FFT: the Trouble with Antibiotics Viewing Handout

Name:__________________________________________ Date: ______________________

FFT: The Trouble with Antibiotics Viewing Handout

Please answer the following questions on the sheet and hand it in at the end of the period.

1. Where are most of the antibiotics used in the United States? ____________________________________________

2. Describe in a few sentences the relationship between antibiotic usage and industrial farming:__________________

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3. How is Lincomycin administered to farm animals (How does it get into their bodies)? _________________________

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4. What percentage of the antibiotics in the United States are sold to farms? __________________________________

5. According to the documentary, what are some of the benefits of using antibiotics on farm animals? _____________

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6. How does antibiotic resistant bacteria get from the animals/meat to humans? _______________________________

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7. When were antibiotics first used on farm animals in the United States? _____________________________________

8. What governmental agency has the authority to regulate antibiotic usage? __________________________________

9. Who controls this agency’s budget?__________________________________________________________________

10. What percentage of meat that Dr. Price tested contained traces of the “bad” e. coli? ________________________

11. Think about the current FDA practice of tracking antibiotic usage by the amount of antibiotics sold rather than by the amount of antibiotics used. What would proponents and critiques of antibiotic usage in farm animals say about this practice?

Proponents: _______________________________________________________________________________________

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Critics: ____________________________________________________________________________________________

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12. What are some of the possible advantages and challenges of asking the pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily not sell antibiotics to farms strictly for growth process?

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13. Should antibiotics that are important for human medical purposes not be given to farm animals even if it means animals may be more prone to infection? Why or why not?

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14. What are some ways that consumers can help in reducing the usage of antibiotics in industrial agriculture?

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