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READ THIS: Major cause of MALNUTRITION ~ * 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. --------------------------------------------------- GLOBAL WARMING ~ The 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 rain forest consumed in every quarter-pound of rain forest beef: 55 square feet. * Current rate of species extinction due to destruction of tropical rain forests for meat grazing and other uses: 1,000 per year. -~~~ CANCER ~ * 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NUTRITION~ * 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%. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NATURAL RESOURCES ~ * 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%. ====================== ANTIBIOTICS ~ * 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PESTICIDES ~ * 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. =================== ETHICS ~ * 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. ===================