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RE: Vegetarianism (fwd)

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mknara • November 22, 2001 


dear friends

i believe that the writeup attached with this letter will be of
interest to some of you. you may already be aware of it also.
since it is lengthy, i took the openion of our friend Mr.Sriram
Ranganathan before mailing it to you (it supports Mr. Sriram's 
view, see below). 

with regards
narasimha

------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2001 02:26:51 -0500
From: Sriram Ranganathan 
To: mknara@godel.csa.iisc.ernet.in
Subject: RE: Vegetarianism

Dear Sri Narasimha,

The more I read your note the more convinced I am that being vegetarian is
probably the best thing that could've happened in my life, and I thank God,
our tradition and my family/friends for that.

I'm sure many would feel the same way, and who knows - it might even help
change someone for the better!  Since it is lengthy, I suggest you send it
as an attachment or provide a hyper-link.

Thanks & Regards,
Sriram

-----Original Message-----
From: mknara@godel.csa.iisc.ernet.in [mailto:mknara@godel.csa.iisc.ernet.in]
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 10:55 PM
To: Sriram Ranganathan
Subject: Re: Vegetarianism

dear sir

you may find the attached article interesting and related to your
letter. please tell me whether it is suitable for putting it in
bhakti-list.

with regards
narasimha



  ----------


_________________________________________________________________________


This is a reprint of REALITIES 1989, which are facts excerpted from the
Pulitzer Prize nominated "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins.
Mr. Robbins is the heir of the Baskin Robbins fortune; and instead
of following in his dad's footsteps, he did some research on how  the
American flesh eating diet affects everyone's lives.

__________________________________________________________________________

Human population of United States: 243,000,000
Number of Human beings who could be fed by the grain and soybeans eaten
        by U. S. livestock: 1,300,000,000
Sacred food of Native Americans:  Corn
Percentage of corn grown in United States eaten by human beings: 20
Percentage of corn grown in United States eaten by livestock: 80
Percentage of oats grown in United States eaten by livestock: 95
Percentage of protein wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 90
Percentage of carbohydrate wasted by cycling grain through livestock:99
Percentage of dietary fiber wasted by cycling grain through livestock:100
How frequently a child dies of starvation:  Every 2 seconds
Pounds of potatoes that can be grown on 1 acre of land:  20,000
Pounds of beef that can be produced on 1 acre of land: 165
Percentage of U.S. agricultural land used to produce beef: 56
Pounds of grain and soybeans needed to produce 1 pound of feedlot
        beef: 16
Pounds of protein fed to chickens to produce 1 pound of protein as
        chicken flesh:  5 pounds
Pounds of protein fed to hogs to produce 1 pound of protein as hog
        flesh:  7.5 pounds
Number of children who starve to death every day:  40,000
Number of pure vegetarians who can be fed on the amount of land needed
        to feed 1 person consuming meat-based diet: 20
Number of people who will starve to death this year:  60,000,000
Number of people who could be adequately fed by the grain saved
        if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%:  60,000,000

                                ******
Historic cause of demise of many great civilizations:  Topsoil depletion
Percentage of original U.S. topsoil lost to date: 75
Amount of U.S. cropland lost each year to soil erosion:  4,000,000
        acres (size of Connecticut)
Percentage of U.S. topsoil loss directly associated with livestock
        raising:  85
Number of acres of U.S. forest whcih have been cleared to create
        cropland to produce a meat-centered diet: 260,000,000
How often an acre of U.S. trees disappears:  Every 8 seconds
Amount of trees spared per year by each individual who switches
        to a pure vegetarian diet:  1 acre
                                *********
A driving force behind the destruction of the tropical rainforests:
        American meat habit
Amount of meat imported anually by U.S. from Costa Rica, El Salvador,
        Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama:
        Less than the average American housecat
Current rate of species extinction due to destruction of tropical
        rainforests and related habitats:  1000/year
                                *******
User of more than half of all water used for all purposes in the
        United States:  Livestock production
Quantity of water used in the production of the average cow
        sufficient to:  float a destroyer
Water needed to produce 1 pound of wheat:  25 gallons
Water needed to produce 1 pound of meat:  2,500 gallons
Cost of common hamburger meat if water used by meat industry was
        not subsidized by U.S. taxpayers:  $35/pound
Current cost for pound of protein from wheat: $1.50
Current cost for pound of protein from beefsteak: $15.40
Cost for pound of protein from beefsteak if U.S. taxpayers ceased
        subsidizing meat industry's use of water: $89
Length of time world's petroleum reserves would last if all human
        beings ate meat-centered diet: 13 years
Length of time world's petroleum reserves would last if all human
        beings ate vegetarian diet:  260 years
Principal reason for U.S. military intervention in Persian Gulf:
        Dependence on foreign oil
Barrels of oil imported daily by U.S.: 6,800,000
Percentage of energy return (as food energy per fossil energy
        expended) of most energy efficient farming of meat:  34.5%
Percentage of energy return (as food energy per fossil energy
        expended) of least energy efficient plant food: 328%
Pounds of soybeans produced by the amount of fossil fuel needed
        to produce 1 pound of feedlot beef:  40
Percentage of raw materials consumed in U.S. for all purposes
        presently consumed to produce current meat-centered diet: 33
Percentage of raw materials consumed in U.S. for all pruposes needed
        to produce fully vegetarian diet:  2
                                ********
Production of excrement by total U.S. human population:  12000 lb/sec
Production of excrement by U.S. Livestock: 250,000 pounds/second
Sewage systems in U.S. cities: Common
Sewage systems in U.S. feedlots: Nil
Amount of wast produced annually by U.S. livestock in confinement
        operations which is not recycled:  1 billion tons
Relative concentration of feedlot wastes compared to raw domestic
        sewage:  Ten to several hundred times more highly concentrated
Where feedlot waste often ends up: In our water
                                **********
Number of U.S. medical schools: 125
Number of U.S. medical schools with a required course in nutrition: 30
Training in nutrition received during 4 years of medical school by
        average U.S. physician: 2.5 hours
How frequently a heart attack strikes in U.S.:  Every 25 seconds
How frequently a heart attack kills in U.S.:  Every 45 seconds
Most common cause of death in U.S.:  Heart attack
Risk of death from heart attack by average American man:  50%
Risk of death from heart attack by average American vegetarian man: 15%
Risk of death from heart attack by average American purely vegetarian
        man: 4%
Amount you reduce your risk of heart attack by reducing your consumption
        of meat, dairy products and eggs 10%: 9%
Amount you reduce your risk of heart attack by reducing your consumption
        of meat, dairy products and eggs 50%:  45%
Amount you reduce your risk of heart attack by reducing your comsumption
        of meat, dariy products and eggs 100%: 90%
Rise in blood cholesterol from consuming 1 egg per day:  12%
Rise in heart attack risk from 12% rise in blood cholesterol: 24%
Meat, dairy and egg industries claim there is no reason to be concerned
        about your blood cholesterol as long as it is: "normal"
Your risk of dying a disease caused by clogged arteries if your blood
        cholesterol is "normal": over 50%
Your risk of dying of a disease caused by clogged arteries if you do
        not consume saturated fat and cholesterol:  5%
Leading sources of saturated fat and cholesterol in American diets:
        Meat, dairy products and eggs
Hollywood celebrity paid by Meat Board to tout beef as "Real food
        for real people":  James Garner
Medical event experienced by James Garner in April, 1988:
        Quintuple coronary artery bypass surgery
                                **********
World populations with high meat intakes who do not have correspondingly
        high rates of colon cancer:  None
World populations with low meat intakes who do not have correspondingly
        low rates of colon cancer:  None
Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat meat daily compared
        to women who eat meat less than once a week: 4 times higher
Egg Board's advertising slogan:  The incredible edible egg
Photographs often accompanying the egg board's slogan:
        Young women in bathing suits, emphasizing the shape of their
        breasts
Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat eggs daily compared
        to women who eat eggs less than once a week: 3 times higher
Milk Producer's original ad campaign slogan:  "Everyone needs milk."
What the Federal Trade Commission called the "Everyone needs milk"
        slogan: "False, misleading and deceptive"
Milk Producer's revised campaign slogan:  "Milk has something for
        everybody."
Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat butter and cheese
        3 or more times a week compared to women who eat these foods
        less than once a week:  3 times higher
Part of female chicken's body that produces eggs: Ovaries
Increased risk of fatal ovarian cancer for women who eat eggs 3 or more
        times a week compared to women who eat eggs less than once
        a week:  3 times higher
Foods males in U.S. are conditioned to think of as "manly": Animal
        products
Increased risk of fatal prostate cancer for men who consume meats,
        cheese, eggs and milk daily compared to men who eat these
        foods sparingly or not at all:  3.6 times higher
                                *********
The Meat Board tells us: "Today's meats are low in fat."
The Meat Board shows us: A serving of beef they claim has
        "only 300 calories".
The Meat Board doesn't tell us:  The serving of beef they show us
        is only 3 onces (half the size of an average serving of beef)
        and has been surgically defatted with a scalpel.
The dairy industry tells us:  Whole milk is 3.5% fat.
The dairy industry doesn't tell us: That 3.5% figure is based on wieght
        and most of the wieght in milk is water.
The dairy industry doesn't want us to know:  The amount of calories
        as fat in whole milk is 50%.
Oscar Mayer tells us:  It is a "myth" that hot dogs are fatty.
Oscar Mayer demonstrates their point favorably comparing the fattiness
        of hot dogs to such low fat bastions as: Margarine, mayonaise,
        salad dressing and cream cheese.
The Dairy Council tells us:  Milk is nature's most perfect food.
The Dairy Council doesn't tell us:  Milk is nature's most perfect food
        for a baby calf, who has four stomachs, will double its weight
        in 47 days, and is destined to weigh 300 pounds within a year.
The Dairy Council tells children:  To grow up big and strong drink lots
        of milk.
The Dairy Council occasionally tells children:  The enzyme necessary
        for digestion of milk is lactase.
The Dairy Council never tells children:  20% of Caucasian children
        and 80% of Black children have no lactase in their intestines.
The meat, dairy and egg industries tell us:  Animal products constitute
        2 of the "Basic 4" food groups.
The meat, dairy and egg industries don't tell us:  There were originally
        12 official basic food groups, before these industries applied
        enormous political pressure on behalf of their products.
The meat, dairy, and egg industries tell us:  We are well-fed only with
        animal products.
The meat, dairy, and egg industries don't tell us:  The diseases which
        are commonly prevented, consistently improved, and sometimes
        cured by a low-fat vegetarian diet include:

Strokes                 Heart disease           Osteoporosis
Kidney Stones           Breast cancer           Colon cancer
Prostate cancer         Pancreatic cancer       Ovarian cancer
Cervical cancer         Stomach cancer          Endometrial cancer
Diabetes                Hypoglycemia            Kidney disease
Peptic ulcers           Constipation            Hemorrhoids
Hiatal hernias          Diverticulosis          Obesity
Gallstones              Hypertension            Asthma
Irritable colon syndrome Salmonellosis          Trichinosis
                                *************
Chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide residues in the U.S. diet supplied by
        meat:  55%
Supplied by Dairy products: 23%
Supplied by vegetables:  6%
Supplied by fruits:  4%
Supplied by grains:  1%
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%
Relative pesticide contamination in breast milk of meat-eating mothers
        compared to pesticide contamination in breast milk of vegetarian
        mothers:  35 times as high
Percentage of male college students sterile in 1950: .5
Percentage of male college students sterile in 1978: 25
Sperm count of average American male compared to 30 years ago: Down 30%
Principle reason for sterility and sperm count reduction of U.S. males:
        Chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides (including dioxin, DDT, etc.)
Percentage of hydrocarbon pesticide residues in American diet attributable
        to meats, dairy products, fish and eggs:  94%
The Meat Board tells us Not to be concerned about the dioxins and other
        pesticides in today's beef because: the quantities are so small
The Meat Board doesn't want us to know:  How potent dioxin and other
        pesticides are
The Meat Board particularly doesn't want us to know:  A mere ounce of
        dioxin could kill 10 million people
The USDA tells us:  Our meat is inspected
The USDA doesn't tell us:  Less than 1 out of every quarter million
        slaughtered animals is tested for toxic chemical residues
The dye used for many years by the USDA for many years to stamp
        meats "Choice", "Prime", or "U.S. No. 1 USDA": Violet dye No. 1
Current status of Violet Dye No. 1:  Banned as proven carcinogen
Wingspan of average Leghorn chicken:  26 inches
Space average leghorn chicken given in egg factories:  6 inches
Number of 700 plus pound pigs confined to space the size of a twin
        bed in typical factory farm:  3
Reason today's veal is so tender:  Calves never allowed to take a
        single step
Reason today's veal is whitish-pink:  Calves force fed on anemia
        producing diet
McDonald's brags:  60 Billion sold
McDonald's doesn't brag about:  50 million butchered
McDonald's clown, Ronald McDonald, tells children:  Hamburgers grow in
        hamburger patches and love to be eaten.
McDonald's clown, Ronald McDonald, doesn't tell children:
        Hamburgers are ground up cows who've had their throats slit
        by machetes or their brains bashed in by sledgehammers.
Original actor to play Ronald McDonald:  Jeff Juliano
Diet now followed by Jeff Juliano:  Vegetarian
Number of animals killed for meat per hour in U.S.:  500,000
Occupation with highest turnover rate in U.S.: Slaughterhouse worker
Occupation with highest employee rate of injury in U.S.:  Slaughter-
        house worker
Cost to render an animal unconscious prior to slaughter with captive
        bolt pistol so that process is done humanely:  1 penny
Reason given by meat industry for not utilizing captive bolt pistol:
        Too expensive
                                ***********
Percentage of total antibiotics used in U.S. fed routinely to
        livestock:  55
Percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in
        1960:  13
Percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in
        1988:  91
Reason:  Breeding of antibiotic resistant bacteria in factory farms
        due to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock
Effectiveness of all "wonder-drug" antibiotics:  Declining rapidly
Reason:  Breeding of antibiotic resistant bacteria in factory farms
        due to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock
Response by entire European Economic Community to routine feeding of
        antibiotics to livestock:  Ban
Response by American meat and pharmaceutical industries to routine
        feeding of antibiotics to livestock:  Full and complete
        support
Only man to win Ironman Triathalon more than twice:  Dave Scott
        (6 time winner)
Food choices of Dave Scott:  Vegetarian
World record holder for 24 triathalon (Swim 4.8 miles, Cycle 185 miles,
        Run 52.5):  Sixto Linares
Food choices of Sixto Linares:  Strict vegetarian
Athlete who most totally dominated Olympic sport in track and field
        history:  Edwin Moses (undefeated in 8 years, 400 meter
        hurdles)
Food choices of Edwin Moses:  Vegetarian
Other notable vegetarian athletes:

* Stan Price (World record-bench press)
* Robert Sweetgall (World's premier ultra-distance walker)
* Paavo Nurmi (20 World's records in distance running, 9 Olympic
        medals)
* Bill Pickering (World record - swimming English Channel)
* Murray Rose (World records - 400 and 1500 meter freestyles)
* Andreas Cahling (Winner - Mr. International body-building
        championships)
* Roy Hilligan (Winner - Mr. America body-building championships)
* Pierro Verot (World's record for downhill endurance skiing)
* Estelle Gray and Cheryl Marek (World's record for cross-
        country tandem cycling)
* James and Johnathon deDonato (World's record for distance
        butterfly stroke swimming)
* Ridgely Abele (Winner of 8 national championships in Karate,
        including U.S. Karate Association World Championships)
                                *******
Feel free to copy and distribute REALITIES 1989.  We ask only
that you copy it in its entirety and that the reproduction
be of good quality.

EarthSave, P.O. Box 949, Felton, CA, 95018-0949

Earthsave is a non-profit, charitable organization working to
educate people as to what they can do to help create an
ecologically sustainable future.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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