A new report from an Austrialian financial company presents the risks to investors from the growth in awareness of antimicrobial resistance linked to factory farming.
Sustain and other organisations have long campaigned to reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics and antimicrobials in farm animals, because their overuse leads to the growth of bacteria which cannot be killed by any available antibiotics. The rise of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria has been highlighted by the WHO as a critical health risk for humanity.
Now an authoritative report from Australia presents the issue as a threat not just to health but also to investment. In other words, it seeks to leverage the power of investors to bring about a reduction in the overuse of antibiotics. Not only should ethical investors avoid factory farming systems where the use of antimicrobials is prevalent, but all profit-seeking investors should avoid them because 'human resistance to antibiotics represents a risk to earnings in the agricultural sector if consumer awareness of the issue grows, leading to reduced demand for factory-farmed meat'.
The report, Is Factory Farming Making us Sick?, by the Australian fund manager AMP, is available here.
Sustain campaigns for a greener, healthier and fairer food system. Read more about our participation in the alliance to Save our Antibiotics here.
Published Monday 1 May 2017
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
