Vegetarians and Vegans Beware: There Are Antibiotics in the Vegetables Too

Unlike most vegetarians and vegans, I didn't give up meat because I felt sorry for the animals. I mean, don't get me wrong, murder of any kind makes me cringe. But I consider human desires much more important than anything that that has feathers or fur. And if non-vegetarians feel the need to eat animals to stay alive, more power to them. Omnivores always ask me if I would starve to death if killing an animal was the only way for me to get food. Which just proves that they don't know me at all. If I had to choose between starving to death and killing and eating them, they'd better hope they can run at least a little faster than me.

Did you know that 70% of all antibiotics in the United States are given to the cows, pigs, and chickens that end up on your plate? Well, unfortunately, I do. Which is why I became a vegan. And also because God might just be a chicken, but that's not strictly relevant to this discussion. Mostly I just like the feeling of being absolutely sure that I know what's in what I'm eating.

And I thought I did. That is, until Scientific American ruined my morning with their January 6th article about the discovery of antibiotics in vegetables grown in fertilizer. Now what am I supposed to eat?

It turns out that 90% of the antibiotic and hormone cocktail that has been given to food animals for the past 50 years makes its way out in their poop. And then the poop is shipped to vegetable farms (most often in organic ones) where the veggies soak up all the antibiotic goodness before they land on your plate.

And, ironically, the less processed the food item the more likely it is to contain a significant amount of antibiotics. Most corn products are leeched of antibiotics before they make it into high fructose corn syrup. However, tubers like potatoes, carrots and radishes are full of them because they grow directly in the soil and soak up its nutrients (and antibiotics).

So what's the big deal? Overexposure to antibiotics has been sited as the cause for the killer bacteria running rampant in the United States. And, according to Scientific American, researchers have linked overexposure to antibiotics to asthma and allergies in children. So much is the danger that in 2006, the European Union banned the use of antibiotics in animal feed. But the good old USofA uses more than 25 million pounds of the stuff every year.

Studies are still being done to gauge exactly how much antibiotics are making their way into my tubers and leafy greens. But in my opinion, even a little bit is too much. Especially when I have no control over it and no one is under any obligation to disclose it. Maybe I'll move to Europe.