Wow, surprised this is published in something like the guardian. Awesome. Give it a read.A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change, a UN report said today.
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Vegan revolution.
(via klso)
10The Hunger Argument
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 protein wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 90
How frequently a child starves to death: every 2 seconds
Pounds of potatoes that can be grown on an acre: 20,000
Pounds 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 feedlot 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 mllion
Amount of meat U.S. imports annually from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras
and Panama: 200,000,000 pounds
Average per capita meat consumption in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras
and Panama: less than eaten by average U.S. house cat
Area of tropical rainforest consumed in every quarter-pound hamburger: 55 sq. ft
Current rate of species extinction due to destruction of tropical rainforests for meat grazing and other uses: 1000 per year
The Cancer Argument
Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat meat four 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
For women who eat butter and cheese 3 or more times a week vs. less than once: 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 consume meat, cheese, eggs and milk daily vs. sparingly or not at all: 3.6 times
The Natural Resources Argument
User of more than half of all water used for all purposes in the U.S.: livestock production
Amount of water used in production of the average cow: 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 a 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 energy returned as food energy by the most efficient factory farming of meat: 34.5 percent.
Percentage returned from least efficient plant food: 328 percent
Perccentage of raw materials consumed by U.S. to produce present meat-centered diet: 33
The Cholesterol Argument
Number of U.S. Medical Schools: 125
Number requiring a course in nutrition: 30
Nutrition training received by average U.S. physician during four years in medical school: 2.5 hours
Most common cause of death in the U.S.: heart attack
How frequently a heart attack kills in the U.S.: every 45 seconds
Average U.S. man’s risk of death from heart attack: 50 percent
Risk for average U.S. man who avoids the meat centered diet: 15 percent
Risk for average U.S. man who consumes no meat, dairy products or eggs at all: 4 percent
Amount you reduce risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption of meat, dairy products and eggs by 10 percent: 9 percent
Amount you reduce risk if you reduce consumption by 50 percent: 45 percent
Amount you reduce risk if you eliminate these foodstuffs from your diet entirely: 90 percent
Meat, dairy and egg industries claim you should not be concerned about your blood cholesterol if it is: “normal”
Your risk of dying of a disease caused by clogged arteries if your blood cholesterol is “normal”: over 50 percent
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 1988: 91
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 vegetables: 6
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 USDA 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 animals killed for meat per hour in the U.S.: 500,000
Occupation with highest turnover rate in U.S.: slaughterhouse worker
Occupation with the highest rate of on-the-job injury in U.S.: slaughterhouse worker
Cost to render animal unconscious with “captive bolt pistol” before slaughter: 1 cent
Reason given by meat industry for not using “captive bolt pistol”: too expensive
(Source)
A comparison of yields from an acre sown with oats or broccoli with yields from an acre used for feed to produce pork, milk, poultry, or beef shows that the acre of oats produces six times the calories yielded by pork, the most effecient of the animal products. The acre of broccoli yields nearly three times the calories as pork. Oats produce more than twenty-five times as many calories per acre as beef. Looking at some other nutrients shatters other myths fostered by meat and dairy industries. For instance, an acre of broccoli produces twenty-four times the iron produced by an acre used for beef, an acre of oats sixteen times the same amount of iron. Although milk production does yield more calcium per acre than oats, broccoli does better still, providing five times as much calcium as milk.
The implications of all this for the world food situation are staggering.
—Peter Singer (via thelittlevegan)
(via smallwhitedove)
