You Could Save the World

We are gambling with our own health, we are harming our families, and the
ecological balance of the entire planet is at stake. We need educated, informed people to take a stand for our
future, and for our common humanity. It is up to us to protect ourselves and our families.

MANURE LAGOONS

Pools of poop and waste, with all kinds of chemical
residuals in them. These lagoons can run off farms and
pollute nearby water bodies, and can cause serious
pollution problems.

In 1999, when Hurricane Floyd hit North Carolina, at least
five manure lagoons burst and 47 lagoons were
completely flooded with river water mixed with waste from
the lagoons. When the flood receded, polluted water had
saturated the walls and floors of many homes and caused
untold damage to aquatic life.

RUNOFF AND DISEASE

This runoff from modern farms have been linked to
problems with dangerous micro-organisms. The drinking
water system for Milwaukee, Wisconsin was contaminated
in 1993 by cryptosporidium (bacteria). This outbreak killed
over 100 people and made more than 400,000 people ill.

DEADLY MICRO-ORGANISMS

Another CAFO-related micro-organism, Pfiesteria
piscicida, is widely believed to be responsible for fish kills
in Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia and poses
significant risk to human health.

DEFORESTATION

We lose many acres of rainforest every single day, and a
large portion of that is directly attributable to
animal-based diets. It takes over 3 acres of land to feed a
non-vegan for one day while it takes less than 1/6 of an
acre to feed a vegan. Rainforest is either clear-cut or
clear-burned, then we plant more food (to feed more farm
animals, not to feed people) or create more farms, all in
the effort to produce more animal products for your
consumption.

CRUELTY AND ABUSE

Pictured left is called a 'dead pile' and is a common sight
on many modern farms. The reality is there is no such
thing as humane slaughter, and individuals lives should
never be viewed as profits, products, or commodities.
Those who love animals eventually come to realize that to
love them is NOT to eat or 'use' them.

THE RISE OF SUPERBUGS

The conditions present in modern farming makes it likely
there will be a very serious outbreak. We have already
seen Avian flu, Swine flu, etc. Pressure from the pork
industry got them to change the term from 'Swine flu' to
'H1N1', so people didn't make the connection.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Animal agriculture affects climate change in every way.
The methane and CO2 emissions from modern-day farms
is astronomical, the deforestation alone contributes
massive amounts to climate change, the energy needed
to produce animal products is astounding, and the
pollution that results from animal farming speeds up all of
these processes by not having a healthy ecosystem that
can rebound from these continued onslaughts.

A recent report published by the United Nations warns:
“Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to
today's most serious environmental problems...urgent
action is required to remedy the situation.”

SEVERE LAND, WATER, AND AIR POLLUTION

This subject could truly take many volumes to cover.
Whether you are speaking of run-off from modern-day
farms contaminating our land, water, air, and food supply
(how DO you think E. Coli got in spinach), or you are
speaking of human health problems from the pollution
(example: women living downwind on these huge modern-
day farms were found to be having miscarriages),
discussing the Dead Zones that occur in water such as
the Gulf of Mexico (these zones cause the death of ALL
aquatic life), the large amounts of chemical run-off from
animal farms that makes it’s way into our land, air, and
ocean…the fact is…there are multiple ways that animal
farming is destroying our world and putting us at risk.

WORLD FAMINE

It take a lot less land to produce food to feed a vegan
than a non-vegan, but did you know that to make 1 pound
of meat it takes anywhere from 10-20 pounds of grain? If
you fed that grain directly to humans instead of farm
animals, theoretically we could completely wipe out famine
and hunger. Even though we may not see or know the
ones who go to sleep starving, they ARE there, and to be
vegan is to try and help them.

As Diet For a Small Planet author Frances Moore Lappé
writes, “imagine sitting down to an eight-ounce steak.
Then imagine the room filled with 45 to 50 people with
empty bowls in front of them. For the 'feed cost' of your
steak, each of their bowls could be filled with a full cup of
cooked cereal grains.” Please think about what that could
mean to someone who is starving.

LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY AND SPECIES DEATH

It is likely obvious how these issues above can impact
biodiversity and all species, including humans. What is
less commonly thought of is the amount of animals/beings
killed for our diet. Not only the obvious, the BILLIONS of
animals are consumed every year, but we must consider
the massive killing of natural predators such as wolves,
foxes, etc., to allow for farm animals, and the effects on
species when undertaking clear-burning huge portions of
our rain forest. Humans have not yet stopped to consider
who they could hurt every single time they take a bite
(everyone and everything).

ANTIBIOTIC OVERUSE

Pictured left is a modern-day feedlot. Cows of today rarely
see grass or pastures, are intensely confined, and are
generally living in horrible conditions, covered in feces.
They are also given an array of chemicals including, but
not limited to, pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones.

Currently, animal agriculture puts us at great risk for new
diseases and virus', and also decreases the effectiveness
of our antibiotics, The extreme crowding and stressful
conditions prove to be too much for many, and many die.

Not only does modern agriculture cause pollution, health risks, deforestation, antibiotic resistance and disease,
climate change, cruelty, and more, it also uses up a tremendous amount of resources.

You are being sold a vision of clean, safe, food while gambling with your health and the health of your family, and
the health of the entire planet. It is up to us to protect ourselves and our families.

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