1. Water needed to produce a pound of meat: 441 gallons
2. Amount of U.S. grain fed to farm animals: 70%
3. Of all water used for all purposes in the United States, 60% goes to livestock production.
4. The great Ogallala aquifer, a resource that took a half million years to accumulate, will be depleted in less than 40 years.[2]
5. Pass up one hamburger, and youll save as much water as you save by taking 40 showers with a low-flow nozzle.
6. It is estimated that for each hamburger made from rainforest beef, members of life forms from approximately 20 to 30 different plant species, 100 different insect species, and dozens of bird, mammals, and reptile species are destroyed
7. A groundbreaking 2006 United Nations report found that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined
8. According to the EPA, over 200 manure discharges and spills from U.S. animal farms between 1990 and 1997 have killed more than a billion fish.[2] Animal feedlots can contaminate nearby well water with high levels of nitrates, which have been linked to miscarriages in humans as well as blue baby syndrome in infants. Manure lagoons and spray fields from animal agriculture also pollute the air by emitting ammonia, methane, and hydrogen sulfide.
9. Vegetarian diets help lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer.
10. The Adventist Health Study found that non-vegetarians had a 54% increased risk for prostate cancer and an 88% increased risk for colorectal cancer, even after controlling for age, sex, and smoking.[1] Numerous studies show much lower cancer rates in countries which have largely plant-based diets.
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