We are the crew of spaceship Earth
We are supposed to be its caretakers!
We are the crew of spaceship Earth
We are supposed to be its caretakers!
Dedicated to all those souls who love mother Earth
Not only is her living body hurt by all those warring nations, involved in atomic tests, but also her rivers, seas and air are contaminated, her lungs burned, and the beauty of her creation manipulated and artificially changed by genetic engineering.
She is born out of Love to give, to give and only to give so much is her Love, showing her beauty wherever she can, showing her infinite gratitude, love and beauty to Her Creator, our Creator, our Source of Being; our Father/Mother God. And we.....................?
Years ago we received a small booklet, called Realities
for the 90's ( by John Robbins who wrote the book:
"Diet for a New America")Home
page of John Robbins who wrote the book: "Diet for a New America"
The content speaks for itself however statistics may have changed since we are
now in the year 2000.
This page describes, in numbers and statistics, how our food choices not only
affect our personal health but also the health and suffering of our mother earth.
If the whole world were to follow the modern western way of diet, centered on
animal food, we would need another planet the size of Jupiter to settle down
all the cattle.
Something to think about in the light
of the ungoing depopulation programs!
(see the link at the end of this document)
Many of us are concerned about the grave social and environmental problems we face at the global level, yet few of us know what to do about them. Fortunately there is a growing awareness of solutions to these problems- a new perspective based on understanding the interconnectedness of all things. When the unseen impacts of small, every day decisions are viewed in a larger context where their global implications can be recognized, we begin to realize that both the root of our problems and the ability to solve them lies within each of us.
The fundamental shift
When we apply this perspective to the simple act of eating, we find that there are far reaching effects to the fundamental shift among western nations during this century from a diet based on plant foods to one based on animal foods. For example, in 1985 North Americans were consuming half the grains and potatoes they did at the turn of the century, 33% more dairy products, 50% more beef, and 280% more poultry. This shift resulted in a diet with one-third more fat, one-fifth less carbohydrates, and levels of protein consumption far exceeding official recommendations. (1)
Degradation of global ecosystems The increased demand for animal products has resulted in a vast reallocation of resources, has promoted the degradation of global ecosystems and has disrupted and displaced indigenous cultures worldwide. The impact on human health has been equally devastating. Tracing these problems back to their root in our personal dietary habit-our demand for meat, poultry and dairy products-we can begin to see that by changing our diets we can play an important role in helping to heal the Earth and creating a sustainable world for our children.
* Amount of soy grown in the United States consumed by livestock: 90% (2)
* Amount of corn grown in the United States consumed by livestock: 80% (3)
* How frequently a child on Earth dies as a result of malnutrition and starvation: Every 2.3 seconds. (4)
* Amount of total US grain production consumed by livestock: 70% (5)
* Number of children who die as a result of malnutrition and starvation every day: 38.000 (7)
* Amount of world grain harvest consumed by livestock throughout the 1980's: Half (8)
* Number of people who will die this year as a result of malnutrition and starvation: 20.000.000 (9)
* Number of people who can be nourished with the nutritional value of the grain and soy used to produce the meat, poultry and dairy products by the average American each year: 7 (10)
* Number of people who could be fed using the land, water and energy that would be freed up from growing livestock if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%: 100.000.000 (11)
* Amount of increase in global cattle population during the last 40 years: 100% (12)
* Amount of increase in global fowl population during the last 40 years: 200% (13)
* By 1977, the amount of all raw materials (base products of farming, forestry and mining, including fossil fuels) consumed by the US, devoted to the production of livestock: one-third (15)
Amount of nutrient wasted by cycling grain and soy through livestock: (17)
* Amount of US cropland and producing fruits and vegetables: 2% (20)
Pounds of edible product that can be produced on one acre of
prime land: (21)
* Calories of fossil fuel expended to produce 1 calorie of protein from beef: 78 (22)
* Calories of fossil fuel expended to produce 1 calorie of protein from soybeans: 2 (23)
* Amount of total energy expended in American agriculture devoted to livestock production: almost half (24)
* Energy expended to produce one pound of grain-fed beef: equivalent to one gallon of gasoline (25)
(1 Gallon= appr. 4,54ltr.)
In California, the number of gallons needed to produce 1 edible pound of: (*27)
* How long it takes a person to use 5200 gallons of water showering (at 5 showers per week, 5 minutes per shower, with a flow rate of 4 gallons per minute) : One year
* Total value of subsidized irrigation water used by animal feed growers
in the US annually:
$500 million to $1 billion (28)
* Amount of money the World Bank lent to livestock projects in Latin America from 1963 to 1985: $1.5 billion (29)
* Total value of government subsidies provided to animal farmers and feed growers in European industrial democracies during 1990: $120 billion (30)
* Result of the dumping of heavily subsidized European surpluses at reduced prices to less developed nations: local farmers unable to compete-rural economic and social structures damaged (31)
* Current annual topsoil loss on agriculture land in the US: Over 5 billion tons (32)
* Amount of original US cropland permanently removed from production due
to excessive soil erosion:
one third (33)
* Pounds of topsoil lost in the production of one pound of feedlot steak: 35 (34)
* Current annual topsoil loss on agriculture land worldwide: 26 billions tons (35)
* Time required for nature to form one inch of topsoil: 200 to 1000 years
* Direct and indirect costs of soil erosion and runoff in the US annually: 44 billion (36)
* Historic cause of demise of many great civilizations: Topsoil depletion (37)
* Regions most effected by desertification: All cattle-producing areas, including the western half of the United States, Central and South America, Australia and sub-Saharan Africa. (38)
* Amount of Earth's land rendered improductive by desertification annually: 52 million acres (39)
* Percentage of Earth land mass suffering desertification: 29% (40)
* The five leading causes of descertification: Overgrazing of livestock
Over-cultivation of land Improper irrigation techniques Deforestation, prevention of reforestation Primary contributing factor in all cases: Cattle production. (42)
* Estimated area of rainforest destroyed annually: 125.000 square miles (43)
* Amount of meat imported in 1987 by US from Central and South America: 300 million pounds (44)
* Current rate of species extinction due to destruction of tropical rainforests and related habitats: 1.000/year (45)
* Amount of medicines available today that have been derived from plants: one-quarter (46)
* Leading cause of rainforest destruction in Central America: Cattle production (47)
* Amount of Central American rainforests cleared to create pastureland for cattle: 25% (48)
* Monetary value of 50 years harvest from one hectare of naturally occurring rainforest produce: $6.330 (49)
* Monetary value of 50 years production of cattle ranching from one hectare of cleared and burned rainforest: $2.960 (50)
* Amount of global carbon dioxide emissions created by the burning of fossil fuels: two-thirds
* Amount of fossil fuels burned to produce the beef currently eaten annually by the average US family of four: 200 gallons (51)
* Amount of carbon dioxide released in the atmosphere by burning 200 gallons of fossil fuels: 2 tons (52)
* Amount of carbon dioxide released in the atmosphere by the average American car in six months: 2.5 tons (53)
* Estimated atmospheric carbon dioxide released in the production of an average steak: The same as a 25-mile drive in a typical American car. (54)
* Amount of global carbon dioxide emissions created by the burning of biomass: one third
* Amount of carbon dioxide released since 1970 from rainforest cleared and burned for cattle pasture: 1.4 billion tons (55)
* Amount of methane released by cattle for every 2 pounds of meat they yield: one pound (56)
* Amount of methane emitted by world's cattle annually: 100 million tons (57)
* Amount of world's total methane emissions directly attributable to cattle: 20% (58)
* Production of excrement by US livestock: 230.000 pounds per second (59)
* Amount of waste created by 10.000-head feedlot: Equal to a city of 110.000 people (60)
* Amount of wells and surface streams in the US contaminated by agriculture pollutants: half (61)
* Water pollution attributable to US agriculture, including runoff of soil, pesticides and manure: greater than all municipal and industrial sources combined (62)
* Increase in overall pesticide use since 1945 (when petrochemical based agriculture became popular): 3.300% (63)
* Increase in overall crop losses due to insects since 1945: 20% (64)
* Increase in the amount of pesticides applied per acre of corn since 1945: 100.000% (65)
* Amount of total herbicides used that are applied to corn and soybeans (primarily feed crops): 61% (67)
* Amount of Gross National Product used to treat illness: 12% (68)
* Amount of Gross National Product used to treat illness when lost economic productivity and premature death are accounted for: 18% (69)
* Amount of all diseases in the US that are diet related: 68% (70)
* Diseases that can be commonly prevented, consistently improved, and sometimes cured by observing a low-fat diet free from animal products: (*71)
* Number of US medical schools with a required course in nutrition: 30 (73)
* Average training in nutrition received during 4 years of medical school by US physicians: 2.5 hours. (74)
"If this country (America) is to survive, the best- fed- nation myth had better be recognized for what it is: propaganda designed to produce wealth not health."Adelle Davis
* Amount spent annually in US to treat cardiovascular disease: $136 billion. (75)
* How frequently a heart attack strikes in the US : every 25 seconds (77)
* How frequently a heart attack kills in the US: Every 45 seconds (78)
* Risk of death from heart attack for the average American man: 50% (79)
* Risk of death from heart attack for the average American man who consumes no meat: 15% (80)
* Risk of death from heart attack for the average man who consumes no meat, dairy products or eggs: 4% (81)
Reduction in meat consumption reduction in risk of heart attack
__________________________________________________________________
* Rise in blood cholesterol from consuming 1 egg per day: 12% (85)
* Rise in heart attack risk from 12% rise in blood cholesterol: 24% (86)
* Average cholesterol level of people eating a meat-centered diet: 210
mg/dl (87)
* Chance of dying from heart disease if you are male and your blood cholesterol
is 210 mg/dl:
Greater than 50% (88)
___________________________________________________________________
* Dietary cholesterol intake needed to support human health: none-the body makes its own (89
* Leading sources of saturated fat and cholesterol in American diets: meat, poultry and dairy products. (90)
* Amount of cholesterol in chicken: the same as beef, 25 mg per ounce (92)
* Main location of cholesterol in animal flesh: the lean portion (93)
* Cholesterol found in all grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds: none
* Chance of dying from heart attack if you do not consume cholesterol: 4% (95)
* Amount spent annually in US to treat cancer: $70 billion (96)
* Amount of all cancers in the US that are diet related: 40% (97)
* Increased risk of breast cancer for woman who eat eggs daily compared to once a week: 2.8 times higher (98)
*Increased risk for women who eat butter and cheese 2-4 times a week compared to once a week: 3.2 times higher
* Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat meat daily compared to less than once a week: 3.8 times higher (100)
* Increased of fatal prostate cancer for men who consume meat, dairy products and eggs daily as compared to sparingly: 3.6 times higher (101)
* Increased risk of fatal ovarian cancer for women who eat eggs 3 or more days a week compared to less than once a week: 3 times higher (102)
Calcium content in various foods.
* Dairy products are promoted as a source of calcium, but many vegetable-quality foods are rich in this element. Calcium needs vary with age and other factors. The US RDA. varies from 800-1200 mg/day. (Figures per 100 grams, unit mg. 1009=3.5 ounces, an average serving unless otherwise noted.)
Examples Vegetables:Broccoli 246
Dandelion greens 74
Mustard greens 97
Parsley 61
Kale 74
Spinach 83
Watercress 90 .
Beans/products:
Chickpeas 75
Soybeans 131
Kidney beans 70
Tofu 128
Tempeh 142
Sea Vegetables:Agar Agar 400
Hijiki 1400
Kombu 800
Nori 400
Wakame 1300
Seeds/nuts:
Sesame seeds 331
Sun flower seeds 40
Hazel nuts 60
Dairy food:
Cow milk 28
Eggs 27
Cheese 100/350
Grains:
Buckwheat 57
(Source: US Dep. of Agriculture and Japan Nutritionist Association)
* Recommendations of the amount of daily calories to be provided by protein according to: World Health Organization of the United Nations: 4.5% (103)
* Amount of total calories provided by protein in human milk: 5% (107)
* Person who popularized the concept of combining proteins: Frances Moore Lappe (108)
* Frances Moore Lappe's updated research on a healthy, varied vegetarian
diet:
protein combining is unnecessary (109)
* Health status of pure vegetarians from many populations of the world according to the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences (US): Excellent (110)
* Diseases linked to excess animal protein consumption:
Osteoporosis (111) and kidney disease (112)
* Number of cases of osteoporosis and kidney disease in the United States: tens of millions (113)
* The average measurable bone loss of female meat-eaters at age 65: 35% (114)
* The average measurable bone loss of female vegetarians at age 65: 18% (115)
* Documented cases of calcium deficiency caused by an insufficient amount
of calcium in the human diet:
None (116)
* The only mammal that consumes the milk of another species after being weaned: Humans
* One of the enzymes necessary for digestion of cow's milk: Lactase
* Condition caused by an absence of lactase: Lactose intolerance which causes cramps, bloating and diarrhea when dairy products are consumed (117)
* People who are naturally lactose intolerant: 20% of Caucasians and up to 90% of people of African and Asian descent (118)
* Major source of pesticide residues in the western diet: meat, poultry and dairy products (119)
* Food most likely to cause cancer from herbicide residue: Beef (120)
* Number of slaughtered animals tested for toxic chemical residues: One in every quarter million (121)
* Amount of US non-vegetarian mother's milk with significant levels of DDT: 99% (125)
* Amount of US vegetarian mother's milk with significant levels of DDT: 8% (123)
* Amount of total antibiotics need in US that are fed on livestock: 55%
* Staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in 1960:13% (125), in 1988 91% (126)
* Major contributing cause: The breeding of antibiotic resistant bacteria in factory farms due to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock (127)
* Amount of US livestock and poultry receiving drugs during their lifetime: 80%
* Amount of FDA (Federal Drug Administration) that failed to verify the data on the safety of new drugs used on animals to the General Accounting Office (US) : 54% (129)
* Effectiveness of the FDA data review process: highly questionable as it is made to detect fraud in reports on new drugs (130)
* Substances found in 63% to 86% of milk samples in 1991: Sulfa drugs, tetracycline and other antibiotics (131)
* Potential cancer-causing substances detected in recent years in the meat supply: choramphenicol, cabadox, nitrofurazone, dimitridazole, and ipronidazole (132)
* 1985 National Academy of Science report: Current federal inspection procedures are inadequate to protect the public from meat related diseases. (133)
* Amount of all inspected chickens with salmonella bacteria: One third (134)
* Amount of federal poultry inspectors (US) who said they would not eat chicken: 75%
* Testimony from a former FDA official to a Senate investigation committee: the risk of food poisoning from chicken is so great that package labels with consumer advice on handling should be mandatory. (136)
Anyone who may be skeptical about the strength, endurance and general health of people choosing to reduce or eliminate their consumption of animal products might consider these examples:
* Only man to win the Ironman Triathlon more than twice: Dave Scott, 6 times winner world record-24 hours Triathlon: swimming 4.8 miles, cycle 185 miles, run 52.5 miles: Sixto Lenares
* Pavo Nurmi: 20 world records in distance running, 9 Olympic medals
* James and Jonathan de Donato: World records-distance butterfly stroke swimming
* Estelle Gray and Cheryl Marek: World record-cross-country tandem cycling
* Ridgely Abele: 8 national championships in Karate, including US Karate Association World Championship
1) Committee on Diet and Health, Food and Nutrition Board, Commission of Life Sciences, National Research Council: National Academy Press, 1989-57.
2-3) US Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Statistics 1989 p. 81, table 40
5) USDA, Economic Research Services, World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates, WASD 256, July 11. 1991, tables 256-7-16-19-23
8) USDA Agriculture Chartbook, USDA Agriculture Handbook NR 684. 80-81
12) United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Production Yearbook 1989, vol. 43
14) United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Production Yearbook 1989
15) Technical Paper 47, US Department of Commerce/Interior 1977 p.3
16/17) US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Beltsvile,
Maryland. Scientific American Feb. 1975
19/20) US Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Statistics 1989 p. 300.
Table 54.
United States 1986-1988 ( Washington D.C. GPO 1989)
22/23) Energy and Land constraints in Food Protein, Sanea 21 Nov. 1975
26) National Agriculture Land Study 1980/US Department of
Agriculture Misc.
Publications no 1065 Nov. 1979
28) Washington Island Press 1990 Reform or Resolution for Western Water
40) The Brundtland Report, New York, Oxford University Press 1987, 127
44) Commodity by Country of Origin, Customs and C.I.F. values. US Dep. of Commerce Dec. 87
54) Center for Science in the Public Interest, Washington DC. Jan/Faber. 1992:7
59) Environmental Science and Technology vol 5 no. 12. (1970) 1008
61) Iowa Officials express Alarm over Pollution Study, Des Moines Register, 12 Jan. 1990
64-66) Eating as if the Earth Mattered. E. Magazine Jan/Febr. 1990
67) The Hidden costs of beef, Humana Society of the United States 1989, 25-26
68/69) US Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People CPO 1990
71) Mc. Dougall's Medicine, A Challenging Second Opinion. New Win Publishing, 1995
72/73) To Cheriss All Life, San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1981, 5
80-84) Medical Journal 1976, 6027:87:F, New Engl. Journal of Med. 1975, 202:1148; F.Sacks
90) Food Value of Portions Commonly Used, New York: Harper and Row 1989.51
98/100) Japan Cooperative Cancer Research program, Fred Hutchinson Center, Seattle WA, March 14-15,1977
101) Environmental factors of Breast and Prostate Cancer. Cancer Research 1981, 41:3817
104) Food and Nutrition Board, National Academy of Science. "Recom. Dietary Allowance".
107) Textbook of Physiology and Biochemistry 4th ed. 1954 New York Ballentine Books
119) How to Survive in America the Poisoned, Acropolis Books, 1982, 173
121) Mainstream, Summer 1983 17: USDA Statistical Summary 1976, Jan 1977, 3
122/123) A Brief Review of Selected Env. Contamination. US Senate Aug. 1980, 173/174
With exception of the first page and the table of Calcium contents all other information is from the booklet: "Realities for the 90's", inspired by John Robbins who wrote the book: "Diet for a New America". The booklet is published by the Earth Save Foundation, 706 Frederick Street, Santa Cruz, California. USA (figures need to be updated)
Corporate Influences on US Congress: The 'Buck' Stops Here
Over the past decade, the food industry gave Congress over $41 million in campaign contributions. More than a third of that money went to members of Senate and House agricultural committees. During this same period, industry made the following congressional campaign contributions:
Source: The Center for Public Integrity, Safety Last: The Politics of E. Coli and Other Food-Borne Killers, 1998.
The Politics of Nutrition Advice and the Food Guide PyramidThe infamous "Food Guide Pyramid" is technically part of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, intended to symbolize its basic messages and convey relative amounts of recommended foods. The path from the old "Basic Four" food guide to the current Food Guide Pyramid model for "healthy eating" was, not surprisingly, politically charged. Back in 1988, based on mounting nutrition research, the USDA began redrawing its food chart. Obviously, any schematic that deviated from giving meat and dairy products equal weight with other foods would be objectionable to those industries. As a result, they were kept largely in the dark throughout the planning stages.
Apparently, though, so was the USDA Secretary at the time, Edward Madigan. According to one account, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is at least partially responsible for the political firestorm that ensued. PCRM asked the USDA to replace the "Basic Four" food guide with their "New Four Food Groups" - all plant-based. The press got wind of this angle and a story ran in the Washington Post just prior to the scheduled release of the pyramid, quoting eager USDA staffers on their version, and contrasting that with PCRM's food guide. In a meeting the very next day, meat and dairy industry representatives went ballistic on Secretary Madigan, who in turn became quite upset with how the situation was handled by his staff. Those close to the secretary said they had never seen him so angry. He was reportedly "livid."
Madigan retreated, calling off the release, under the guise of it needing more testing. One year, one day and slightly less than $1 million later, on April 28, 1992, the Food Guide Pyramid was released, with minor changes. Ironically, if not for this ballyhoo, the Food Guide Pyramid might have been announced without much fanfare and faded into relative obscurity. Instead, it got tremendous press and every nutritionist in the country knows about it.
Source: Laura S. Sims, The Politics of Fat: Food and Nutrition Policy in America, 1998.
USDA, Graft and a Secretary Resigning in DisgraceFormer USDA Secretary Mike Espy resigned in 1994 under allegations of having
received illegal corporate gifts. After a long investigation, in August of 1997,
Espy was charged with receiving illegal gratuities from seven companies, including
Tyson Foods, the world's largest chicken producer. Espy was indicted on 39 felony
counts including committing mail and wire fraud, violating the Meat Inspection
Act of 1907, taking illegal gratuities, making false statements and tampering
with a witness. This past January, Tyson Foods admitted giving Espy $12,000
in favors. As part of the plea bargain, they will pay $4 million in fines and
must meet the terms of 4 years' probation or risk losing government business.
In exchange, USDA agreed not to bar Tyson from selling chicken, pork and other
food to school cafeterias and military bases. Tyson sold food worth $10.5 million
to the Defense Department alone in 1996. Espy's criminal trial is currently
on hold pending a related appeal.
The
Politics of Meat and Dairy by Michele Simon, JD, MPH article
HEALING OUR EARTH
By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.
We are entering troubling times, probably the most troubling in human history. Because of discoveries in the field of genetic engineering, we are on the threshold of being able to create life from non-life, life without nature, life without woman - which many would suggest has been the goal of our male dominated society all along. What will the souls of these pitiful creatures be like? How will the value of life be reduced even more?
How will it be possible to value some animal or person that can be created
in a tube, in a dish, and grow like a plant? How much easier will it be to torture
and kill such a creation because it was so easy to create? How will our disconnection
from the natural world increase if we create beings that are not born connected
to that which has connected life from the beginning of time - a mother’s womb?
The possible answers to these questions frighten me. But we must ask them -
relentlessly - and do everything in our power to resist the temptation of the
Machine.
Healing
our World article (ENS-Environmental News Service)
Healing
our earth Homepage
Have you ever been in a Slaughterhouse?
"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian."
Paul and Linda McCartney, 1996
"You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse
is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity."
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1870
Slaughterhouse Camera
More links;
Home page of John Robbins who wrote the book: "Diet for a New America"
Home page of Environmental News Service (ENS)
Recipes and more helpful suggestions and natural diet recommendations
http://home.iae.nl/users/lightnet/paramahamsa/paramahamsa.htm
Planetary Laws
http://home.iae.nl/users/lightnet/health/panetary.htm
More about the Health Effects from Meat and Dairy products
http://home.iae.nl/users/lightnet/health/meat.htm
Depopulation program 2000
http://home.iae.nl/users/lightnet/world/depopulation.htm
The Indigenous Women Network
Visit the
Indigenous Women’s Network
Corporate Watch
Monitor the
destructive elements of our culture at Corporate Watch
Malidoma Some, a West African medicine man
Read
about Malidoma Some, a West African medicine man (-Echos of the Ancestors )
Healing Our World
Healing our
World (Home page of Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D)
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