The short answer to this question, is everyone. We know that many industries are involved in the overuse of antibiotics. We know that antibiotics are overused in the medical industry, breeding more strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria each day. We also know that the consumption of factory farmed animal products can damage our gut microbiomes because the animals at these farms are pumped full of antibiotics in order to survive the unnatural living conditions. Something that I did not know, however, is the impact of antibiotic use on crops.
This BioMed Central blog post referenced a recently published article in CABI Agriculture and Bioscience that demonstrates the global health implications of antibiotic use on crops. Smallholder farmers use these antibiotics to keep their livelihoods afloat, but Taylor and Reeder have found that antibiotic use in horticulture and agriculture is wider spread than initially thought. Antibiotic use in horticulture and agriculture may be contributing to antibiotic resistance in human pathogens.
This article is disheartening to me because I try to purchase organic and ethically sourced animal products in order to strengthen my microbiome while refusing to fund the growth of antibiotic resistant human pathogens. Now, I must understand that crops I purchase are likely contributing to the problem that I aim to work against. A potential answer is organic produce, but I have to do more research to find more answers. I will start by talking to my local farmer, Farmer Todd. Todd organizes the CSA (community supported agriculture) that I buy into. Hopefully he has some answers for me!
I will leave you with some of Taylor's words, "for the individual farmer, there is very little downside at all to using [antibiotics]... for humanity as a whole, I think there is potentially a massive downside, because their use may assist in the development of antibiotic resistant human pathogens, which will of course be disastrous for everyone".
References
http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmcblog/2020/08/10/new-insights-on-antibiotics-use-on-crops-amongst-smallholder-farmers/
GS. Bezanson RMI, S. Boehme GW, S. Danielsen FBM, Donley N, LM. Farfán SVB, M. Gusberti UK, Y. Han YL, SA. Hassan ADA, A. Kandan RB, B. Kurenbach AMH, HB. Lee YK, S. Manulis DZ, McManus PS, PS. McManus VOS, C. Pal JB-P, EL. Palmer BLT, B. Patil SN, E. Raphael LKW, Sánchez CR, C. Rodríguez LL, R. Ruimy AB, K. Schwaiger KH, S. Silvestri MM, VO. Stockwell BD, GW. Sundin NW, TC. Tso RNJ, GE. Vallad KLP, TP. Boeckel CB, S. Walia SWR, M. Wan RG, E. Yashiro PSMM, S. Yau XL, T. Zhang ST. 1970. Antibiotic use on crops in low and middle-income countries based on recommendations made by agricultural advisors. CABI Agriculture and Bioscience. BioMed Central.
Ezra,
I think the organic label is helpful. The USDA website explains. what the USDA Organic label means: https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means. I suggest checking. The CSA that I buy into is not completely organic, but I usually value purchasing my produce from a local farm over buying an organic apple from the supermarket. However, this article changes things for me.
I agree that it is difficult to ask small farmers to stop using antibiotics when they cannot compete with the industrialized farming practices that are subsidized by the government. I will speak with Farmer Todd today and see if he has any valuable input. Thanks for the tip about hyperlinks!
Wow this is so interesting! I had no idea there was a problem with over using antibiotics. From what I understand, however, labeling food as "organic" doesn't mean much because there isn't a set of characteristics/qualifications a product has to have or meet in order to get the organic label. I guess what I'm saying is that I wonder how we can know that the crops we buy aren't using the antibiotics if the label of organic isn't helpful? Moreover, as you write, "[s]mallholder farmers use these antibiotics to keep their livelihoods afloat," so how can we ask those farmers to stop using the antibiotics especially since corporate/commercial farming already makes it hard for local/small farms to sustain themselves? My…