Vanderbilt Political Review Winter 2015 | Page 9

WINTER 2015 to the gross abuse of antibiotics, the class of antibiotics being used in food production is increasingly dangerous. Drugs such as cephalosporins, considered by health experts to be the last defense of modern medicine against many infections, are increasingly being purchased by animal producers. Doing so tragically undermines DOMESTIC and development. Effective government steps have been shown to be effective in decreasing the usage of antibiotics given time to refine conventional farming practices. Member nations of the European Union - where antibiotic use for non-therapeutic purposes has been banned since 2006 - have successfully transformed food the lack of private sector investment