Where’s the beef … and pork too?

Hospitals are calling on more producers, especially those raising beef and pork, to eliminate the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture.

By Hillary Greenwood, Health Care Without Harm Healthy Food in Health Care program national procurement director

Hospitals and the medical community have been making the connection between routine use of antibiotics in animal livestock and antibiotic resistance for the last several years. Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth found that more than half of hospitals surveyed in 2015  were purchasing products raised without routine antibiotic use. However, there were still significant challenges to overcome in transitioning all or even a majority of their purchases.

In 2016, more than 300 hospitals joined together to issue a statement ensuring food producers, manufacturers, and supply chain representatives heard their demand and offered more sustainably raised meat and poultry products, starting with those raised without routine antibiotics. Together with their vendors, like food service management companies and food distributors, many hospitals have been able to incorporate poultry raised without antibiotics into their menus.

Today, nearly 35 percent of meat and poultry served by health systems in our network is raised without routine antibiotics. Most of the pounds purchased are poultry products, thanks to the response by Perdue Farms, Tyson Foods, Koch Turkey, and Jennie-O Turkey, which adhere to guidelines outlined by the USDA’s Process Verified program, Certified Responsible Antibiotic Use or Global Animal Partnership. Some health systems in the network have also been connecting with regional verified producers like Mary’s Chicken, Miller Poultry, and Crystal Lake Farms to help expand opportunities for the food service sector.

“NYU Langone Health’s meal program is approximately 60 percent antibiotic-free on its main campus, which is almost entirely made up of poultry purchases,” said Jeffrey Held, chef at the health system. “We are now looking at beef and pork markets, but we want to see more commitments and transition from producers.”

Additionally, the new FDA report which states sales of all antimicrobials used in food-producing animals decreased by 10 percent while the the sales of medically important antimicrobials dropped by 14 percent provides evidence the market is moving. The report also included sales numbers by kinds of animal for the first time and specifically calls out beef (43 percent) and pork (37 percent) producers as the heaviest antibiotic users of medically important antibiotics.  

Health Care Without Harm has been compiling a directory of sustainably raised meat and poultry products for health facilities to use when making purchasing decisions. Together with the facilities in their network, the organization calls on more beef and pork producers to help grow this list in quantity and variety so hospitals will be able to improve their food service while working within their missions to promote public health.

"As a health organization, Advocate Health Care understands how important it is to have antibiotics that work effectively. That’s why we’re committed to purchasing meat raised without routine antibiotics as well as to reduce the amount of meat we’re purchasing," shared Katie Wickman, Advocate sustainability manager. "This is a component of our overall approach to health and antimicrobial stewardship. We are eager to work with producers and supply chain partners to find more sustainably raised products."

Hospitals will continue this dialogue with producers of all sizes to build a meat production system that benefits the health of farmworkers and the overall community. Reducing antibiotic use is the first step. They also call on more hospitals and other institutions to contribute to the collective impact by talking with their vendors and establishing commitments to purchase over the next three years to give producers and the supply chain time to respond.

Using this momentum, everyone involved will improve the ability for all institutions and consumers to purchase these products.