GREAT REASONS TO CONSIDER A VEGETARIAN DIET     

COMPASSION FOR YOUR FELLOW MAN:  

-Over 30 million fellow humans will die of starvation this year (a large percentage of which are children) and this year in the U.S. we will feed our livestock  enough food to nourish over a billion people.    

-A meat eater requires 20 times more land to support his habit than a vegetarian.
    

-If Americans cut out 20% of their meat consumption it would add 24,000,000 tons of grain to the market which would feed 120,000,000 human beings.    

-Animal farming conglomerations are the cause of millions of people being kicked off their own land.     

- America imports vast supplies of grain from third world countries (whose populace is already starving) in order to feed livestock.    

PROTECTION OF OUR LAND:  

-American Forests are being cleared at rapid rates in order to raise cattle.  At this rate we will not have a forest at all in less than a century.    

-It takes 2 acres of land to produce 350 pounds of beef.  The same 2 acres of land will produce 40,000 pounds of potatoes.    

-At least 70% of cultivated land in the U.S. is used to grow feed for animals.
    

-12 billion tons of soil is eroded in the U.S. every other year because of intensified meat farming.    

-Our land is overgrazed and is yielding up to 50% less crop.
    

-Every inch of topsoil lost takes 500 years to replace naturally.  1/3 of the topsoil in America is gone.    

AIR POLLUTION:  

-The lungs of planet earth are its rain forests and they are rapidly disappearing due to the need for grazing land.    

-Over 60,000,000 tons of methane gas are emitted by cattle each year. 
    

-100,000,000 million tons of methane is produced by the burning of forests for animal farms.    

-Fertilizer used to grow crops for animal feed releases enormous amounts of nitrus oxide into the air.     

-Weed killer and pesticides enter the atmosphere at alarming rates every year.
   

-Ammonia released from the urine of animals is a huge air pollutant.    

-Chemical plants cause great pollution to our air in their effort to supply the bludgeoning need for fertilizer, weed killer and pesticides.    

OUR WATER SUPPLY:  

 -It takes 250 gallons of water to produce 10 pounds of wheat.  It takes 25,000 gallons of water to produce 10 pounds of beef  

  -A large percentage of the hundreds of millions of tons of excrement produced by farm animals each year ends up in our lakes and rivers.  

-Farm animals produce more than 20 times more waste than humans.  

-A great amount of the pesticides and nitrates which are necessary for the cultivation of severely overgrazed land ends up in our lakes and rivers.  

 -Your 4 person household uses about the same amount of water every year as does the farm factory to produce 10 pounds of beef.  

-Trillions of gallons of our underground water is being drained annually to produce meat.        

ANIMAL CRUELTY:  

-More than 17,000,000,000 animals are cruelly slaughtered each year for food.

 -Hens and chickens are jam packed into battery cages that house up to 7 birds.  There is generally not enough room to even stand upright.  

  -Because they piston pack 7 birds into 1 battery cage the birds need de-beaking to prevent injury to the others.  This process is done without anaesthesia. It is the equivalent of someone pulling out your fingernails.  

-Many chickens live all the majority of their existence with broken legs because the growth hormones they are injected with cause them to become to large and heavy to be supported by their natural bone structure.  

-Pigs are tied up in stalls that are not much more than 1 square yard. They cannot turn around or lie down.  

-Animals traveling to the slaughterhouse are jammed into overcrowded trucks with no food or water. They often die due to the stress and the extreme weather.  

-Almost every single bird suffers injuries before being slaughtered and nearly 1/3 have broken bones.  

-Many animals have their throats slit or are dunked in tanks of scalding water while fully conscious.  

-Mad Cow disease is the result of cows being fed ground up remains of other animals.  

-Cows have a maximum output of milk for only about 8 months after they have their babies therefore they are artificially inseminated in order to produce more milk until their bodies have become fully spent.  Every time this raping occurs their calves are stolen from them and the helpless offspring are taken directly to a tiny veal crate. They will remain in this small enclosure until they are taken to be slaughtered.  

-A cow has a life span of around 20 years but they are generally slaughtered after only about 6 years when they are deemed no longer able to produce milk.       

YOUR HEALTH:    

-Vegetarians live longer and are sick far less frequently than meat eaters.
   

 -Every piece of meat is loaded with trace amounts of hormones, antibiotics, and toxins from pesticides due to the large amounts of the sprayed crops they have consumed.
    

-Farmed animals are your greatest source of bad cholesterol and contain about 50% saturated fat.
    

-Vegetarians have a 25% lower rate of heart disease.
    

-You do not often see an obese vegetarian.  That can't be said for meat eaters.
    

-The increased rates of high blood pressure, and higher cholesterol levels are the reason for the epidemic of heart disease, strokes, and cancer rates.
    

-A vegetarian's risk of diabetes is 50% less than a person who regularly consumes meat.
    

-The powerful antioxidants inherent in a plant based diet lowers the rate of cancer by 40% in vegetarians.
    

-Meat is decomposing flesh and causes almost all cases of food poisoning.
    

-The high sulfur content in meat is responsible for an epidemic of osteoporosis.  People who eat more meat and dairy have the weakest bones.
    

-Over half of all people are allergic to milk.
    

-Alzheimer's disease rates are twice as high in meat eaters than vegetarians.
    

-You can eat 20% more calories on a vegetarian diet and yet remain 20% less fat than a meat eater.
    

-Nearly 2 out of every 3 deaths in America are related to their meat and dairy diet.           

CONCLUSION:  

The meat and dairy corporations are hugely responsible for many of our environmental woes, our health problems, and the  untold suffering inflicted on our animal kingdom. The wealthy die of heart disease and the poor die of starvation and animals are tortured and killed by the billions every year.  Our environment pays an increasingly high cost and is truly stretched to its limit at this writing.

The facts are clear and the only reason anyone could really give for eating meat is that it tastes good.  Actually if your tradition was vegetarian, meat would not only not taste good, you could barely look at it without becoming ill.  Our bodies would become addicted to mud if we ate enough of it and pretty soon we would think we just couldn't live without a daily helping of dirt. 

If you are one who loves your meat but have seen the evidence and are seriously questioning your food choices, may I suggest a trip to your whole foods store. There you will find healthy substitutes for all of your meat and dairy.  It will taste better, be healthier, and you will live longer.  The varieties of vegetarian food are limitless.  You will not be deprived and you will not starve.  If you have any concern at all for the environment, your health, and the animals that share our planet than stop eating meat.  The animals, the earth, and your body will be grateful.