Now I like these lists as much as the next person does, but I really wish the “facts” were cited somewhere or had some authorative author…. Nonetheless, I’m glad I’m a veggie :)<\/p>\n
\nHere’s why you shouldn’t eat meat. Pick one argument and read it. If you’re not satisfied, read another… maybe you will all be able to get the point.<\/p>\n
The Hunger Argument<\/b><\/p>\n
Number of people worldwide who will die as a result of malnutrition this year: 20 million
\nNumber of people who could be adequately fed using land freed if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%: 100 million
\nPercentage of corn grown in the U.S. eaten by people: 20
\nPercentage of corn grown in the U.S. eaten by livestock: 80
\nPercentage of oats grown in the U.S. eaten by livestock: 95
\nPercentage of protein wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 90
\nHow frequently a child dies as a result of malnutrition: every 2.3 seconds
\nPounds of potatoes that can be grown on an acre: 40,000
\nPounds of beef produced on an acre: 250
\nPercentage of U.S. farmland devoted to beef production: 56
\nPounds of grain and soybeans needed to produce a pound of edible flesh from feedlot beef: 16<\/p>\nThe Environmental Argument<\/b><\/p>\n
Cause of global warming: greenhouse effect
\nPrimary cause of greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels
\nFossil fuels needed to produce meat-centered diet vs. a meat-free diet: 3 times more
\nPercentage of U.S. topsoil lost to date: 75
\nPercentage of U.S. topsoil loss directly related to livestock raising: 85
\nNumber of acres of U.S. forest cleared for cropland to produce meat-centered diet: 260 million
\nAmount of meat imported to U.S. annually from Central and South America: 300,000,000 pounds
\nPercentage of Central American children under the age of five who are undernourished: 75
\nArea of tropical rainforest consumed in every quarter-pound of rainforest beef: 55 square feet
\nCurrent rate of species extinction due to destruction of tropical rainforests for meat grazing and other uses: 1,000 per year<\/p>\nThe Cancer Argument<\/b><\/p>\n
Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat meat daily compared to less than once a week: 3.8 times
\nFor women who eat eggs daily compared to once a week: 2.8 times
\nFor women who eat butter and cheese 2-4 times a week: 3.25 times
\nIncreased risk of fatal ovarian cancer for women who eat eggs 3 or more times a week vs. less than once a week: 3 times
\nIncreased risk of fatal prostate cancer for men who consume meat, cheese, eggs and milk daily vs. sparingly or not at all: 3.6 times.<\/p>\nThe Cholesterol Argument<\/b><\/p>\n
Number of U.S. medical schools: 125
\nNumber requiring a course in nutrition: 30
\nNutrition training received by average U.S. physician during four years in medical school: 2.5 hours
\nMost common cause of death in the U.S.: heart attack
\nHow frequently a heart attack kills in the U.S.: every 45 seconds
\nAverage U.S. man’s risk of death from heart attack: 50 percent
\nRisk of average U.S. man who eats no meat: 15 percent
\nRisk of average U.S. man who eats no meat, dairy or eggs: 4 percent
\nAmount you reduce risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption of meat, dairy and eggs by 10 percent: 9 percent
\nAmount you reduce risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption by 50 percent: 45 percent
\nAmount you reduce risk if you eliminate meat, dairy and eggs from your diet: 90 percent
\nAverage cholesterol level of people eating meat-centered-diet: 210 mg\/dl
\nChance of dying from heart disease if you are male and your blood cholesterol level is 210 mg\/dl: greater than 50 percent<\/p>\nThe Natural Resources Argument<\/b><\/p>\n
User of more than half of all water used for all purposes in the U.S.: livestock production
\nAmount of water used in production of the average cow: sufficient to float a destroyer
\nGallons of water needed to produce a pound of wheat: 25
\nGallons of water needed to produce a pound of California beef: 5,000
\nYears the world’s known oil reserves would last if every human ate a meat-centered diet: 13
\nYears they would last if human beings no longer ate meat: 260
\nCalories of fossil fuel expended to get 1 calorie of protein from beef: 78
\nTo get 1 calorie of protein from soybeans: 2
\nPercentage 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
\nPercentage of all raw materials consumed by the U.S. needed to produce a complete vegetarian diet: 2
\nPercentage of all raw materials consumed by the U.S. needed to produce a complete vegetarian diet: 2<\/p>\nThe Antibiotic Argument<\/b><\/p>\n
Percentage of U.S. antibiotics fed to livestock: 55
\nPercentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in 1960: 13
\nPercentage resistant in 1988: 91
\nResponse of European Economic Community to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: ban
\nResponse of U.S. meat and pharmaceutical industries to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: full and complete support<\/p>\nThe Pesticide Argument<\/b><\/p>\n
Common belief: U.S. Department of Agriculture protects our health through meat inspection
\nReality: fewer than 1 out of every 250,000 slaughtered animals is tested for toxic chemical residues
\nPercentage of U.S. mother’s milk containing significant levels of DDT: 99
\nPercentage of U.S. vegetarian mother’s milk containing significant levels of DDT: 8
\nContamination of breast milk, due to chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides in animal products, found in meat-eating mothers vs. non-meat eating mothers: 35 times higher
\nAmount of Dieldrin ingested by the average breast-fed American infant: 9 times the permissible level\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nHere’s to your health!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Now I like these lists as much as the next person does, but I really wish the “facts” were cited somewhere or had some authorative author…. Nonetheless, I’m glad I’m a veggie :) Here’s why you shouldn’t eat meat. Pick one argument and read it. If you’re not satisfied, read another… maybe you will all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[496,18,1181],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animals","category-green","category-vegetarianism"],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":71,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nikolasschiller.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nikolasschiller.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nikolasschiller.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nikolasschiller.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nikolasschiller.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nikolasschiller.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nikolasschiller.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nikolasschiller.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nikolasschiller.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}