poor countries, too, from Brazil to China. The traditionally “lean” and mostly vegetarian populations in
the world are now quickly following in the footsteps of the typically non-vegetarian populations. Eating
meat is becoming increasingly synonymous with a higher standard of living. The country/subcontinent of
India, for example, which traditionally has been vegetarian for thousands of years, is rapidly adopting
carnivorous eating habits, much to the benefit of that country's cardiologists and oncologists. (Ayurveda,
the traditional medicine of India, was largely responsible for keeping the Indian population vegetarian.)
Harvard research has shown that a vegetarian diet also reduces colds and allergies. Children especially
benefit greatly from meat abstinence. Studies show that vegetarian children have better teeth and are
afflicted with fewer children’s diseases than non-vegetarian children. They are also less prone to obesity,
high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease.
Food For Thought
According to Harvard nutritionist Jean Mayer, we would have enough food for the entire developing
world if we ate half as much meat. Reducing meat production by merely 10 percent could release enough
grain and other natural foods to feed 60 million people! Albert Einstein had this to say about
vegetarianism: “Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chance for survival on Earth as much
as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” He predicted that producing and eating so much meat would
literally kill us and our environment. Leo Tolstoy stated, “Vegetarianism is the taproot of
humanitarianism.”
The world’s output of meat increased fivefold in the second half of the 20th century. Given the current
trend, by 2050, the increases in meat production will have reached a point where we could feed 4 billion
extra people with the plant food that is now being used to raise cattle. Only 10 percent of the protein and
calories we feed to our livestock are recovered in the meat we eat. In the case of the United States, for the
20 million tons of humanly edible and nutritious protein that is fed to livestock yearly (apart from the
waste products and drugs), only about 2 million tons of meat protein are obtained; and out of that amount,
less than 27 percent can be utilized by the human body. If you are concerned about the world’s survival,
consider the following statistics:
- One acre of grain produces five times more protein than an acre of pasture set aside for meat
production. An acre of beans or peas produces ten times more protein, and an acre of spinach
twenty-eight times more protein. Almost all land can be used for growing some crop or another. - One portion of meat contains only 20 grams of protein, whereas a typical 100-gram portion of
beans yields 35 grams of protein. The meat, however, costs about 20 times more than the beans
do. Being a vegetarian saves not only lives, but also money. - The food energy supplied by meat production uses 10 times more fossil fuel than the food energy
supplied by plant production. Given the current shortage of fossil fuels on the planet, meat
production may soon become unaffordable. - The world's livestock now produces at least 10 percent of all the greenhouse gases. In other words,
emissions from livestock have become a significant source of atmospheric methane. As of 1990,
domestic animals currently account for about 15 percent of the annual anthropogenic methane
emissions, and the number has been steadily increasing ever since. - Eighty-five percent of the topsoil lost in the USA each year is directly associated with the raising
of livestock. In this way, 4 million acres of cropland is destroyed every year. In the same way,
precious rain forests have had to give way to satisfy the demand for more meat in the world. - To grow one pound of wheat requires only sixty pounds of water, whereas the production of one
pound of meat requires a staggering 50,000 pounds of water. To produce one pound of chicken,