What is YOUR story?

Hello!

Everyone has a story. Everyone has something that has brought them closer to the issue of antibiotic effects. Here is mine:

I used to coach middle school cross country. Our training would start in the hot, dry months of summer and eventually go through the stormy months of autumn. These kids would begin with wining and grimacing as their psychopathic coach drove their young bodies to levels of physical exhurtion that they did not realize they were capable of. These grimaces soon turned to broad smiles as they began to embrace their own strength.

The reason that this happened was that they started from the ground up in understanding what running was! From the start of practice, I talked about why humans run. We talked about the first time that running was used for hunting, for defense, for enjoyment, for relaxation and finally for competition. We talked about the fact that competition started as a fellowship of athletes coming together to celebrate their pride and strengths as athletes. I think that the same approach applies to our research potential and the way that we embrace the fundamental issue of antibiotics in our food supply.

It is NOT a new issue, just like jogging is not a new form of running, and just like soccer is not a new sport, but a sport which our nation is just beginning to embrace. We must instead approach this issue knowing all of the angles, the reasons, and politics. There was as reason why lead was incorporated into gasoline at the introduction of the internal combustion engine. In the same way, there was originally a reason why antibiotics were introduced into beef cattle! Why was that? Where did we go wrong? These questions all need to be addressed for us to have a truly open and lively argument against the continued use of antibiotics in meat. Without a good understanding, we’re just jogging, not running.

Geoff Barrett
Research Group