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Wednesday, April 25, 2007

GOING VEGGIE: FOUR GREAT REASONS


In the UK alone, 850 million animals and hundreds of millions of fish are killed every year to put meat on tables – that’s more than three million animals a day. Before they are slaughtered, hundreds of millions lead desolate, disease-ridden lives on factory farms. Turning vegetarian means you’re no longer a part of that cycle of death. 

According to Farm Animal Rights Movement, approximately 10 billion land animals are killed every year for food in the United States, and 58 billion are killed worldwide.
Note -It does not include: Sea creatures, wild animals killed by hunters, wildlife displaced by animal agriculture. 

Saving Animals


 
Misery and Medication
Disease, dirt and crowding, antibiotics and chemical growth enhancers - that's the five month life of most pigs.





No Reprieve
24 per cent of dairy cows are pregnant when slaughtered - many nearing full term.

Dairy Deaths
Calves are taken from their mothers a day or two after birth. Males are usually killed.



Legal Mutilation
75 per cent of all piglets have their teeth crushed and tails cut off without anaesthetics.


Boiled Alive
Up to one fifth of chickens may be fully conscious when they enter 
the scalding tank to loosen their feathers.




Saving Space
Broiler sheds may contain up to 50,000 birds - each one allowed a space the size of a telephone directory.

The Healthy Option?Nearly all 850 million UK chickens are fed antibiotics daily. 72 million die from disease.


Broiler Barbarity
Four-fifths of broiler chickens (killed for meat) have broken 
bones and deformed feet, legs and other bone deformities.

Assault and Battery
80 per cent of all eggs come from battery hens - kept five to a cage no bigger than a microwave oven. 







 Terror for Turkeys
25 per cent of turkeys are in chronic pain because of swollen joints - 70 per cent of big birds.



Ducks' Despair
Most ducks are factory farmed in crowded sheds. they never see daylight or swim in water.  




Not So Humane
Millions of calves, lambs and pigs are conscious when their throats are cut.
 
Silent Lambs
20 per cent of lambs die from cold, disease and starvation. 




Saving the Planet

Rainforests are cleared for grazing; methane from livestock causes global warming; soil is eroded by cattle; slurry poisons waterways; and the seas are laid to waste by overfishing. The global appetite for meat and the industrial techniques of the meat industry are destroying the Earth




 
Raining Acid
 

Animal faeces is a majorcause of acid rain - 
in Holland and Belgium, the main cause. Wageningen University

Astounding Appetites
More than 70 per cent of all agricultural land in Britain is used to feed animals. 




Desert Dangers
Deserts spread every year - by an area the size of England and Scotland. Livestock grazing is the main cause.
 
Felling Forests
Rain forests are still being felled to graze hamburger cattle. Going vegan saves one acre of forest every year.
Cornell University



 

Marine Madness
The world's 17 major fisheries are on the point of environmental collapse because of over-fishing. United Nations 

Wasting Water
On irrigated land, 1lb of vegetables uses 25 gallons. 1lb of beef uses 5,214 gallons. University of California. 



 Beg Your Pardon
Farmed animals rank second in causing global warming. Reason - methane from prolific farting and belching. SAFE
Land to Spare
If Britain went vegetarian, less than half the farm land would be needed - vegan, less than a quarter! Reading University
Chemical Killers
Every year in Britain, one billion gallons of pesticides are used - 200 chemicals, 50 suspected of causing cancer. Soil Association
   



Saving Others
While 750 million people go to bed hungry every night, one-third of the world’s grain is fed to farmed animals. A typical Western meat-based diet can only feed 2.5 billion people: a plant-based diet will feed every one of us



 


Food for a Future
35 per cent of the world's people can be fed on a meat-based diet. A plant diet could feed everyone - then plus some.
Sir Crispin Tickell

Waste Not, Want Not
It takes about 10kg of good quality plant protein - such as wheat and soya - to produce 1kg of meat protein.







 

Meat is Murder
The amount of veg protein fed to the US beef herd would feed almost the entire populations of India and China -
two billion people.


Veg is Best
Veg consumption is much more efficient than growing feed for meat production and dairying. WHO 






 



From the Mouths of Babes
90 per cent of the UK's animal feed protein concentrates come from poor countries - often those where children die from starvation.

Wicked Waste
Amount of grain needed to end extreme hunger - 40 million tonnes. Amount of grain fed to animals in the West - 540 million tonnes. United Nations  




Saving Yourself
Vegetarians live longer and suffer less from diseases such as hypertension, obesity, coronary artery disease, certain kinds of cancer and diabetes. Vegetarian diets can even be used to treat illnesses

Slowing Strokes
Vegetarians are less likely to suffer strokes caused by coronary artery disease. BMA

Perfect Protection
Vegetarian diets offer disease protection because of lower saturated fat, cholesterol and animal protein and higher folates, antioxidant vitamins and plant nutrients. ADA

Alzheimer's Awareness
New research suggest that dementia may be linked to a BSE-like 'prion' found in some meat.

Defeat Disease
Vegetarians have lower rates of obesity, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, large bowel disorders, cancers and gallstones. BMA 

Live Longer
Vegetarians often live longer and suffer less from several chronic diseases. ADA

Heart Disease - No.1 Killer
Vegetarians have half to three-quarters the risk of dying of heart disease compared to non-vegetarians. PCRM

Banishing Bugs
95 per cent of all food poisoning comes from meat and animal products. 

Better Births
Vegetarians have a much lower incidence of caesarean section. PCRM 

Cancer - No.2 Killer
Cancer rates among vegetarians are 25-50 per cent less than non-vegetarians. PCRM

Pressure Points
Hypertension (high blood pressure) in vegetarians is one third to one half that of meat eaters. PCRM

Ditch Diabetes
Diabetes is much less likely to be a cause of death in vegetarians. ADA 

Unclogging Arteries
Vegetarian diets have been successful in arresting and reversing severe coronary artery disease. ADA 


Note - These datas are collected from one of the website from UK