Event Description

To help kick off Antibiotic Awareness Week, please join us for this panel event that will explore how research, collaboration, and policy can encourage better antibiotic stewardship in animal agriculture and human health care.

COVID-19 may not be the only pandemic of our lifetime. For decades, scientists have warned that bacteria are getting stronger and lifesaving antibiotics are losing their effectiveness due to overuse. Meanwhile, the growth in intensive confinement of animals raised for food has led to a massive increase in routine antibiotic use to prevent disease in such overcrowded conditions. In the U.S. alone, 80 percent of all antibiotics sold are now fed to livestock. This broad misuse of antibiotics is partially responsible for the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria that are pathogenic to humans, easily transmitted to humans via food chains, and widely disseminated in the environment via animal wastes. These challenges are of local, national, regional, and international significance, as there are no geographic boundaries to impede the spread of antibiotic resistance. The time for action is now.

Speakers

• Andrew Jacobs, Global Health Reporter, New York Times
• Chris Oliviero, General Manager, Niman Ranch
• Dr. Payal Patel, Infectious Disease Specialist, University of Michigan
• Sydney Riess, Public Health Campaign Associate, U.S. PIRG
• Kezia Smithe, ESG Analyst, FAIRR Initiative
• Moderated by Nicole Negowetti, Clinical Instructor, Animal Law & Policy Clinic

Sponsored by the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Program, HLS Animal Law Society, HLS Food Law Lab, HLS Food Law and Policy Clinic, Petrie-Flom Center, Green Century, and US PIRG.