RAINFOREST

• Every year, 17 million hectares of tropical rainforest is destroyed (RIC). Seventy percent of the Amazon’s deforestation is due to making pasture land for cattle, and a large part of the remainder is used for feed crops (FAO 2006).

• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) says the world’s forests store 283 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon in their biomass alone, while the total carbon stored in forest biomass, deadwood, litter and soil together is about one trillion tonnes — 50 percent more than the amount of carbon found in the atmosphere.

LIVESTOCK GHG IS HIGH IN METHANE

• Livestock produces about 500 million tons of manure each year which is often sprayed onto croplands or left to sit in lagoons. Methane is 72 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

• As the microbes digest cellulose, they release methane. The process, called enteric fermentation Methane is released through belching, flatulence and manure.As the animals chew their cud, they regurgitate some food to rechew it, and all this gas comes out.” The average cow expels 600 liters of methane a day, climate researchers report.

• Slaughtering ,processing, refrigerating & transporting: Carbon dioxide emissions come from: Nitrogen in fertilizer production, on farm fossil fuel related to feed and livestock, desertification of pasture, cultivated soils due to tillage and liming, processing and transportation of the meat.

IN ADDITION:

• Raising livestock for human consumption wastes water and land

• One billion people in the world do not have access to clean water; more than 2 billion do not have proper sanitation. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) estimates that by 2025, there will be 1.8 billion people living with absolute water scarcity, and 2/3 of the world’s population could be living under water-stressed conditions (UN FAO 2006).

• meat production uses the majority of agricultural land (70%) – which can be rendered infertile for years due to overgrazing, compaction and erosion. Seventy percent of all grazing land in dry areas is considered to be degraded (UN FAO 2006).

• 1kg of beef requires 5,000 – 20,000 litres of water VS 1 kg of wheat requires 500 – 2,000 litres of water

• Meat production also uses up to 20 times more land than grain and vegetables to support the same number of people (WHO/FAO 2003).

• One hectare of land produces:

• meat production uses the majority of agricultural land (70%) – which can be rendered infertile for years due to overgrazing, compaction and erosion. Seventy percent of all grazing land in dry areas is considered to be degraded (UN FAO 2006)

• 55 Billion animals are slaughtered each year worldwide

• Raising animals for food supports world hunger Livestock

• There are more than 1 billion people in the world who do not have enough to eat. Hunger claims 25,000 lives every day and every six seconds a child dies of hunger. (WFP Hunger Stats). Meanwhile, 760 million tons of grain are fed to animals every year (UN FAO Food Outlook 2008)

COSTS OF ILL HEALTH

• Diet-related ill health costs the UK National Health Service (NHS) £6 billion each year (J Epidemiol 2005). With the increase in major chronic diseases, medical costs are on the rise and those attributable to meat eating are substantial. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in the USA estimated that between $29-61 billion spent on US healthcare in 1992 was linked to meat consumption, adding that the cost would likely have been higher if stroke and other arterial disease had been included (Science Direct 1995).

Some examples of meat related diseases:
-Obesity
-Cardio Vascular Disease
-Diabetes
-Cancer
-Swine Flu

ANIMAL WELFARE

• 55 Billion animal lives are slaughtered each year for human consumption.

• The majority of these animals have no laws that protect them from abuse and cruelty. they spend their entire lives suffering in inhumane conditions and mistreatment.