Where I live, fruits and vegetables are ridiculously cheap, and meat is rather expensive. For example, apricots (which are just now in season) are $2.50 per pou

Where I live, fruits and vegetables are ridiculously cheap, and meat is rather expensive. For example, apricots (which are just now in season) are $2.50 per pound. When the height of apricot season kicks in, the price will come down to around 50¢ per pound. But if I want a steak I can expect to pay at least $12 per pound. I take a certain comfort in the notion that this price difference reflects the true cost of producing meat. Likewise, everything is locally sourced because there isn't really any other option, so everything taste fresh. Produce is only available when its in season, but this adds a fun sense of anticipation as the seasons change. That's one point of view. The other point of view is that feeding antibiotics to cattle improves yield. Transporting produce long distances ensures that it can be grown where conditions are best, and flying fruits in from Chile means that supermarket customers can find what they crave even in the middle of winter. The US has a long tradition of asking "can we?" not "should we?" Sometimes, as with the Apolo mission, this is a very good thing. Other times, as with the issue addressed here, it can be rather bad. Edit: Also, as I always do when this topic comes up, I'll point to this extremely useful list on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_antibiotics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_antibiotics . This battle is occurring on two fronts: the bugs are becoming more resistant, and we're having an increasingly hard time finding new weapons to fight them off.