Salmonella and antimicrobial resistance infections stem from our dependence on factory farms.
- One in ten pieces of supermarket meat is contaminated with salmonella.
- Salmonella causes 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations and 420 deaths in U.S. every year.
- More antibiotics that we produce in U.S. go to farm animals than people. 700,000 people die globally per year because of antimicrobial resistance infections. We use so many antibiotics on farms to increase growth and prevent disease from spreading because conditions are so cramped and unsanitary.
“As Iowa farmers will tell you, the only thing more important than growing their crops is having access to the markets to sell those crops.”
That’s the first line in a new Joni Ernst column about dredging the mouth of the Mississippi River for the sake of ag shipping. It’s actually refreshing to see no dubious claims being made, for once, about how the highest priority of Iowa farmers is taking good care of soil and water. Uh-huh.
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