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s_smiadak's review against another edition
4.0
This content makes it a hard read but it's so worth being an informed consumer.
mafryc's review against another edition
5.0
This well-researched documentation of the global discovery and introduction of antibiotics to our food and medical systems is fascinating. Goes way beyond the grasp of "big chicken."
1940s saw the launch of the antibiotic "rush" and the carelessness with which the FDA threw antibiotics into food production. This alone allowed farmers to crowd more animals into smaller spaces, feed them worse food, and care for them less. Chickens were fed antibiotics, were soaked in antibiotics, and final products were painted with antibiotics.
Cue the epidemics.
1960s was the discovery of plasmids, which are transferrable immunity between bacteria. Bacteria could be resistant to a whole host of drugs they'd never been exposed to before. Pharmaceutical companies refuted all negativity toward animal antibiotics.
Cue worse epidemics.
1970s-90s Study after study. Resistance had gotten so out of hand that hundreds of thousands were getting sick, and scientists had discovered bacteria that were resistant to the very last weapon we have against them.
Cue the realistic threat of antibiotic apocalypse.
"Resistant bacteria are a grave threat and getting worse. They are responsible for at least 700,000 deaths around the world each year: 23,000 in the U.S., 25,000 in Europe, more than 63,000 babies in India. Beyond these deaths, bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics cause millions of illnesses - two million annually just in the United States - and cost billions in health care spending, lost wages, and lost national productivity. It is predicted that by 2050, antibiotic resistance will cost the world $100 trillion and will cause a staggering 10 million deaths per year.”
Due to the intense carelessness of the FDA, it wasn't until 2001 (60 years later!!) that they actually conducted a survey of how many drugs were being pumped into our meat. Human medicine was 3 million pounds, agriculture was 24.6 million. Currently, 80% of the antibiotics sold in the United states and more than half of those sold around the world are used in animals, not humans.
“If we want to be serious about having some medicine left over for our children, then we should do something about antibiotic use in our farms." - Oosterlaken
1940s saw the launch of the antibiotic "rush" and the carelessness with which the FDA threw antibiotics into food production. This alone allowed farmers to crowd more animals into smaller spaces, feed them worse food, and care for them less. Chickens were fed antibiotics, were soaked in antibiotics, and final products were painted with antibiotics.
Cue the epidemics.
1960s was the discovery of plasmids, which are transferrable immunity between bacteria. Bacteria could be resistant to a whole host of drugs they'd never been exposed to before. Pharmaceutical companies refuted all negativity toward animal antibiotics.
Cue worse epidemics.
1970s-90s Study after study. Resistance had gotten so out of hand that hundreds of thousands were getting sick, and scientists had discovered bacteria that were resistant to the very last weapon we have against them.
Cue the realistic threat of antibiotic apocalypse.
"Resistant bacteria are a grave threat and getting worse. They are responsible for at least 700,000 deaths around the world each year: 23,000 in the U.S., 25,000 in Europe, more than 63,000 babies in India. Beyond these deaths, bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics cause millions of illnesses - two million annually just in the United States - and cost billions in health care spending, lost wages, and lost national productivity. It is predicted that by 2050, antibiotic resistance will cost the world $100 trillion and will cause a staggering 10 million deaths per year.”
Due to the intense carelessness of the FDA, it wasn't until 2001 (60 years later!!) that they actually conducted a survey of how many drugs were being pumped into our meat. Human medicine was 3 million pounds, agriculture was 24.6 million. Currently, 80% of the antibiotics sold in the United states and more than half of those sold around the world are used in animals, not humans.
“If we want to be serious about having some medicine left over for our children, then we should do something about antibiotic use in our farms." - Oosterlaken
rohand0's review against another edition
5.0
Big Chicken is a great book that covers a lot of basis of the story about how chickens came to be the way they came. It does this with a combination of giving names and faces to the people behind these stories which I found a much more fascinating way. The delving into the politics of the situation and the rise of globalization makes the entire thing makes me kind of have a pessimistic view of the entire situation though.
The only weakness of the book is while it's very hyperbolic about the issue that are occurring there doesn't seem to be any real impact of these numbers. Yes, we have super bacteria and a few cases of how this affects people but no real numbers on how many people this actually affects.
The only weakness of the book is while it's very hyperbolic about the issue that are occurring there doesn't seem to be any real impact of these numbers. Yes, we have super bacteria and a few cases of how this affects people but no real numbers on how many people this actually affects.
heliopteryx's review against another edition
5.0
When I was in university, I worked in a research lab studying antibiotic resistance. This book is a great, accessible way to learn about the state of antibiotic resistance and agriculture, and the history of how we got here. It's very accurate.
scarlettblaze's review against another edition
5.0
As a full-fledged germaphobe, former meat-eater, and present-day backyard chicken lover, this book is terrifying and incredible. The author put an insane amount of research into what you'd think would be a pretty simple topic: the safety of antibiotics in meat animals. Before reading this, I thought, "Oh that's surely not good that they're putting antibiotics in our food, that can't be good for us," but I had no idea how deep-rooted the problem was. There's way too much science involved for me to even start to get into it in this review, but everyone who eats meat should read this book. It's not a preachy "go vegan!" book at all. It simply provides information that I personally probably wouldn't have seen elsewhere, and information everyone should know.
katielanza's review against another edition
4.0
If you eat meat, especially chicken, read this. We need to eliminate antibiotic use in chickens or we will have more epidemics multi drug resistant bacteria. Globalization and consolidation have guaranteed this. Chicken-caused MDR infections can spread to people that havent eaten contaminated chicken (or chicken at all!) and present traditionally as food borne illnesses but also MRSA that goes through hospitals, and even UTIs! Some key things to look for when looking for antibiotic free chicken:
-antibiotic free heritage/blood line (resistance travels down genetically even to chickens that weren’t directly given antibiotics)
-not raised on a farm that gives antibiotics to other ‘crops’ of birds (resistance is also communicable)
-chicken houses kept smaller than a few thousand (packing them in all but ensures antibiotics will be used to control caused by overcrowding)
-it’s life is more humane, including foraging, roosting, flying, etc. this will make the chickens smaller and more ‘gamely’. But if a chicken is stuffed in a tiny house, eating a prepared feed, and physically unable to behave like a chicken, then it’s probably living in conditions that necessitate and indicate antibiotic use.
-it’s more expensive due to the humane living conditions listed above (oh well, meat is too cheap anyways)
-antibiotic free heritage/blood line (resistance travels down genetically even to chickens that weren’t directly given antibiotics)
-not raised on a farm that gives antibiotics to other ‘crops’ of birds (resistance is also communicable)
-chicken houses kept smaller than a few thousand (packing them in all but ensures antibiotics will be used to control caused by overcrowding)
-it’s life is more humane, including foraging, roosting, flying, etc. this will make the chickens smaller and more ‘gamely’. But if a chicken is stuffed in a tiny house, eating a prepared feed, and physically unable to behave like a chicken, then it’s probably living in conditions that necessitate and indicate antibiotic use.
-it’s more expensive due to the humane living conditions listed above (oh well, meat is too cheap anyways)
lacywolfe's review against another edition
4.0
If you're curious about what goes into the food we eat, I would recommend you take a look at this book. In very understandable terms, the author describes antibiotic resistance and its harm to animals and humans.