There are serious public and environmental health concerns with meat supply chains, such as antibiotic resistance, methane production, and animal welfare (See readings in Mod 4

Identify one major animal supply chain change that has happened (past) or will happen (future) in one form of meat production and discuss:

The reduction of antibiotic use for growth promotion and disease prevention.

• What prompted the change?
  • The problem of antibiotic resistance in humans has increased over the past few decades.  Along with the over-use of antibiotics within the human medial field they have also been overused in our food supply chain.  Having them in our food supply increases the chances of resistance in humans.
• What are the outcomes of the change (intended and unintended)?
  • As described in The Washington Post’s editorial “A great first step to protect antibiotics for the future”, the Obama administration proposed that manufacturers stop selling antibiotics for growth promotion.  Additionally, they recommended veterinary oversight be strengthened in the industry.  Data from the FDA shows a 33 percent decline between 2016 and 2017 in domestic sales and distribution, and a drop of 43 percent from 2015.   
  • This has caused the price of production to increase. As these antibiotics were once used for disease prevention and       growth promotion, farmers now can expect to see more sick animals and smaller healthier animals.

• What are the impacts of the change on producers and consumers?
  • Overall there has been a positive impact to consumers. They can expect food to be antibiotic free, which means reducing their chances of having a resistant bacterial infection.  The consumer will likely pay more but as the market grows for this type of food the supply should become plentiful and prices should drop.

• • Producers now have to deal with more sick animals and likely less yields. This has a cost associated with it, one where they will have to absorb or pass on to the consumer.  However, they have taken a step towards responsible farming and consumers are now taking that into consideration when purchasing food at the grocery store.