Why Vegetarian?
Some interesting quotes from some interesting vegetarians:
- "Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." - Albert Einstein
- "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way in which its animals are treated." - Mahatma Gandhi
- "Think of the fierce energy concentrated in an acorn! You bury it in the ground, and it explodes into an oak! Bury a sheep, and nothing happens but decay." - George Bernard Shaw
Some interesting facts:
Environment
- 55 square feet of rainforest is destroyed in order to produce one quarter of a pound of rainforest beef or one hamburger. This also increases global warming as plants that absorb carbon dioxide have been destroyed (Fast Food and Rainforests:1999)
- Plants yield 10 x more protein per acre than meat: to put this in perspective, feeding livestock in the US takes up as much land as would be needed to feed the entire population of India and China if it were used for grain.
- The 4.8 pounds of grain fed to cattle to produce one pound of beef for human beings represents a colossal waste of resources in a world still teeming with people who suffer from profound hunger and malnutrition. (The Case Against Meat: Jim Motavalli)
- Authors Paul and Anne Ehrlich note that a pound of wheat can be grown with 60 pounds of water, whereas a pound of meat requires 2,500 to 6,000 pounds.
Health
- The Oxford Vegetarian Study found cancer mortality to be 39% lower among vegetarians compared with meat-eaters (Thorogood, 1994)
- The incidence of coronary heart disease is significantly lower in vegetarians than non-vegetarians (Key et al, 1999)
- A diet high in animal products produces more toxins for the kidneys to deal with. In fact Kellogg in “The New Dietetics” states that the kidneys of meat eaters have to undertake three times the amount of work to remove nitrogenous waste than the kidneys of none flesh eaters
- There is a strong link between the incidence of colon cancer and meat consumption (Burkitt, 1971)
- Burkitt also noted that diseases prevalent in the west such as diabetes, heart disease ands appendicitis are almost non existent in third world countries. He attributed this to the western diet high in animal fats. On this basis he embarked on worldwide crusade to increase our consumption of vegetable fibres
