Why I’m Vegan
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) (vegan)
-Vegan athlete Juliana Sproles was crowned the “toughest woman on the planet”
Source: http://www.vegsource.com/
More Reasons:
Meat is not a necessary part of the human diet.
Humans can get all of the essential nutrients from a plant-based diet.
Vegans are almost always healthier (if they do it properly, but that’s another subject)
Animals in factory farms are treated horrendously. That speaks for itself. I’m not going to go into detail about this because it’s not a secret. I will expand upon the things that most people are unaware of.
The egg industry:
Even “cage-free” (hens) are treated cruelly and are still murdered when they are no longer useful to the industry.
Hens are inseminated so that they will produce more hens which can in turn lay more eggs.
This is necessary because hens today are made to produce more eggs than they would naturally produce, and, as such, die sooner from the stress on their bodies.
The male chicks are almost always killed immediately (because they cannot lay eggs). Sometimes, they are thrown into huge grinders. Still alive.
The milk industry:
Puts milking cows in small spaces and milks them for hours on end.
The cows are kept permanently pregnant (otherwise, they wouldn’t lactate).
The way they are kept pregnant is through artificial insemination. Basically, that means there is a rod with semen on the end of it inserted into their bodies.
Of the calves produced by the milking cows:
The females are raised to be milking cows.
The males are generally destined to become veal. To produce the quality of meat veal is known for; the calves are kept in confined spaces with little room for movement to prevent connective tissue from forming and are fed diets low in iron that causes the coloration and texture of the meat.
So, for those who think veal is horrible and cruel, it should be noted that supporting the milk industry supports the veal industry.
Human anatomy is not specialized for meat eating contrary to what we’ve been taught. Feel free to verify this information, but I’ve seen it on countless websites, in books, and in documentaries.
Also, our “sharp canines” do not qualify us as carnivores, check out gorillas or pandas. They both eat primarily plant-based diets and get along just fine. Their canines put ours to shame.
I copied this list from this website ( http://www.ecologos.org/anatomy.htm ) just because it was already in this nice format, but I’ve seen it elsewhere.
Facial Muscles
CARNIVORE: Reduced to allow wide mouth gape
HERBIVORE: Well-developed
OMNIVORE: Reduced
HUMAN: Well-developed
Jaw Type
CARNIVORE: Angle not expanded
HERBIVORE: Expanded angle
OMNIVORE: Angle not expanded
HUMAN: Expanded angle
Jaw Joint Location
CARNIVORE: On same plane as molar teeth
HERBIVORE: Above the plane of the molars
OMNIVORE: On same plane as molar teeth
HUMAN: Above the plane of the molars
Jaw Motion
CARNIVORE: Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion
HERBIVORE: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back
OMNIVORE: Shearing; minimal side-to-side
HUMAN: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back
Major Jaw Muscles
CARNIVORE: Temporalis
HERBIVORE: Masseter and pterygoids
OMNIVORE: Temporalis
HUMAN: Masseter and pterygoids
Mouth Opening vs. Head Size
CARNIVORE: Large HERBIVORE: Small OMNIVORE: Large HUMAN:
Small
Teeth: Incisors
CARNIVORE: Short and pointed
HERBIVORE: Broad, flattened and spade shaped
OMNIVORE: Short and pointed
HUMAN: Broad, flattened and spade shaped
Teeth: Canines
CARNIVORE: Long, sharp and curved
HERBIVORE: Dull and short or long (for defense), or none
OMNIVORE: Long, sharp and curved
HUMAN: Short and blunted
Teeth: Molars
CARNIVORE: Sharp, jagged and blade shaped
HERBIVORE: Flattened with cusps vs complex surface
OMNIVORE: Sharp blades and/or flattened
HUMAN: Flattened with nodular cusps
Chewing
CARNIVORE: None; swallows food whole
HERBIVORE: Extensive chewing necessary
OMNIVORE: Swallows food whole and/or simple crushing
HUMAN: Extensive chewing necessary
Saliva
CARNIVORE: No digestive enzymes
HERBIVORE: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes
OMNIVORE: No digestive enzymes
HUMAN: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes
Stomach Type
CARNIVORE: Simple
HERBIVORE: Simple or multiple chambers
OMNIVORE: Simple
HUMAN: Simple
Stomach Acidity
CARNIVORE: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach
HERBIVORE: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach
OMNIVORE: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach
HUMAN: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach
Stomach Capacity
CARNIVORE: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract
HERBIVORE: Less than 30% of total volume of digestive tract
OMNIVORE: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract
HUMAN: 21% to 27% of total volume of digestive tract
Length of Small Intestine
CARNIVORE: 3 to 6 times body length
HERBIVORE: 10 to more than 12 times body length
OMNIVORE: 4 to 6 times body length
HUMAN: 10 to 11 times body length
Colon
CARNIVORE: Simple, short and smooth
HERBIVORE: Long, complex; may be sacculated
OMNIVORE: Simple, short and smooth
HUMAN: Long, sacculated
Liver
CARNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A
HERBIVORE: Cannot detoxify vitamin A
OMNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A
HUMAN: Cannot detoxify vitamin A
Kidney
CARNIVORE: Extremely concentrated urine
HERBIVORE: Moderately concentrated urine
OMNIVORE: Extremely concentrated urine
HUMAN: Moderately concentrated urine
Nails
CARNIVORE: Sharp claws
HERBIVORE: Flattened nails or blunt hooves
OMNIVORE: Sharp claws
HUMAN: Flattened nails
Yeah, so those are some of the reasons. Feel free to explore more for yourself and I hope you put compassion over your taste buds. Although I’m not going to lie, vegan food, especially when you experiment with recipes and foods from different cultures, is the most delicious and refreshing food you can eat. :D Really!
And if you have trouble giving up foods like bacon, cheesecake, cookies, and such. They make vegan versions that you can try in your transition to eating a cruelty-free diet. :)
Here are some other resources that you can use to educate yourself:
Earthlings-
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6361872964130308142
Food Inc.-
River of Waste: The Hazardous Truth About Factory Farms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-WAGf-4gC8
Search For Cruelty-Free Companies and Products Here-
http://www.peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/companies/default.aspx
Vegan Recipes and Other Books-
http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/vegan
There are so many resources out there if you do a little searching. :D Good luck!
Love, Mary
