Veg Facts
Health |
- A vegan diet is 100% cholesterol-free and low in saturated fat.
- Vegetarians and vegans are less likely to develop heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or high blood pressure than meat-eaters. (American Dietetic Association)
- Harvard studies showed that daily meat eaters have approximately three times the colon cancer risk, compared to those who rarely eat meat.
- Half the antibiotics produced in the US are fed to farm animals to make them grow faster, leading to dangerous strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
- One study found that nearly half the meat and poultry on grocery store shelves were contaminated with bacteria. More than half the bacteria were antibiotic-resistant.
Environment |
- Animal raising is the #1 cause of climate change. It accounts for at least 51% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Read the article, “Livestock and Climate Change” published by World Watch Magazine.
- Livestock production accounts for 30% of the ice-free land surface on the planet. UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
- About 40% of the world’s grain and 85% of the world’s soy is fed to livestock. (WWF)
- One animal factory farm produces more waste and pollution than the whole city of Houston, Texas, the 4th largest city in the US.
- A person uses up to 15,000 liters of water per day for a meat-based diet, which is 15 times as much water as a vegan would use.
- The amount of water that goes into a 1,000 pound steer would float a large naval ship.
- In California, you can save more water by not eating a pound of beef than by not showering for 6 months.
- 90% of large fish populations have been wiped out due to overfishing.
Compassion |
- You could save over 100 animal lives per year by being vegan.
- Every year, 10 billion land animals are killed in the US. That’s 300 animals killed every second. (Worldwide, 60 billion land animals are killed per year. )
- Pigs have the intelligence of a 3-year-old human child and can play video games.
- Stories abound about cows who have gone extraordinary lengths to avoid being killed, and of mother cows (virtually all dairy cows) who cry frantically when their babies are taken away to dairy, veal, or beef farms.
Health
- www.pcrm.org/search/?cid=614
- www.eatright.org/about/content.aspx?id=8357
- www.cancerproject.org/survival/cancer_facts/meat.php
- www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/safe/resistance.html
- www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110415083153.htm
Environment
- www.worldwatch.org/node/6294
- ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a0701e/a0701e00.pdf
- www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/changing_the_way_we_live/food/livestock_impacts.cfm , http://assets.panda.org/downloads/factsheet_soy_eng.pdf
- www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/factory-farms-47092401
- http://bostonreview.net/BR33.5/rijsberman.php, www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/apr/22/earth-day-vegan
- www.centerforfoodsafety.org/campaign/mad-cow-disease/other-resources/a-consumers-guide-to-mad-cow-disease/whats-wrong-with-factory-farming/
- http://www.worldwatch.org/node/549
- http://awellfedworld.org/issues/animalprotection
Compassion
- www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/top-10-reasons-to-go-vegan-in-the-new-year.aspx
- http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/campaign/mad-cow-disease/other-resources/a-consumers-guide-to-mad-cow-disease/whats-wrong-with-factory-farming/ http://awellfedworld.org/issues/animalprotection
- www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/pigs.aspx, www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/hidden-lives-pigs.aspx
- www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/hidden-lives-of-cows.aspx
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