The routine use of antibiotics to speed livestock growth has claimed another human victim. According to today’s New England Journal of Medicine, Salmonella infection in a 12-year-old Nebraska boy proved immune to the drug Rocephine because of indiscriminate use of a related antibiotic on his family’s farm. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are no effective alternatives to Rocephine in treating children. The growing immunity to antibiotics due to their excessive use in factory farms has raised the specter of worldwide epidemics. In fact, production and consumption of meat and other animal products have been the chief source of food poisoning in the U.S. The CDC estimates that several million Americans are afflicted each year and thousands are killed. But, routine use of antibiotics in animal feed is an integral element of today’s animal agriculture. The meat and drug industries have fiercely opposed Food and Drug Administration’s attempts to limit this practice. What will it take for consumers to get the message? Grains, vegetables and fresh fruits contain all the nutrients we require. They don’t carry diseases and they don’t do drugs. They are touted by every major health advocacy organization and appear to have been the recommended fare in the Garden of Eden. Alison Gottlieb