Go Veggie!

Here's some totally true factoids about vegetarianism. They were compiled from fact sheets, articles, etc. from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the New York times.


    The Environmental Argument

    Global Warming
  • The primary cause of global warming is carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels...
    -3 times more fossil fuels are needed to produce a meat-centered diet than a vegetarian diet
    -It takes about 50 gallons of gasoline to produce a year's worth of meat for a typical American
    -If every human ate a meat-centered diet, the world's oil reserves would last only 13 years, but if everybody no longer ate meat, they would last 260 years
    -78 calories of fossil fuel are expended to get 1 calorie of protein from beef, while only 2 calories are used for every calorie of protein from soybeans

    Soil Erosion
  • For every pound of feedlot beef produced, 35lbs of topsoil erode away
    -It takes 200 to 1,000 years for nature to form 1in of topsoil
    -75% of US topsoil has been lost to date, 85% of which was directly related to livestock raising

    Forests
  • More than 1/3 of the forest in Central America has been cleared since 1960 to raise cattle for beef
    -If the Amazon Basin continues to be deforested, 15% of all plant species may be lost by the year 2000
    -1,000 species per year become extinct due to the destruction of tropical rain forests for meat grazing
    -55 square feet of tropical rainforest is consumed in every quarter-pound of rainforest beef
  • About 1/2 of US forests are used for livestock grazing
    -260 million acres of US forests are cleared for crop land to produce meat centered diets
  • One acre of trees is spared each year for every individual who switches to a meatless diet

    Water
  • About 70% of the water consumed in the western United States goes to livestock production
  • It takes about 100 gallons of irrigation water every day to feed one person who eats meat, milk, and eggs
  • It takes 23 gallons of water to produce 1lb of tomatoes, 25 gallons to produce 1lb of wheat, and about 5,200 gallons to produce 1lb of beef

    33% of all raw materials consumed by the US is devoted to the production of livestock, while only 2% are needed to produce a complete vegetarian diet


    The Ethical/Animal Rights Argument

  • 660,000 animals are killed per hour in the US
  • In an average lifetime, a meat eating American will consume one calf, three lambs, 11 cows, 25 hogs, 45 turkeys, 1,097 chickens, and 15,665 chicken eggs
  • About 90% of animals people eat in the US are raised in confinement
  • About 92 million animals are slaughtered for consumption each week


    The Hunger Argument

  • One acre of land can produce 165 lbs of beef, yet the same acre can produce 20,000 lbs of potatoes
  • Americans eat 50-100% more protein than their bodies can use
  • 80% of the corn and 95% of the oats grown in the US is used to feed livestock
    -If Americans reduced their meat consumption by only 10%, there would be 12 million more tons of grain to feed humans, enough to feed each of the 60 million people who starve to death each year


    The Health Argument

    Pesticides

  • Fewer than one out of every 250,000 slaughtered animals is tested for toxic chemical residues
  • 99% of US mothers' milk contains significant levels of DDT, but only 8% of vegetarian mothers' milk contains significant levels
    -Contamination of breast milk due to chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides was 35 times higher in meat-eating mothers than vegetarian mothers

    Antibiotics

  • 95% of US antibiotics are fed to livestock
  • 13% of staphyllococci infections were resistant to penecillin in 1960, but 91% were resistant in 1988
  • The European Economic Community recommended a ban of the routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock, while the US meat and pharmeceutical industries gave their full and complete support of the feedings.

    Cancer

  • The risk of breast cancer in women who eat meat daily is 3.8 times higher than that of women who eat it less than once a week. Also, the risk is 2.8 times higher for women who eat eggs daily, compared to those who eat them once a week, and 3.25 times higher for women who eat butter and cheese 2-4 times a week.
  • There is a 3 times greater risk of deadly ovarian cancer for women who eat eggs 3 or more times a week, rather than less than once a week
  • Men who eat meat, cheese, eggs, and milk daily suffer from 3.6 times a greater occurrance of fatal prostate cancer, vs. those who eat them sparingly or not at all



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