• Growth hormones routinely given to US cattle (banned in EU) may affect fertility. Sons born to women who ate a lot of beef during their pregnancy have a 25 percent below-normal sperm count and three times the normal risk of fertility problems. — The Journal of Human Reproduction, 2006.


• Eighty percent of all the herbicides used in the U.S. are sprayed on feed crops for cattle. — National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, 1989.


• Beef contains the highest concentration of herbicides of any food sold in America.—National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, 1987.


• Two-thirds of U.S. mortality is diet-related. —U.S Surgeon General Report on Nutrition and Health.


• On average, each American consumes 67 pounds of beef each year. —USDA Economics Research Service Study.


• Livestock production is the largest single use of land in the country.—USDA Economic Research Services Statistical Bulletin, 1997.


• U.S. corn eaten by livestock: 77 percent. —World Maize Trends and Facts, Animal Science, 1993-4.


• Most of the clearance of tropical rainforests is done to produce pasture or cropland for growing animal feed. —"The Great Rainforest Tragedy," The Independent, 2003.


• 100mg of cholesterol is contained in four ounces of beef or chicken, half an egg, or three cups of milk. Every 100 mg of cholesterol in your daily diet adds roughly 5 points to your cholesterol level, although this varies from person to person. No foods from plants contain cholesterol. — Food Values of Portions Commonly Used, Physicians for Socially Responsible Medicine, 1989.


• “If you had to pick a single food that inflicts the most damage in the American diet, ground beef would be a prime contender.” –Scientists from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1999.


• Heart disease kills more than 100 people every hour in the United States. – Heart and Stroke Facts: 1995 Statistical Supplement, American Heart Association.


• “Hereditary forms of arteriosclerosis only constitute about five percent of the cases. Most people who develop heart disease don’t really have a hereditary disease.” —Michael Debakey, M.D., Director, Cardiovascular Research Center, pioneer in heart transplants, bypasses, and the artificial heart.


• A report by the U.S. Forest Service named cattle grazing in the American West "the number one cause of species being put on the endangered species list in the Southwest and fourth major cause, nationwide." —"Cash Cows," San Jose Mercury News, Special Report, 1999.


• Between 2,500-5,000 gallons of water (~100-200 showers) is needed to produce one pound of beef. About 25 gallons of water is needed to produce one pound each of lettuce, tomatoes and wheat. — University of California Agricultural Extension & Dr. Georg Borgstrom, Chairman of the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University.


• “Around the world, as more water is diverted to raising cattle, pigs and chickens, instead of producing crops for direct consumption, millions of wells are going dry. India, china and the US are all running fresh water deficits pumping more from their aquifers than is being replenished.” —Time Magazine, 1999.


• Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (aka. factory farms) are now the norm and getting more and more congested with the number of animals per acre increasing 60 percent from 1982 to 1997.— New Clean Water Act Regulations Create Imperative for Livestock Producers, USDA Economics Research Service, 2003.


• Red meat contains high levels of Neu5Gc, a carbohydrate molecule linked to tissue inflammation that isn’t naturally present in humans but has been found in cancer cells. — “Human uptake and incorporation of an immunogenic nonhuman dietary sialic acid,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 2003.


• "Millions of cancer cases could be prevented each year if more individuals adopted diets low in meat and high in fruits and vegetables.” —British Medical Journal, 1998.


• Up to 95% of human dioxin exposure comes from red meat, fish and dairy products. – “FDA Launches Study on Dioxin in Fish, Dairy Foods,” Food Chemical News, 1995.


• Alarming levels of dioxin were found in tests of meat-based baby food sold by all the major baby food brands. –Consumer Reports, June 1998.


• Factory Farms confine thousands of animals in one facility, and produce staggering amounts of animal waste in the process (500 million tons per year). Because the animal waste is heavy and costly to transport, producers often apply more of it to crops on nearby fields than the crops can actually absorb. The excess waste often leaches into the groundwater or runs into nearby rivers and streams. —Sierra Club


• Factory Farms create one of the nation's most dangerous water pollution problems with hog, chicken and cattle waste having polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states. —EPA/USDA, 1998.


• The extractive process used to grow massive quantities of feed crops take a toll on the land. Many growers bypass traditional methods of sustainability such as crop rotation, creating furrows to prevent erosion, and growing cover crops in the off season. As a result, the land is becoming unusable. An average of seven tons of soil is eroded from every acre of cropland land each year.— National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, 2004.


• The livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transportation. — Livestock’s Long Shadow, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 2006.


• “The beef industry has contributed to more deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined.” —Neal Barnard, M.D., President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine


• “Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” –Albert Einstein


• In the U.S., cattle emit about 5.5 million metric tons of methane per year into the atmosphere, accounting for 20% of U.S. methane emissions. After to carbon dioxide, methane is the second most destabilizing gas to the planet’s climate.—EPA

Sustainable Choices

The Eat Well Guide
http://www.eatwellguide.org

Delicous Beef-Free Recipes
http://www.betterhomesandgarden.com

Comprehensive Links

What else you can do