Yay, new post! Okay, so the original title of this article is: "How to Win An Argument With a Meat-Eater" (
http://www.vegsource.com/news/2009/09/how-to-win-an-argument-with-a-meat-eater.html). I decided to change it up a bit, though, because the point that I'm trying to make here is not that vegetarians/vegans and carnists (a.k.a. meat-eaters) should be arguing about who's right or who's diet is better. The point is that vegetarians/vegans and meat-eaters alike should be aware of these powerful facts (a.k.a. "arguments"). Thanks for reading. :)
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
Pounds of beef produced on an acre:
250
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
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 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 percent
Risk of average U.S. man who eats no meat:
15 percent
Risk of average U.S. man who eats no meat, dairy or eggs:
4 percent
Amount you reduce risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption of meat, dairy and eggs by 10 percent:
9 percent
Amount you reduce risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption by 50 percent:
45 percent
Amount you reduce risk if you eliminate meat, dairy and eggs from your diet:
90 percent
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 percent
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
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
Calories of fossil fuel expended to get 1 calorie of protein from beef:
78
To get 1 calorie of protein from soybeans:
2
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 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
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
Largest meat eater that ever lived:
Tyrannosaurus Rex (Where is he today?)
Source: "Diet For A New America" by John Robbins (http://www.johnrobbins.info/)
