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The evening's menu featured grass-fed, antibiotic-free beef over pasta, fresh seasonal vegetables and fresh organic peaches — items right at home in the city's finest restaurants.
Instead, the dishes were prepared for visitors, staff and bed-bound patients at Swedish Covenant Hospital.
The Northwest Side hospital is one of 300 across the nation that have pledged to improve the quality and sustainability of the food they serve, not just for the health of their patients but, they say, the health of the environment and the U.S. population.
For many of these institutions, the initiative includes buying antibiotic-free meats. Administrators say they hope increased demand for those products will reduce the use of antibiotics to treat cattle and other animals, which scientists believe helps pathogens become more resistant to drugs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that antibiotic-resistant infections kill 60,000 Americans a year.
Hospitals buy antibiotic-free meat, citing drug resistance concerns - chicagotribune.com
Article Source: Chicago Tribune- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (5)
Imrie estimated that her food costs rose about $67,000 last year when she switched to antibiotic-free chicken from conventional. "But that's also about the same cost as treating a single MRSA infection," she said, referring to drug-resistant staphylococcus bacteria.
It will be interesting to watch the affect on infection rates in the future.
- 2 votes
#1 - Thu Jul 22, 2010 4:54 PM EDTGreat find!
- 2 votes
#2 - Thu Jul 22, 2010 5:09 PM EDTI just have to wonder how conventional producers will counter this? How can they counter the belief major hospitals have that conventional meat could potentially be hazardous to their patients.
- 2 votes
I don't think there is too much they can do to counter this trend. It is a fact, which they cannot dispute, that the antibiotics remain in the food that we consume. The only thing that they can argue about is the effects!
I read somewhere in the last few days that the government is now going to limit what, how much, and how often they can use the drugs.
- 2 votes
I read somewhere in the last few days that the government is now going to limit what, how much, and how often they can use the drugs
At least, it's a step in the right direction.
- 2 votes
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