Tell me what you eat I shall tell

« Tell me what you eat, I shall tell you who you are. » VEGETARIANISM Environment & lifestyle

References • Report: One Voice • FAO : Livestock’s long shadow • W. H. O : Diet, nutrition and prevention of illnesses • World Cancer Research Fund • California Lifestyle Heart Trial • Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change • China Project • Framingham Heart Study

Content • Industrial breeding has devastating consequences on the planet : deforestation, massive pollution, climate change, misuse of agriculture and crops, etc. • 1 billion animals are slaughtered every week for their meat : 900 million are chickens, 24 million are pigs, 17 million are sheep and goats, 6 million cows and oxen. • Meat is one of the main causes of chronic and deadly diseases related to the modern lifestyle

« I wish a way of consuming which protects the planet and treats animals and human beings as parts of Creation who deserve respect and attention. » Rajendra Pachauri, President of IPCC - Peace Nobel Prize 2007 (with Al Gore) Farm Animal Voice, n° 171, Autumn 2008

4 aspects to consider • • Impact on the environnement Impact on human health Impact on society Animal suffering

Breeding & Environment : AIR POLLUTION Breeding is the 2 nd industry to produce greenhouse gases (GHG - 18%). It is more important than all forms of transport all over the planet (13, 5%). Main GHG : • CO 2 = 9% • methan (23 x > CO 2) = 37% • nitrogen dioxide (30 x > CO 2) = 65% • ammoniac? (acid rain) = 67% 1 kg of meat produces 36, 4 kg of CO 2

Breeding & Environment : WATER POLLUTION • 13 billions of tons of effluents every year • The constant pouring of hormonal substances, antibiotics, and many forms of chemical substances into the rivers and underground water resources (water table) • Drains water resources : 8% of the global human consumption • 7% of the global drinking water is used to irrigate the fields to feed animals • 4 billion human beings are facing scarcity of water

Breeding & the Environment : WORLD HUNGER • 13, 000 to 100, 000 litres of water = 1 kg of beef meat • 2 to 4, 000 litres of water = 1 liter of milk • 2 to 400 litres of water = 1 hamburger (150 gr) • 1, 000 litres of water = 1 kg of wheat flour • 500 litres of water = 1 kg of potatoes

Breeding & the Environment : WORLD HUNGER • 2007 : overall world production is 2, 1 billions of tons of cereals • Half of it has been used to feed animals for their flesh and for dairy products, not for the 800, 000 human beings who starve • 90% of the world's production of soya goes to the meat industry (cattle) • 1/20 th of the production of cereals is used to produce bio-energy • 10 kgs of fodder are required to produce 1 kg of beef, 5 kgs of fodder for 1 kg of pork

Breeding & Environment : GROUND & DEFORESTATION • 1 hectar of cereals produces 5 times more proteins than 1 hectar used for meat production • Breeding and feeding the animals occupy 1/3 of emerged lands, 70% of the global cultivated lands • One keeps cutting the trees ! 20% of the rainy forest in South America disapeared in 40 years • 3/4 of the land has become fields to produce hamburgers • The other part of it produces soya to feed animals, not human beings

Breeding, diet & health : the logic of anatomy • Human intestines measure up to to 10 times their size? • The closest species to humanity, apes, are all vegetarians, or they eat very little meat • The stomach of animals eating meat produces powerful digestive acids, but not the stomachs of human beings • Human jaws are weak, teeth are of vegetarians, they are meant to chew

Breeding, diet & health : tragic consequences • The W. H. O has declared a world health crisis in all rich countries • All studies agree : there is definitely a link between meat and dairy product consumption and illnesses specific to rich countries • Heart diseases, certain forms of cancer, hypertension, coronary attacks, type 2 diabetis, osteoporosis, hypercholesterol, obesity, etc. • The more humans eat meat and dairy products, the more they are sick

Breeding, diet & health : tragic consequences • W. H. O : heart diseases kill approximately 17 million people every year. the major cause of death in Europe and the USA • The consumption of red meat and dairy products is responsible for absorbing a molecule potentially dangerous - sugar, Neu 5 Ge. Scientists believe that it is part of the process that generates cancers and heart diseases • The form of cancer related to meat consumption is intestinal cancer, the 2 nd most deadly cancer in affluent societies

Breeding & animal suffering : the most terrible facts • « the sufferings endured by these animals are so extreme that to eat these creatures, is like absorbing the abject sadness which depicts their existence (. . . ) We absorb nightmares at breakfast, lunch and diner. » John Robbins, Diet for a New America, 1987 • « … many surgeries done to animals, such as castration, amputation of the tale, horns, teeth, beak, toes, are performed without any sort of anesthesy. » Professor Ian duncan, The changing concept of animal sentience, Applied animal behaviour

« Nothing can be more beneficial for human health, or increase our chances for survival on earth, than an evolution towards a vegetarian diet » . Albert Einstein