You have the sniffles. . . .

Monday, 15 August 2005

. . .do you want Mummy to call the doctor?

This could be the number one phrase leading to a huge and scary health problem FOR US ALL. The doctor, at Mummy's insistance, is going to prescribe antibiotics to Junior--"because he has so much to do at school, he really just CAN't be sick right now. . . ." Of course there is nothing wrong with wanting to feel better. To making sure that the strep throat going around doesn't wipe you out. But over presribing of antibiotics is causing common germs like e coli, campylobacter and salmonella to become drug resistant and even more dangerous than before.

These germs have been with humankind for life--they aren't new in the 20th or 21st centuries. Why then are they such a problem in our "modern" age with all sorts of sanitaition and cleanliness? Perhaps too much of a good thing, eh? 50, 30, 20 years ago these germs were not the threat they are today. Sure, people got sick, some even have died, but not at current rates. Botulism is on the rise as well--but I put that down, mainly to stupidity: people don't remember the rules for correctly canning foods, and are foolish when it comes to trusting commercially canned goods.

In an article this moring from the BBC there is alarming news that in commercially raised chickens in Britain (although not organic ones--hmmm. . . .) there are surprisingly high counts of antibiotic-resistant e coli and campylobacter. The piece goes on to state that there are two theories for this. One claims that over-use of antibiotic in animal feed is leading to the problem. The other side of the issue is that over presription of antibiotics in humans is the cause. Still, again, is the claim that food poisioning is high (1 out of 3 people???) and that people just aren't cooking their food enough.

While I agree that proper food preparation and handling techniques are not being taught to our children, let alone the illiterates who often work in or own restaurants, I do not think it is fair to totally blame the victims in the last stage of the cycle. Why are the ingredients we cooks are using so contaminated?? Beef, Chicken, Scallions, Watermelons, Cantaloupe??? What makes these, and other items, such a threat? Why can't our foodstuffs be safe when they come through the back door? We need to stop making the food service industry the scapegoat and start casting the blame further afield.

This heads right back in the direction of faceless, uncaring Agribusiness. Production and profits, not protection. Mad cow and e coli--directly related to getting beef from birth to entrecote as quickly as possible for maximum profit. But, we all know--haste makes waste; or in this case, wasting diseases. . . .The occurance of e coli and mad cow contamination in grass fed, organic, and therefore slowly produced meat products is rare. Same is true for chickens. Free Range Hens have a lower occurance of salmonella than battery hens crammed in stinking housing without any exericise or healthy change of air. Not only do carefully raised food products have lower disease rates, they also require less medications.

That produce has contaminations of fecal waste products is also just as wrong and just as baffling. Not only are the vegetables and fruits soaked in non-organic fertilizers and herbacides and bug sprays--in the mega-factory-farms make the most for the least mentality they don't provide enough outhouses and washroom facilities for their undereducated migrant laborers and they don't use proper sanitation procedures when it comes to cleaning the soil from their crops.

So, what's the solution? Bleach the hell out of everything? Scrub up with antibiotic soaps and take some magic pills to fortify ourselves against the onslaught of microbial warfare? That's what some want you to do. However, such procedures will surely lead to chaos. The human race will collapse like a house of cards with people dying from tummy aches and starvation as more and more food becomes unfit for consumption. The bugs will have one through the triumph of science.

No, stop reaching for the antibiotic soaps EVERY time you wash your hands--only use them, and bleach, after working with raw meats, or scraping out the sewers. Let yourselves be sick. Let the overburdened medical systems of the world relax a bit. Bed rest and plenty of fluids will do more to cure your (and our) ills than working through a raging illness while taking stronger and stronger doses of bug killers. And, finally, get to know your local farmer, butcher, candlestick maker (that's bee keeper for you city folk)--build up your immune system again by eating healthy foods. Have a tummy ache and the scoots once an a while--that means the bugs are in you and at work--not just the bad ones, but the good ones as well. And stop treating yourself like a penned veal calf or caged hen--get out of the cubicle, stop taking prescription drugs to counteract the poor air quality and get some fresh air and exercise.

by: ChefNeal at 08/15/05 14:44 | link | comments (3)|
rant, food contamination, superbugs, e coli, salmonella

Comments:

#1 15 August 2005 - 15:06

Great post. This month is blueberry month in Maine. I just ate some. I like your berry pics.

Leigh

#2 15 August 2005 - 21:17

MMMM I love Maine blueberries--the wild ones you scratch yourself all up to pick. It has been many summers since I've had the pleasure. There's something about them. Ours out here are great, but I think growers are watering them too much. They're juicy, but not as flavorful as they could be. I grew up by blueberry fields in CT. There's something about blueberry pancakes for dinner which still makes me feel like a kid.