- * Number of people worldwide who will
die of starvation this year: 60 million
-
- * Number of people who could be adequately
fed with the grain saved if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%:
60 million
-
- * Human beings in America: 243 million
-
- * Number of people who could be fed with
grain and soybeans now eaten by U.S. livestock: 1.3 billion
-
- * Percentage of corn grown in the U.
S. eaten by people: 20
-
- * Percentage of corn grown in the U.
S. eaten by livestock: 80
-
- * Percentage of oats grown in the U.
S. eaten by livestock: 95
-
- * Percentage of protein waste by cycling
grain through livestock: 99
-
- * How frequently a child starves to death:
every two seconds
-
- * Pounds of potatoes that can be grow
on an acre: 20,000
-
- * Percentage of beef produced on an acre:
165
-
- * Percentage of U. S. farmland devoted
to beef production: 56
-
- * Pounds of grain and soybeans needed
to produce a pound of beef: 16
-
- The Environmental Argument
-
- * Cause of global warming: greenhouse
effect
-
- * Primary cause of Greenhouse effect:
carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels
-
- * Fossil fuels needed to produce a meat-centered
diet vs. a meat-free diet: 50 times more
-
- * Percentage of U.S. topsoil lost to
date: 75
-
- * Percentage of U.S. topsoil loss directly
related to livestock raising: 85
-
- * Number of acres of U.S. forest cleared
for cropland to produce meat-centered diet: 260 million
-
- * Amount of meat U. S. imports annually
from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama: 200 million
pounds
-
- * Average per capita meat consumption
in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama: less than eaten
by average U. S. housecat
-
- * Area of tropical rainforest consumed
in evey quarter-pound hamburger: 55 sq. ft.
-
- * Current rate of species extinction
due to destruction of tropical rainforests for meat grazing and other uses:
1,000 per year
-
- The Cancer Argument
-
- * Increased risk of breast cancer for
women who eat meat 4 times a week vs. less than once a week: 4 times.
-
- * For women who eat eggs daily vs. less
than once a week: 3 times
-
- * Increased risk of fatal ovarian cancer
for women who eat eggs 3 or more times a week vs. less than once a week:
3 times.
-
- * Increased risk of fatal prostate cancer
for men who eat meat daily vs. sparingly or not at all: 3.6 times
-
- The Natural Resources Argument
-
- * Use of more than half of all water
used for all purposes in the U.S.: livestock portion
-
- * Amount of water used in production
of the average steer: sufficient to float a destroyer
-
- * Gallons to produce a pound of wheat:
25
-
- * Gallons to produce a pound of meat:
2,500
-
- * Cost of common hamburger if water used
by meat industry was not subsidized by the U. S. taxpayer: $35 a pound.
-
- * Current cost of pound of protein from
beefsteak, if water was no longer subsidized: $89
-
- * Years the world's known oil reserves
would last if every human ate a meat-centered diet: 13
-
- * Years they would last if human beings
no longer ate meat: 260
-
- * Barrels of oil imported into U.S. daily:
6.8 million
-
- * Percentage of fossil fuel returned
as food energy by most efficient factory farming of meat: 34.5
-
- * Percentage returned from least efficient
plant food: 32.8
-
- * Percentage of raw materials consumed
by U. S. to produce present meat-centered diet: 33
-
- The Cholesterol Argument
-
- * Number of U.S. medical schools
-
- * Number requiring a course in nutrition:
30
-
- * Nutrition training received by average
U.S. Physician during four years of medical school: 25 hours.
-
- * Most common cause of death in U.S.:
heart attack
-
- * How frequently a heart attach kills
in the US: every 45 seconds.
-
- * Average US man's risk of death from
heart attack: 50%.
-
- * Risk for average U.S. man who avoids
the meat-centered diet: 15%
-
- * Meat industry claims you should not
be concerned about your blood cholesterol of it is: normal.
-
- * Your risk of dying of a disease caused
by clogged arteries if your blood cholesterol is "normal": over
50%.
-
- The Antibiotic Argument
-
- * Percentage of U.S. antibiotics fed
to livestock: 55
-
- * Percentage of staphylococci infections
resistant to penicillin in 1960: 13; percentage resistant in 1997: 99
-
- * Response of European Economic Community
to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: ban
-
- * Response of U.S. meat and pharmaceutical
industries to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: full and complete
support.
-
- The Pesticide Argument
-
- * Percentage of pesticide residues in
the U. S. diet supplied by grains: 1
-
- * Percentage of pesticide residues in
the U. S. diet supplied by fruits: 4
-
- * Percentage of pesticide residues in
the U. S. diet supplied by dairy products: 23
-
- * Percentage of pesticide residues in
the U. S. diet supplied by meat: 55
-
- * Pesticide contamination of breast milk
from meat-eating mothers vs. non-meat eating: 35 times higher.
-
- * What U.S.D.A. tells us: meat is inspected.
-
- * Percentage of slaughtered animals inspected
for residues of toxic chemicals including dioxin and DDT: less than 0.00004
-
- The Ethical Argument
-
- * Number of animal killed for meat per
hour in U. S.: 500,000
-
- * Occupation with highest turnover rate
in U.S.: slaughterhouse worker.
-
- * Occupation with highest rate of on-the-job
injury in U.S.: slaughterhouse worker.
-
- * Cost to render animal unconscious with
'captive bolt pistol" before slaughter: $0.01
-
- * Reason given by meat industry for not
using 'captive bolt pistol': too expensive.
-
- The Survival Argument
-
- * Athlete to win Ironman Triathlon more
than twice: Dave Scott (6 time winner).
-
- * Food choice of Dave Scott: Vegetarian
-
- * Largest meat eater that ever lived:
Tyrannosaurus Rex
-
- * Last sighting of Tyrannosaurus Rex:
100,000,000 B. C.
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