$20 Chicken Anyone?

Well if you need another reason to only buy organic poultry, a recent news bit from Taste for Life should do it for you. An antibiotic used to treat food poisoning in humans, fluoroquinolone, was also administered to chickens with respiratory problems until 2005. The FDA banned its use on poultry farms due to concerns over antibiotic-resistant bacteria developing in humans, essentially making fluoroquinolone less effective for those who need it.

But the ban was a little too little, a little too late, because recent research from Johns Hopkins University suggests that the ban may not be enough to protect humans from antibiotic resistance. Scientists tested chicken from farms that stopped using fluoroquinolone three years before the FDA ban – only to find the presence of an antibiotic resistant bacteria. The study indicates that once antibiotic resistant bacteria develops, it can remain in the chickens long after farmers stop using these drugs. It pass through the chicken population through the water, the litter, or poor ventilation.

Now think about it from this angle....if you are working hard to live a life free of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, additives and so on, can you knowingly allow the possibility of second-hand junk coming at you through your food supply? My guess would be that the antibiotics, eaten by the chickens, cooked fresh in your oven, can probably do more harm in the long run than just the development of antibiotic resistance.

Paying $7.00 and up for a pound of organic chicken, not my idea of a good time, but when I consider the alternatives and associated risks, I see it as $7.00 well spent.