Thought it may interest you. Love, JIvan
VEGETARIAN FACTS
Subject: vegetarian facts for saving our health and planet from john
robbins, diet for a new america....
* Human population of United States: 270,000,000 (and counting)
* Number of human beings who could be fed by the grain and
soybeans eaten by U.S. livestock: 1,300,000,000
* Sacred food of Native Americans: Corn
* Percentage of corn grown in United States eaten by human
beings: 20
* Percentage of corn grown in United States eaten by
livestock: 80
* Percentage of soy grown in United States eaten by livestock:
90
* Percentage of oats grown in United States eaten by
livestock: 95
* Percentage of protein wasted by cycling grain through
livestock: 90
* Percentage of carbohydrate wasted by cycling grain through
livestock: 99
* Percentage of dietary fiber wasted by cycling grain through
livestock: 100
* How frequently a child dies of starvation: Every 2.3 seconds
* Pounds of potatoes that can be grown on 1 acre of land:
20,000
* Pounds of beef that can be produced on 1 acre of land: 165
* Percentage of U.S. agricultural land used to produce beef:
56
* Pounds of grain and soybeans needed to produce 1 pound of
feedlot beef: 16
* Pounds of protein fed to chickens to produce 1 pound of
protein as chicken flesh: 5 pounds
* Pounds of protein fed to hogs to produce 1 pound of protein
as hog flesh: 7.5 pounds
* Number of children who starve to death every day: 38,000
* Amount of total U.S. grain production consumed by livestock:
70%
* Amount of U.S. grain exports consumed by livestock: 66%
* Amount of world grain harvest consumed by livestock
throughout the 1980s: half
* Number of pure vegetarians who can be fed on the amount of
land needed to feed 1 person consuming meat-based diet: 20
* Number of people who will starve to death this year:
20,000,000
* Number of people who could be adequately fed if Americans
reduced their intake of meat by 10%: 100,000,000
* Amount of increase in global cattle population during the
last 40 years: 100%
* Amount of increase in global fowl population during the last
40 years: 200%
* Ratio of livestock to people on Earth: three to one
* Amount of Earth's land mass grazed by livestock: half
* Amount of U.S. cropland producing livestock feed: 64%
* Amount of U.S. cropland producing fruits and vegetables: 2%
* Percentage of original U.S. topsoil lost to date: 75
* Amount of U.S. cropland lost each year to soil erosion:
4,000,000 acres, the size of Connecticut
* Percentage of U.S. topsoil loss directly associated with
livestock raising: 85
* Amount of original U.S. cropland permanently removed from
production due to excessive soil erosion: one-third
* Pounds of topsoil lost in the production of one pound of
feedlot steak: 35
* Current annual topsoil loss on agricultural land in the
U.S.: over 5 billion tons
* Current annual topsoil loss on agricultural worldwide: 26
billion tons
* Time required for nature to form one inch of topsoil: 200
to 1000 years
* Historic cause of demise of many great civilizations:
Topsoil depletion
* Number of acres of U.S. forest which have been cleared to
create cropland to produce a meat- centered diet:
* 260,000,000
* How often an acre of U.S. trees disappears: Every 8 seconds
* Amount of trees spared per year by each individual who
switches to a pure vegetarian diet: 1 acre
* Estimated area of rainforest destroyed annually: 125,000
square miles
* The driving force behind the destruction of the tropical
rainforests: American meat habit
* Amount of meat imported annually by U.S. from Costa Rica,
El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and
* Panama: 200,000,000 pounds
* Amount of meat eaten by average person in Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama:
* Less than the average American housecat
* Current rate of species extinction, largely due to the
destruction of tropical rainforests and related habitats: one
every 60 minutes
* Length of time world's petroleum reserves would last if all
human beings ate meat centered diet: 13 years
* Length of time world's petroleum reserves would last if all
human beings ate vegetarian diet: 260 years
* Principal reason for U.S. military intervention in Persian
Gulf: Dependence on foreign oil
* Barrels of oil imported daily by U.S.: 6,800,000
* Percentage of energy return (as food energy per fossil energy
expended) of most energy efficient factory farming of meat: 34.5%
* Percentage of energy return (as food energy per fossil
energy expended) of least energy efficient plant food: 328%
* Pounds of soybeans produced by the amount of fossil fuel
needed to produce 1 pound of feedlot beef: 40
* Percentage of raw materials consumed in U.S. for all purposes
presently consumed to produce current meat-centered diet: 33
* Percentage of raw materials consumed in U.S. for all purposes
needed to produce fully vegetarian diet: 2
* User of more than half of all water used for all purposes
in the United States: Livestock production
* Quantity of water used in the production of the average cow
sufficient to: float a destroyer
* Water needed to produce 1 pound of wheat: 25 gallons
* Water needed to produce 1 pound of meat: 2,500 gallons
* Cost of common hamburger meat if water used by meat industry
was not subsidized by U.S. taxpayers: $35/pound
* Current cost for pound of protein from wheat: $1.50
* Current cost for pound of protein from beefsteak: $15.40
* Cost for pound of protein from beefsteak if U.S. taxpayers
ceased subsidizing meat industry's use of water: $89
* Production of excrement by total U.S. human population:
12,000 pounds/second
* Production of excrement by U.S. livestock: 250,000
pounds/second
* Sewage systems in U.S. cities: Common
* Sewage systems in U.S. feedlots: Nil
* Amount of waste produced annually by U.S. livestock in
confinement operations which is not recycled: 1 billion tons
* Relative concentration of feedlot wastes compared to raw domestic
sewage: Ten to several hundred times more highly concentrated
* Where feedlot waste often ends up: In our water
* Amount of wells and surface streams in the U.S. contaminated
by agricultural pollutants: half
* Number of U.S. medical schools: 125
* Number of U.S. medical schools with a required course in
nutrition: 30
* Training in nutrition received during 4 years of medical
school by average U.S physician: 2.5 hours
* How frequently a heart-attack strikes in U.S.: Every 25
seconds
* How frequently a heart attack kills in U.S.: Every 45
seconds
* Most common cause of death in U.S.: Heart attack
* Risk of death from heart attack for the average American
man: 50%
* Risk of death from heart attack for the average American man
who consumes no meat: 15%
* Risk of death from heart attack for the average American man
who consumes no meat, dairy products or eggs: 4%
* Amount you reduce your risk of heart attack by reducing your
consumption of meat, dairy products and eggs 10%: 9%
* Amount you reduce your risk of heart attack by reducing your
consumption of meat, dairy products and eggs 50%: 45%
* Amount you reduce your risk of heart attack by reducing your
consumption of meat, dairy products and eggs 100%: 90%
* Rise in blood cholesterol from consuming 1 egg per day: 12%
* Rise in heart attack risk from 12% rise in blood
cholesterol: 24%
* Meat, dairy and egg industries claim there is no reason to be
concerned about your blood cholesterol as long as it is:
"normal".
* Your risk of dying of a disease caused by clogged arteries
if your blood cholesterol is "normal": over 50%
* Your risk of dying of a disease caused by clogged arteries
if you do not consume saturated fat and cholesterol: 5%
* Leading sources of saturated fat and cholesterol in American
diets: Meat, dairy products and eggs
* Amount of cholesterol in an average egg: 275 mg
* Amount of cholesterol in chicken: The same as beef, 25 mg
per ounce
* Main location of cholesterol in animal flesh: The lean
portion
* Hollywood celebrity paid by Meat Board to tout beef as "Real
food for real people": James Garner
* Medical event experienced by James Garner in April, 1988:
Quintuple coronary artery bypass surgery
* World populations with high meat intakes who do not have
correspondingly high rates of colon cancer: None
* World populations with low meat intakes who do not have
correspondingly low rates of colon cancer: None
* Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat meat daily
compared to women who eat meat less than once a week: 4
times higher
* Egg Board's advertising slogan: The incredible edible egg
* Photographs often accompanying the egg board's slogan: Young
women in bathing suits, emphasizing the shape of their
breasts
* Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat eggs daily
compared to women who eat eggs less than once a week: 3
times higher
* Milk Producer's original ad campaign slogan: "Everybody
needs milk."
* What the Federal Trade Commission called the "Everybody
needs milk" slogan: "False, misleading and deceptive"
* Milk Producer's revised campaign slogan: "Milk has something
for everybody."
* Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat butter and
cheese 3 or more times a week compared to women who eat these
foods less than once a week: 3 times higher
* Part of female chicken's body that produces eggs: Ovaries
* Increased risk of fatal ovarian cancer for women who eat eggs 3
or more times a week compared to women who eat eggs less than
once a week: 3 times higher
* Foods males in U.S. are conditioned to think of as "manly":
Animal products
* Increased risk of fatal prostate cancer for men who consume
meats, cheese, eggs and milk daily compared to men who eat these
foods sparingly or not at all: 3.6 times higher
* Recommended percentage of daily calories to be derived from
protein according to World Health Organization: 4.5%
* Recommended percentage of daily calories to be derived from
protein according to Food and Nutrition Board of the U.S.D.A.:
6%
* Recommended percentage of daily calories to be derived from
protein according to National Research Council: 8%
* Percentage of calories as protein in wheat: 17%
* Percentage of calories as protein in broccoli: 45%
* Percentage of calories as protein in rice: 8%
* Disease linked to inadequate protein consumption:
kwashiorkor
* Number of cases of kwashiorkor in United States: virtually
none
* Diseases linked to excess protein consumption: Osteoporosis
and kidney failure
* Number of cases of osteoporosis and kidney failure in the
United States: tens of millions
* The average measurable bone loss of female meat-eaters at
age 65: 35%
* The average measurable bone loss of female vegetarians at
age 65: 18%
* Person who popularized the concept of protein combining:
Frances Moore Lappe
* Frances Moore Lappe's updated research on a healthy, varied
vegetarian diet: Protein combining is completely unnecessary.
* Health status of pure vegetarians from many populations of
the world according to the Food and Nutrition Board of the
National Academy of Sciences: Excellent
* The Meat Board tells us: Today's meats are low in fat.
* The Meat Board shows us: A serving of beef they claim has
"only 300 calories".
* The Meat Board doesn't tell us: The serving of beef they show us
is only 3 ounces (half the size of an average serving of beef)
and has been surgically defatted with a scalpel.
* The dairy industry tells us: Whole milk is 3.5% fat.
* The dairy industry doesn't tell us: That 3.5% figure is
based on weight, and most of the weight in milk is water.
* The dairy industry doesn't want us to know: The amount of
calories as fat in whole milk is 50%.
* Oscar Mayer tells us: It is a "myth" that hot dogs are
fatty.
* Oscar Mayer demonstrates their point by favorably comparing
the fattiness of hot dogs to such low fat bastions as:
Margarine, mayonnaise, salad dressing and cream cheese.
* Natural food for any baby mammal: The mother's breast milk
* The only mammal that consumes the milk of another species
after being weaned: Humans
* The Dairy Council tells us: Milk is nature's most perfect
food.
* The Dairy Council doesn't tell us: Milk is nature's most
perfect food for a baby calf, who has four stomachs, will
double its weight in 47 days, and is destined to weigh 300
pounds within a year.
* The Dairy Council tells children: To grow up big and strong,
drink lots of milk.
* The Dairy Council occasionally tells children: The enzyme
necessary for digestion of milk is lactase.
* The Dairy Council never tells children: 20% of Caucasians and up
to 90% of people of African and Asian descent have no lactase in
their intestines.
* The meat, dairy and egg industries tell us: Animal products
constitute 2 of the "Basic 4" food groups popular until very
recently.
* The meat, dairy and egg industries don't tell us: There were
originally 12 official basic food groups, before these
industries applied enormous political pressure on behalf of
their products.
* The meat, dairy and egg industries tell us: We are well-fed
only with animal products.
* The meat, dairy and egg industries don't tell us: The diseases
which are commonly prevented, consistently improved, and
sometimes cured by a low-fat vegetarian diet include: Strokes,
Kidney stones, Prostate cancer, Cervical cancer, Diabetes, Peptic
ulcers, Hiatal hernias, Gallstones, Irritable colon syndrome,
Heart disease, Breast cancer, Pancreatic cancer, Stomach cancer,
Hypoglycemia,Constipation, Diverticulosis, Hypertension,
Salmonellosis, Osteoporosis, Colon cancer, Ovarian cancer,
Endometrial cancer, Kidney disease, Hemorrhoids, Obesity, Asthma,
Trichinosis.
* Increase in overall pesticide use since 1945: 3,300%
* Increase in overall crop losses due to insects since 1945:
20%
* Increase in the amount of pesticides applied per acre to
corn since 1945: 100,000%
* Increase in corn crop losses since 1945: 400%
* Amount of total herbicides that are applied to crops used
to feed livestock: 61%
* Chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide residues in the U.S. diet
supplied by meat: 55%
* Pesticide residues in the U.S. diet supplied by Dairy
products: 23%
* Pesticide residues in U.S. diet supplied by vegetables: 6%
* Pesticide residues in U.S. diet supplied by fruits: 4%
* Pesticide residues in U.S. diet supplied by grains: 1%
* 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%
* Relative pesticide contamination in breast milk of meat-eating
mothers compared to pesticide contamination in breast milk of
vegetarian mothers: 35 times as high
* Percentage of male college students sterile in 1950: 0.5
* Percentage of male college students sterile in 1978: 25
* Sperm count of average American male compared to 30 years
ago: Down 30%
* Principle reason for sterility and sperm count reduction in
U.S. males: Chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides, including
dioxin, DDT, etc.
* Percentage of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide residues in
American diet attributable to meats, dairy products, fish
and eggs: 94%
* The Meat Board tells us Not to be concerned about the
dioxins and other pesticides in today's beef because: the
quantities are so small.
* The Meat Board doesn't want us to know: How potent dioxin
and the other pesticides are.
* The Meat Board particularly doesn't want us to know: A mere
ounce of dioxin could kill 10 million people
* The USDA tells us: Our meat is inspected.
* The USDA doesn't tell us: Less than 1 out of every quarter
million slaughtered animals is tested for
* toxic chemical residues.
* The dye used for many years by the USDA for many years to
stamp meats "Choice," "Prime," or "U.S. No. 1
* USDA": Violet Dye No. 1.
* Current status of Violet Dye No. 1: Banned as proven
carcinogen
* Wingspan of average Leghorn chicken: 26 inches
* Space average leghorn chicken given in egg factories: 6
inches
* Number of 700 plus pound pigs confined to space the size of
a twin bed in typical factory farm: 3
* Reason today's veal is so tender: Calves never allowed to
take a single step
* Reason today's veal is whitish-pink: Calves force fed an
anemia producing diet
* McDonald's brags: 60 billion sold
* McDonald's doesn't brag about: 50 million butchered
* McDonald's clown, Ronald McDonald, tells children:
Hamburgers grow in hamburger patches and love to be eaten.
* McDonald's clown, Ronald Mcdonald, doesn't tell children:
Hamburgers are ground up cows who've had their throats slit
by machetes or their brains bashed in by sledgehammers.
* Original actor to play Ronald McDonald: Jeff Juliano
* Diet now followed by Jeff Juliano: Vegetarian
* Number of animals killed for meat per hour in U.S.: 500,000
* Occupation with highest employee turnover rate in U.S.:
Slaughterhouse worker
* Occupation with highest employee rate of injury in U.S.:
Slaughterhouse worker
* Cost to render an animal unconscious prior to slaughter with
captive bolt pistol so that process is done humanely: 1
penny
* Reason given by meat industry for not utilizing captive bolt
pistol: Too expensive
* Percentage of total antibiotics used in U.S. fed routinely
to livestock: 55
* Percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to
penicillin in 1960: 13
* Percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to
penicillin in 1988: 91
* Reason: Breeding of antibiotic resistant bacteria in factory
farms due to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock
* Effectiveness of all "wonder-drug" antibiotics: Declining
rapidly
* Reason: Breeding of antibiotic resistant bacteria in factory
farms due to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock
* Response by entire European Economic Community to routine
feeding of antibiotics to livestock: Ban
* Response by American meat and pharmaceutical industries to
routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: Full and complete
support
* Only man to win Ironman Triathalon more than twice: Dave
Scott, 6 time winner
* Food choices of Dave Scott: Vegetarian
* World record holder for 24 hour triathalon, swim 4.8 miles,
cycle 185 miles, run 52.5 miles: Sixto Linares
* Food choices of Sixto Linares: Strict vegetarian
* Athlete who most totally dominated Olympic sport in track
and fieldhistory: Edwin Moses, undefeated in 8 years, 400
meter hurdles
* Food choices of Edwin Moses: Vegetarian
* Other notable vegetarian athletes:
* Stan Price: World record-bench press
* Robert Sweetgall: World's premier ultra-distance walker
* Paavo Nurmi: 20 World's records in distance running, 9
Olympic medals
* Bill Pickering: World record - swimming English Channel
* Murray Rose: World records - 400 and 1500 meter freestyles
* Andreas Cahling: Winner - Mr. International body-building
championships
* Roy Hilligan: Winner - Mr. America body-building
championships
* Pierreo Verot: World's record for downhill endurance skiing
* Estelle Gray and Cheryl Marek: World's record for
cross-country tandem cycling
* James and Jonathan deDonato: World's record for distance
butterfly stroke swimming
* Ridgely Abele: Winner of 8 national championships in Karate,
including U.S. Karate Association
* World Championships
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that matters. -indigo girls-
