Weapons of Mass Destruction:
Our Knives and Forks.

Humans exploit non-human animals - for fashion, fun, fad and food. Two billion sentient beings are tortured and murdered every week, out of sight and out of mind.

At every possible level it is an ignoble practice. This has been debated comprehensively and the argument has been won resoundingly. Those who justify it are simply enduring the death throes of a bankrupt paradigm.

Apart from the obvious moral considerations, exploiting animals is also profoundly foolish even when examined through our own prism of “self interest”.

The celebrated historian Barbara Tuchmann described “folly” as “acting against our own best interests”.

So, even if we blithely threw our ethics away, and simply looked at our own self interests, the only intelligent response would be blindingly obvious. Eating animals is not only immoral. It is just plain dumb.

Let’s look at some simple facts:

The “World Hunger” Argument

• 20 million people will die from malnutrition this year
  
• Reducing meat consumption by only 10% frees up enough land to feed 100 million people
  
• 90% of the grain produced is fed to livestock – and 90% of the protein is wasted by “cycling” it through livestock
  
• 1 acre of arable land produces 250 pounds of beef – and 40,000 pounds of potatoes
  
• More than half of U.S. farmland is devoted to beef production
  
• 16 pounds of grain produces 1 pound of feedlot beef
  
  

The “Environmental” Argument

• Primary cause of greenhouse effect and global warming is carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels
  
• We need 3 times more fossil fuels to produce a meat-centred diet vs. a meat-free diet
  
• The US has already lost 75% of its topsoil. 85% of the loss is directly related to livestock production
  
• It takes 55 square feet of irreplaceable rainforest to produce 1 big Mac
  
• We lose 1,000 different species to extinction every year
  

The “Cancer” Argument

Compare the cancer risk of eating animals daily rather than once a week.

Breast cancer in women

• Meat - 3.8 times
• Eggs - 2.8 times
• Butter and cheese - 3.25 times
• Fatal prostate cancer for men
• Meat - 3.6 times
  

The “Cholesterol” Argument

• There are 125 medical schools in the US. Only 30 run a course in nutrition
  
• The average physician receives only 2.5 hours of teaching on nutrition
  
• The most common cause of death is heart attack – every 45 seconds
  
• The risk of a heart attack is 50% - the same as tossing a coin. A risk to a person who does not consume animal products is only 4%
  

The “Natural Resources” Argument

• 50% of water is used for livestock “production”. To produce one cow it takes enough water to float a battleship
  
• It takes only 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat. To produce a pound of beef takes 5,000 gallons
  
• Current world's known oil reserves would last 13 years if every human ate a meat diet. If we took meat off the menu it would last 260 years
  
• It takes 78 calories of fossil fuel to get 1 calorie of protein from beef. To get 1 calorie of protein from soybeans it takes only 2
  

The “Antibiotic” Argument

• 55% of our antibiotics are fed to livestock
  
• In 1960 13% of staphylococci infections were resistant to penicillin. Today it is 91%
  
• The European Economic Community banned the routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock. The U.S. meat and pharmaceutical industries gave the practice 100% full and complete support.
  

The “Pesticide” Argument

• The common belief is that the government protects our health through meat inspection. In reality, less than 1 out of every 250,000 slaughtered animals is tested for toxic chemicals
  99% of mother's milk contains significant levels of DDT. For vegetarian women it is 8%
  
• The contamination of breast milk from chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides in animal products was 35 times higher than for vegetarians
  

The “Ethical” Argument

• We kill and torture 2 billion animals a week!
  
• The gulags we call abattoirs put Stalin, Pol Pot and Hitler in the shade
  
• Killing an innocent, sentient being is always cruel and barbaric. There is no such thing as “humane” slaughter.
  
• The most stressful occupation with highest turnover - slaughterhouse worker
  
• The highest rate of on-the-job-injury - slaughterhouse worker
  

The “Fitness” Argument

• Athlete to win “The Ironman Triathlon” more than twice: Dave Scott (6 time winner) Dave Scott is a vegetarian. His view of athletes who eat animals “Outsmart him. Outrun him. Outlive him.”
  
• Largest meat eater that ever lived: Tyrannosaurus Rex (Where is he today?)