Vegetarianism-2

"100 million people could be adequately fed using land freed if the meat-eating population reduced their intake of meat by 10%" - The Vegetarian Society

(Information on the following pages is derived from various sources, notably www.vegsoc.org , UNICEF& WHO)

Various health surveys and studies have indicated and emphasized the advantages of a vegetarian diet - foremost among them are - reduced risk of certain cancers and heart disease by 30%; lower incidence of hypertension and high blood pressure than meat-eaters; lower cholesterol levels; less chance of suffering from kidney and gall stones , and reduced incidence of diet-related diabetes. It is estimated that " over 90 per cent of all food poisoning cases each year in the UK are related to the consumption of animal products." The high levels of antibiotics that go regularly into animal feed have made certain organisms resistant to antibiotics. "13% of staphylococci infections were resistant to penicillin in 1960 compared to 91% resistant in 1988". Similarly, the use of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides in animal products contaminates breast milk. Breast-fed babies of meat-eating mothers are ingesting a lot more than just milk.

The following facts show the environmental, global, and other costs of producing meat-foods.

Who eats what

- 20 % of corn grown in the U.S. is eaten by people and 80% by livestock

- 95% of oats grown in the U.S. are eaten by livestock

- In the economically weak countries, 20 million people worldwide die of malnutrition every year -a child dies of malnutrition every 2.3 seconds.

What an acre of land can do

- an acre of land can produce 40,000 potatoes

- 10,000 pounds of green beans

- 30,000 pounds of carrots,

- 50,000 pounds of tomatoes,

but

- only 250 pounds of beef.

YET

56% of U.S. farmland is devoted to beef production

80% of all agricultural land in the UK is used to rear livestock

50 per cent of all cereal crops grown in Britain are used as animal feed.

80% of corn and 95% of oats grown in the U.S. are eaten by livestock

Livestock cultivation makes inefficient use of limited resources.

What it costs to produce one pound of meat/beef

16 Pounds of grain and soybeans are needed to produce a pound of edible flesh

5,000 Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of beef
vs
25 Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of wheat

78 Calories of fossil fuel expended to get 1 calorie of protein from beef
vs.
2 calories of fossil fuel used to get 1 calorie of protein from soybeans

33% of all raw materials consumed by U.S. is towards the production of livestock
vs.
2% of all raw material consumed to produce a complete vegetarian diet

What it costs Central & South America - and our planet - to export beef

300,000,000 pounds of meat exported to U.S. annually from Central and South America

55 square feet of tropical rainforest is cleared to produce 125 Gms of rainforest beef

1,000 species face extinction every year due to destruction of tropical rainforests for meat grazing and other uses

survival of indigenous human populations, and their way of living, is also threatened by such operations

75 % of Central American children under the age of five are undernourished

Elsewhere in meat-consuming countries...

almost 800 million animals are slaughtered for food each year in the UK - about 15 animals per person per year

660,000 animals killed for meat per hour in the U.S

260 million acres of U.S. forest cleared for cropland to produce meat-foods

Livestock makes use of one third of the total landmass on earth.

Environmental Costs

Methane emissions from livestock cause global warming - about 25% of all methane emissions are livestock related

Ammonia from animal waste and agricultural fertilisers contributes to acid rain, which kills aquatic and plant life.

Intensive grazing causes soil erosion and nutrient depletion

The seas have been overfished by greedy trawlers. Cod and herring are at a dangerously low level

Toxic waste and effluent have resulted in "the open sores, cancerous tumours and deformities found on some captured fish"

"While we are the living graves of murdered beasts, slaughtered to satisfy our appetites, how can we expect ideal conditions on this earth." George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) - Playwright and Critic

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Vegetarianism - demystified

Vegetarianism vs Meat-foods - facts & global cost

Vegetarian Food sources for nutrients

The Red List - of ingredients & foods that carry meat/animal sources

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