Fox 45 reporter Jimmy Uhrin's McDonald's run last week was a hilarious, unintentional promotion for McDonald's last week ("Fox 45 reporter caught stopping for McDonald's meal during live shot," March 6).
However, Baltimorean's should be lovin' on McDonald's not only because Traffic Jam Jimmy loves the Golden Arches but for the game-changing move the chain took this past week to keep antibiotics effective by gradually stopping purchases of chicken raised with medically important antibiotics. I would like to thank McDonald's for making this important commitment.
In all seriousness, antibiotic resistance is a growing public health issue that threatens millions of lives every year. Meanwhile, over 70 percent of our antibiotics are sold for use on livestock.
Because McDonald's is one of the nation's largest purchasers of meat, this change will send a super-sized signal to the market that consumers are demanding meat raised without antibiotics. Next, McDonald's should expand its efforts to help keep antibiotics effective and expand its new chicken policy to beef and pork.
Given that McDonald's sales have slumped for nine straight months, maybe an even bigger commitment to stopping use of medically important antibiotics in all meats will help make the rest of the U.S. population line up at their local McDonald's like Traffic Jam Jimmy.
Pam Clough, Baltimore
The writer is a campaign organizer for Maryland PIRG.