Sick Chicken

Marketplace on CBC did a show recently about the amount of antibiotic-resistant bacteria found on the chicken Canadians are eating.

They tested 100 samples from a number of our national grocery chains and 67 per cent of the samples contained antibiotic-resistant bacteria. 

Some samples were resistant to as many as eight different antibiotics. 

They even found antibiotic-resistant bacteria on chicken raised on antibiotic-free farms and on organic farms.  Although these samples had less strains than the samples from regular farms. 

An organic farmer on the show said that one of the reasons this may be happening is that there are no organic chicks available on the market, so organic farmers have to start their growing process with eggs that may have received antibiotics before hatching.  Then these farmers take ten weeks to raise these chicks rather than the five weeks it takes chicks to grow to full size on the antibiotic-using farms.

The Marketplace show explained that the farms that use antibiotics when growing their chickens don’t just use them for sick chickens but also for healthy chickens to ensure they don’t get sick and to help them grow bigger quicker. 

At the moment, there are no limits to the amount of antibiotics Canadian farmers can use when raising their chickens.  And some of the antibiotics they are utilizing are antibiotics that are prescribed for pregnant women and children.

So what does all this mean for the Canadian consumer?  There are people who are getting sick with superbugs, and they cannot be treated by many of the antibiotics on the market because their superbug is antibiotic-resistant.  

Some doctors are worried that antibiotics will eventually stop working all together and this could lead to our society returning to times when otherwise healthy people died of an infectious disease like pneumonia because there was no treatment.  No antibiotics to cure them.

Should we be buying the antibiotic-free chicken offered at our local stores with the hope that there are less antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria found on these products? 

If we want to make a change in the way the food we feed our family is farmed, we have to voice our opinion to our Member of Parliament.  You can find your representative by typing in your postal code at the following link.

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/compilations/houseofcommons/memberbypostalcode.aspx?menu=hoc

Is 40 the new 4?

Remember when you were young, and everything was new and exciting?  When jumping in a puddle could make your day? 

And then something happened. 

Most of us got so involved in doing what we were supposed to do that we forgot to do what we wanted to do.

We finished high school and post-secondary.  We landed our first job and bought our first house.  We got married and had children. 

And then we threw all the balls up in the air and juggled until we ran out of breath. 

We love our family.  And we feel lucky to have our health.  But it seems that more and more people are waking up around 40 and thinking... is there something else I should be doing for me?  

The job pays the bills.  The cooking fuels the family.  But should I be training for a marathon?  Should I start growing my own organic garden?  Should I travel to a country I’ve never seen before?  Should I make the leap into a career that lights my fire instead of one that burns the midnight oil?

But where do we start?  By reading a book on a subject we love?  Seeing a movie that everyone is talking about?  Or running down the street, not for a jog but, to see how far we can go?

Life is what happens when you are making other plans.

So why not start making life a part of the plan?  And jump in a puddle once in a while.

One in five Canadians suffer from mental illness

I recently heard that one in five Canadians suffer from mental illness but there is a stigma in talking about it.

When someone is diagnosed with diabetes they get insulin.  If it’s cancer, they go through chemotherapy.  But I wonder what the screening process and treatment is for mental illness? 

Could it be that mental illness exists on a spectrum and most of us suffer from it at different degrees during our lives?

Some of us have a huge amount of anxiety.  Others are obsessive-compulsive.  There are those whose depression shows itself through angry outbursts.  Or new moms who are struggling to feel happiness through their exhaustion.  And what about addiction?  Is that an illness of the mind?

Maybe some people are able to function with their mental affliction while others cannot cope due to genetics or lack of emotional support or any number of reasons.

Who decides when a person’s behaviour is “acceptable” or when they have a “mental illness?”  Who decides what is “normal?”  I know there might be obvious cases when someone is committing crimes or not able to take care of themselves, but what about those whose illnesses are less noticeable? 

I’m starting to think that we’re all more alike than different and that if we can start a conversation sharing that thought, the stigma of mental illness might be diminished.

Maybe mental health screening needs to be part of our annual medicals.  Then perhaps psychological counselling or endorphin-producing foods or natural alternatives or medication could be discussed as part of keeping our minds, bodies and spirits healthy.   Rather than as a fix when the problem has interrupted lives.