World Food Crisis

Is a change of diet key to solving global warming & food crisis.

Some facts

While 100 million tons of grain are being diverted to make fuel this year, over seven times as much (760 million tons) will be used to feed animals. The world's passion for meat is a much bigger cause of global hunger than its passion for the car.

To maximise food production it is best to be vegan. According to Simon Fairlie, in his magazine The Land, it would take just 3 million hectares of arable land to meet Britain's food needs, half the current total, if the population were vegan.

* To produce 1 lb of meat, an average of 40 lbs of vegetation is used.
* 12 lbs of wheat produce 12 loaves of bread and only 1hamburger.
* It takes 3.25 acres of land to produce food for a meat eater on a continuing basis, while it takes 1/3 of an acre for someone eating a diet of plants and dairy and 1/6 of an acre for a person eating totally plant based diet (vegan).

* A University of California Study shows that to produce 1 lb of meat it takes an average of 2,500 gallons of water, it takes 966 gallons of water to produce one gallon of cow's milk and on the other hand plant foods such as wheat, corn, apples etc. take 20 to 50 gallons of water to produce one pound of food.

* Eating food crops first hand produces a tremendous energy savings. To produce one pound of protein derived from beef requires 20 times as much fossil fuel energy as the same one pound of protein derived from corn or wheat. Protein from beef requires 40 times more fossil fuel energy than the same amount of protein derived from soybeans.

* The waste released in the atmosphere by the U.S. Meat and Dairy Industry is 230,000 pounds per second, thus polluting earth, air and water systems.

* It is estimated that it takes 75,000 trees to print a Sunday edition of The New York Times for the readers.

These staggering numbers are a wake up-call for us to make a difference now.

Human Welfare

* Twenty vegetarians can be fed on the amount of land needed to feed one person consuming a meat-based diet.

* If America reduced their intake of meat by 10 percent, 60 million people can be adequately fed by grain saved.

* A cow has to eat 7 lbs of grain and soy bean protein to produce 1 lb of meat protein. If the same land were to produce food for humans directly, 7 times more people could eat.

* More than half of all the water used in the United States is used in live stock production that can be used where there is water shortage.

When we become aware of these facts and change our lifestyle and go vegan we can increase the amount of grain available to feed people elsewhere, reduce pollution, save water and energy, cease contributing to the clearing of forests and the most important we can save thousands of sentient beings from torture and pain.

Today the dairy cows have become milking machines for human beings. The cows are kept pregnant every year for a consecutive 9-10 year period by artificial insemination. As soon as the cows stop yielding milk, they are dragged to the slaughter house for beef meat. Poor calves are forcefully dragged away from their mothers, depriving them of their mother's milk that is rightfully theirs. If the calves are female they are raised as dairy cows and are exploited as their mothers and at the end face the same fate as them. If the calves are male they are fattened by hormone injections and kept in dark sheds away from sunlight in oppressed conditions, preparing them for veal meat. This ultimately ends the lives of the cows and calves prematurely and cruelly.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• compassion
• peace
• vegetarian
• vegan
• Raj Patel

[darlingnose]

over the past year i've been slowly moving closer and closer to a vegan diet. right now i'm partially vegetarian. does that sound silly? at least i'm trying. it's so hard. my family just doesn't get it. i think i can go vegan when i move out in a year. i can't wait to have my own meat/sadness free kitchen!

peace

remember that change is the only constant thing in the world.

[camdengreen]

Doesn't sound silly at all. you are doing great!

[Chivalryaintdead]

The statement that it takes 10x more grain per pound of meat is flawed as well.Most cattle production is not fed on grain, but on grazing.

Grazing is usually done on land that cannot support staple crops.

There are many crops, such as legumes, that actually build up soil fertility and can be planted in semi-arid climates. But this is not done.

Corn is not a economical crop because it depletes soil fertility, and it water intensive. Many crops are too water intensive, alternatives are needed.

[camdengreen]

Grazing food animals on prairie land that is not suitable for growing crops might make some sense, though it too has its problems. But that is not what is happening in the United States. We have vast acreage in the Midwest and elsewhere planted in corn and soy beans that are used fed to cattle. In a world of food (and energy)shortages, that has many costly implications and unforeseen consequences for future generations as well as the people who are struggling to feed their families today.

[Dahelliswrongwitchu]

@dave777blaster Depopulation... wow that will be a hard pitch to sell.

[clonetrooper75]

Fuck sake, overpopulation is gonna happen pretty soon thanks to those stupid bastards in the third world that dont care about the repercussions from their constant pointless coitus, therefore causing a child born out of pleasure as opposed to actually wanting to raise it, ending in charities making you feel guilty for your needs, yes well done for attracting hippies and the elderly.

[dave777blaster]

@terrillcase Soon Americans will be among them

[SpazzyMcGee1337]

@terrillcase No?

[terrillcase]

@RLore18 The starving people aren't my problem.

[terrillcase]

@SpazzyMcGee1336 Screw the developing countries

[terrillcase]

@gryfnsroost Screw that I don't live in a screwed up Amish country lol I live in the US I have plenty of food

[terrillcase]

@gryfnsroost I freeze my food for me and my spouse. I don't give nothing away.

[terrillcase]

@sodansuds There's plenty of food in the US no matter how much we make babies LOL I will have as many kids as I want.

[terrillcase]

@dave777blaster I say screw the starving people.