Blockbuster copies
0 US animals are treated in ways outlawed in the EU many years ago elsewhere – in the US, in particular, animals are kept intensively on feedlots where they live in unhygienic and overcrowded conditions before going to slaughter.
Due to these intensive conditions animals are dosed with antibiotics to increase weight and to prevent and treat disease – this practice was outlawed in Europe in 2006.
There have been increasing concerns about antibiotic resistance in humans due to the consumption of meat reared in such conditions. Antibiotic resistant bacteria can be transferred through several different ways such as consumption of meats, it can also be airborne. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are also found in animal waste which is often sprayed as fertilizer and can contaminate crops and water.
The US is known, along with other countries, to use trade deals to ‘dump’ excess products into those markets, flooding them with produce at a price that local producers can’t compete with, in turn, losing livelihoods and causing widespread misery and poverty.
Personally, I’m concerned about seeing issues arise in the UK, where food standards have been relatively high and steadily improving due to EU compliance. Although far from infallible they have allowed the discerning consumer some choice over their consumption.
A governmental desperation to secure post-brexit trade deals with the US could have disastrous effects on an already heavily subsidised agricultural sector. Caveat emptor. Nadine Pierce is a marketing consultant and MSC Gastronomy student. She lives in Midlothian.