of substance

[amunptah777]

Hmmm, well, all 10 posts are supposed to be of substance, so I'll throw out an oldy but a goody;

Because my diet is part of my personal practice as in "Harm None"
I figured I give you all some marvelous facts about being vegetarian.



THE HUNGER ARGUMENT

* Number of people worldwide who will die as a result of malnutrition this year: 20 million.

* Number of people who could be adequately fed using land freed if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%: 100 million.

* 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 wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 90%.

* How frequently a child dies as a result of malnutrition: every 2.3 seconds.

* Pounds of potatoes that can be grown on an acre: 40,000 lbs.

* Pounds of beef produced on an acre: 250 lbs.

* Percentage of U.S. farmland devoted to beef production: 56%.

* Pounds of grain and soybeans needed to produce a pound of edible flesh from feedlot beef: 16 lbs.


THE ENVIRONMENT ARGUMENT

The Global Warming greenhouse effect is primarily caused by carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels.

* Fossil fuels needed to produce meat-centered diet vs. a meat-free diet: 3 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 imported to U.S. annually from Central and South America: 300,000,000 pounds.

* Percentage of Central American children under the age of five who are undernourished: 75%.

* Area of tropical rainforest consumed in every quarter-pound of rainforest beef: 55 square feet.

* 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 daily compared to less than once a week: 3.8 times.

* For women who eat eggs daily compared to once a week: 2.8 times.

* For women who eat butter and cheese 2-4 times a week: 3.25 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 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%.

* Risk of average U.S. man who eats no meat: 15%.

* Risk of average U.S. man who eats no meat, dairy or eggs: 4%.

* Amount you reduce risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption of meat, dairy and eggs by 10 percent: 9%.

* Amount you reduce risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption by 50 percent: 45%.

* Amount you reduce risk if you eliminate meat, dairy and eggs from your diet: 90%.

* Average cholesterol level of people eating meat-centered-diet: 210 mg/dl

* Chance of dying from heart disease if you are male and your blood cholesterol level is 210 mg/dl: greater than 50%.

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 of water needed to produce a pound of wheat: 25%.

* Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of California beef: 5,000 gallons.

* Years the world's known oil reserves would last if every human ate a meat-centered diet: 13 years.

* Years they would last if human beings no longer ate meat: 260 years.

* Calories of fossil fuel expended to get 1 calorie of protein from beef: 78 calories.

* Calories of fossil fuel expended to get 1 calorie of protein from soybeans: 2 calories.

* Percentage of all raw materials (base products of farming, forestry and mining, including fossil fuels) consumed by U.S. that is devoted to the production of livestock: 33%.

* Percentage of all raw materials consumed by the U.S. needed to produce a complete vegetarian diet: 2%.


THE ANTIBIOTIC ARGUMENT

* Percentage of U.S. antibiotics fed to livestock: 55%.

* Percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in 1960: 13%.

* Percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin 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

* Common belief: U.S. Department of Agriculture protects our health through meat inspection.

* Reality: fewer than 1 out of every 250,000 slaughtered animals is tested for toxic chemical residues.

* Percentage of U.S. mother's milk containing significant levels of DDT: 99%.

* Percentage of U.S. vegetarian mother's milk containing significant levels of DDT: 8%.

* Contamination of breast milk, due to chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides in animal products, found in meat-eating mothers vs. non-meat eating mothers: 35 times higher.

* Amount of Dieldrin ingested by the average breast-fed American infant: 9 times the permissible level.

THE ETHICAL ARGUMENT

* Number of animals killed for meat per hour in the U.S.: 660,000.

* Occupation with highest turnover rate in U.S.: slaughterhouse worker.

* Occupation with highest rate of on-the-job-injury in U.S.: slaughterhouse worker.


THE SURVIVAL ARGUMENT

* Athlete to win Ironman Triathlon more than twice: Dave Scott (6 time winner).

* Food choice of Dave Scott: Vegetarian.