Dear Friends and Colleagues: Take the Keep Antibiotics Working Pledge and send a message to President Bush, Congress, and meat and fish producers that you support phasing out feeding antibiotics to farm animals and fish that are not sick. By taking the pledge you agree to make every effort to purchase poultry, pork, beef, or fish produced without the routine use of antibiotics, such as those labeled "certified organic," "raised without antibiotics," or "no antibiotics administered." Take the pledge! You can take action on this pledge (please see directions below) via the web at: http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/Pledge/ibbsbg44783jwb Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this. http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/Pledge/forward/ibbsbg44783jwb Check out: http://KeepAntibioticsWorking.com to find out more about the campaign. Visit: http://iatp.org/EatWell/orgResults.cfm to find information on where to buy poultry, pork, beef, or fish produced without the routine use of antibiotics. Sign the Pledge to Keep Antibiotics Working! INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB: If you have access to a web browser, you can take action on this alert by going to the following URL: http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/Pledge/ibbsbg44783jwb Your letter will be addressed and sent to: President George W. Bush Your Congressperson Your Senators ----THIS LETTER WILL BE SENT IN YOUR NAME---- Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness to treat disease. One reason is that the overuse of antibiotics makes disease-causing bacteria resistant to antibiotic treatment. Such overuse is widespread in animal agriculture. In fact, an estimated 70% of the antibiotics used in the US each year are fed to farm animals on a routine basis - not to treat disease - but to make the animals grow slightly faster on less feed and to compensate for crowded, stressful, unhealthy conditions. The American Medical Association and other experts oppose the feeding of antibiotics to farm animals that are not sick. I pledge to make every effort to purchase poultry, pork, beef, or fish produced without the routine use of antibiotics, such as those labeled "certified organic," "raised without antibiotics," or "no antibiotics administered." I urge government officials, and meat and fish producers, to phase out feeding antibiotics to farm animals and fish that are not sick. Erin E. Jordahl Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club 3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280 Des Moines, IA 50310 515-277-8868 [log in to unmask] www.iowa.sierraclub.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp