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With over 35 years working in the public health field, I've seen a lot of progress in how we treat illnesses. So it's alarming to watch as antibiotics lose their effectiveness to treat infections because they have been misused for so long.

The problem is that every time antibiotics are used, the infection-causing bacteria they are designed to kill evolve and develop resistance to the drug. Over time, the antibiotics stop working. That's why it's so important to make sure antibiotics are used only when they are truly needed.

Make no mistake, the threat is real. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 23,000 Americans die every year from antibiotic-resistant infections.

Medical professionals are trying to rein in the overuse of antibiotics in humans and there are signs that those efforts are beginning to pay off. But the bigger big part of the solution lies with the meat and poultry you find at most grocery stores.

Believe it or not, 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are actually used by the meat industry, mostly to make cows, pigs, and poultry grow faster and to prevent them from getting infections on crowded and unsanitary industrial farms. The vast majority of these animals are fed antibiotics even though they aren't sick.

We shouldn't be wasting antibiotics on healthy animals to promote faster growth or to prevent infections. Antibiotics should only be used to treat infections once animals get sick.

The CDC and a whole host of other public health agencies agree that we have to curtail the use of antibiotics in healthy livestock in order to preserve the effectiveness of these drugs to treat disease. Unfortunately, Congress and the FDA have failed to take meaningful action to limit the overuse of antibiotics in meat production.

In the absence of action from Washington, some companies have taken their own stand against the reckless use of antibiotics. National chains like Whole Foods, Panera and Denver-based Chipotle have committed, and local businesses are moving in this direction, too. In addition the Jefferson County and Boulder school systems have taken steps to obtain their meat for school lunches from no-antibiotics sources.

Over the past year, over half a million consumers have called on Trader Joe's, which recently opened its first stores in Boulder and Denver, to be the next major grocer to make this commitment. Trader Joe's can be a real industry leader on this issue. Since nearly all of the products it carries are sold under its own private label, it's in a unique position to pressure its suppliers to stop misusing antibiotics.

As long as grocery stores continue to sell meat from animals that are routinely fed antibiotics, they will be contributing to the declining effectiveness of these medications. We need grocery stores like Trader Joe's to put public health first by only selling meat from suppliers who ensure the responsible use of antibiotics.

You can do your part through the meat you buy. The next time you shop at your local grocery store, tell the manager you want your meat without drugs. Because if we don't stop the overuse of antibiotics for meat production, the drugs we all depend on may not work when we need them most.

Diane Birmingham lives in Boulder.