Antibiotic resistant pathogens have existed for thousands of years, long before antibiotics. The problem today is not too many antibiotics being prescribed—the problem is too many antibiotics being fed to animals, and too many of the wrong antibiotics being prescribed to patients.

In 1946, animals began being fed antibiotics, after it was learned antibiotics helped the animals grow faster and bigger. In 2008, the American Livestock industry reported animals consumed eight times more antibiotics than people; and in one year, animals consumed twenty-nine million pounds of antibiotics versus three million pounds of antibiotics consumed by humans. Today 80% of ALL antibiotics used in the United States are fed to livestock, poultry and fish; and ninety percent of the food we consume is from factory farms, where animals are routinely fed antibiotics to overcome unsanitary conditions. Antibiotic resistant pathogens can be acquired by consuming meat and dairy products from animals and fish fed antibiotics, and our microbiomes are already damaged from consuming meat and dairy products from animals fed antibiotics.

A significant reduction in the use of antibiotics in animals, a shift in the use of antibiotics from animals to humans, and a shift in the type of antibiotics prescribed to humans and for what purpose, would reduce the danger of antibiotic resistance and the risk of chronic disease.