Michael Pollan Knight Professor of Journalism University of California, Berkeley, School of Journalism; Contribu2ng editor, New York Times Magazine Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H. Professor in the Department of Nutri2on, Food Studies, and Public Health and Professor of Sociology at New York University. Food Politics
hCp://www.foodpoli2cs.com/ http://www.ncifap.org/
The following selection of articles are about issues that
concern PCIFAP and do not necessarily reflect the views of
the Commission
The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm
Animal Production (PCIFAP) was formed
to conduct a comprehensive, fact-based
and balanced examination of key aspects
of the farm animal industry
A Project of The Pew Charitable
Trusts and Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Final Report: Putting Meat on The Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America
Executive Summary
Full Report
CLICK HERE PDF (2.7 MB)
CLICK HERE PDF (6.2 MB)
Frequently Asked Questions
CLICK HERE PDF (164 KB)
238,000 CAFOs
40% of animals
produced by 2%
of the largest
companies
•  CAFOs generate 335 million tons waste (dry matter only) per year
•  Animal waste is 3 times that produced by humans
Key Recommendations from the
Pew Commission Report
•
Improve disease monitoring and tracking
•
Improve regulation of CAFOs, especially
dealing with the waste they generate and the
treatment /welfare of the animals
•
Phase out intensive confinement operations to
more pasture based systems
•
Increase competition in the livestock market
•
Improve research in animal agriculture
•
Phase out, then ban, the use of non-therapeutic
antimicrobials in food animals
H.R. 1549: Preservation of Antibiotics
for Medical Treatment Act of 2009
U.S. Representative
Louise Slaughter, NY, District 28
73 co-sponsors including David Price, NC
http://www.govtrack.us/
3/17/2009--Introduced.
Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009 - Amends the Federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services
to deny an application for a new animal drug that is a critical antimicrobial animal drug
unless the applicant demonstrates that there is a reasonably certainty of no harm to
human health due to the development of antimicrobial resistance attributable to the
nontherapeutic use of the drug. Defines "critical antimicrobial animal drug" as a drug
intended for use in food-producing animals that contains specified antibiotics or other
drugs used in humans to treat or prevent disease or infection caused by
microorganisms. Requires the Secretary to withdraw approval of a nontherapeutic use
of such drugs in food-producing animals two years after the date of enactment of this
Act unless certain safety requirements are met. Directs specified congressional
committees to hold hearings on the implementation of such a withdrawal of approval.
(Summary provided by Congressional Research Service)
tet genes
•  38 different tet genes
•  3 known resistance mechanisms, 1 unknown
•  tet(M) is most widely distributed across bacterial genera
Table 1 – Eight feedlot lagoons 0.2
0.2
0.92
0.08
0.64
0.48
4.2
1.28
Avg head/m2
1 acre = 4.046 x 103 m2
Table 2 Mean chemical condi2ons Table 3 – Mean Tet, TSS, VSS, and 16S rRNA for each an2bio2c use strategy Fig 1 Tet resistance gene copy numbers Absolute concentrations of
each gene
M,O,Q, W > 100 to 1000
times greater in mixed and
high than no-use
Gene abundances normalized
to 16S rRNA gene level
Table 4 P value:
the lower the P value, the more significant the result
Figure 2 – Seasonal varia;on in Tet resistance genes Absolute copy
numbers
Copy numbers
normalized to 16S
rRNA gene levels
No use
Mixed use
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
High use
Conclusions •
Bivariate correlation analysis showed that conditions
associated with high-use operations were correlated with high
resistance gene abundances.
•
Correlation analysis also showed that overall tet resistance
was only weakly correlated with tetracycline water levels.
•
Seasonal preventive antibiotic dosing practices at high-use
operations are reflective of seasonal increases in tet gene
abundances in the associated lagoons.
•
Different resistance genes appear to prevail in different
lagoons according to seasons (M, L, B) and these
observations suggest that resistance genes in environments
downstream of CAFOs is sometimes predictable but not
always.
•
Antibiotic use at CAFOs clearly influences the levels of
antibiotic resistance genes in waste lagoons.
groundwater flow
We report … You decide
1)  Increased levels of antibiotic resistance found in animal
waste lagoons associated with high antibiotic use
2)  Increased levels of antibiotic resistance in groundwater
downstream of animal waste lagoons
But……
1)  No study has shown a relationship between decreased
food animal antibiotic use and reduced incidence of
resistant enterococcal infection in humans.
2)  Banning non-therapeutic uses of antibiotics has resulted
in increased mortality among food animals, loss of
production, and economic decline
Are our current agricultural practices potentially compromising our
future ability to effectively treat bacterial diseases in the human
population?