She was told by the doctors that they have never seen this strain of bacteria in the U.S. and they “don’t know if there is any cure.”
Bethany Cook is a registered dietitian at UW medical center. As a clinical dietitian, she is working to influence the hospitals to serve poultry and pork raised without antibiotics.
I talked about how George and I have been raising our animals without antibiotics, hormones, pesticides nor chemicals. By building a strong immune system in the animals through proper nutrition, healthy soil management, and mineral supplements, animals are given the chance to develop their natural genetic potential. Carte blanche use of antibiotics so they can cram more animals in confinement or grow them quicker is irresponsible and dangerous. Once mutated, these super bugs can be airborne and spread to humans easily.
A great story
Russ Kremer, a hog farmer from Missouri, used to be a conventional farmer. Then he contracted a dangerous antibiotic-resistant infection from his pigs. He told me that his infection was resistant to 6 out of 7 antibiotics; the 7th one worked (if this one hadn’t worked, there wouldn’t have been any cure). Turns out it was the same strain of antibiotic that saved his hogs, too. You start with Penicillin, then Amoxicillin, Erythromycin, then 2-3 different kinds of tetracycline...you’ve heard the names. Imagine the little infection in your leg getting worse as you go through these drugs and your doctor says, “This is the last one available, if this doesn’t work, there is no cure”. Needless to say, this was a powerful story because it can happen to anyone. So in order to “keep antibiotics working” we must stop the misuse now before it’s too late. Some say we are already in a “Post-antibiotic” stage where people are going to start dying from a mere infection due a cut on your hand, I sincerely hope not.
Meetings
We met with Representative Del Bene. She is also in Ag committee and was great to talk to. She has a microbiology background and was very familiar with the science behind the antibiotic mutation. She has been to our farm before, so it was great to see a friendly face. Glad she represents our district!
Next we met with Senator Cantwell’s aid, Paul Wolfe. Since the senator sponsored this bill (Preventing Antibiotic Resistant Act S1256), Mr. Wolfe was very familiar with the issue. Basically we told our stories and thanked him. We asked him to keep the pressure on the FDA.
Later we met with Senator Murray’s aides Josephine Eckert & Megan Foster. We told our same stories to them, but to be honest, I don’t think it went anywhere. Very diplomatic, very polite, they listened and they ushered us away. I thought to myself… “I am glad I don’t do this for living!”
What I got from the trip
I gained a great appreciation for PEW Charitable Trust for their work on this issue. I hope you have a chance to read the materials through the link I posted. I learned a lot.
I feel privileged to do what I do as a farmer. The work is hard but I am so blessed that I am surrounded by loyal customers & the community that just gets it: they appreciate what we do, encourage us all the time, and are willing to pay the extra cost for us to stay humane, and provided antibiotic free, hormone free, GMO free, chemical free products!!!
I listened to a mother who suddenly lost her healthy son within 24 hours by a superbug. I kept thinking of our “little”customers who come to the market with their mom and dad, their sweet smiles and their bright futures. I teared up every time this mother spoke. I am probably the most apolitical person here. When people talk politics I usually run away. But this was different. As a farmer and as a mother, I saw the wrong being done to the animals and to people. $7 billion dollars in government subsidies go to the industrial farms for their pollution cleanup cost and to grain subsidies, so they can cram more animals, create more pollution& dispense more drugs... When my husband tried to get $3,000 to purchase some fencing material to make a larger buffer zone to protect the watershed by our river (mind you we do the labor), the USDA told us there is no funding for that. I guess If you want improve the environment, you pay for it, but if you want to pollute it in large scale, the government has millions for clean ups. What’s wrong with this picture?
I don’t have any idea if I made a bit of difference by coming here, but I am glad I came.
Eiko
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Click the link below for more information.
http://www.pewhealth.org/other-resource/supermoms-against-superbugs-2014-advocacy-day-85899544452
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