Global Indigo

Excerpts from: The Food Revolution by John Robbins
“How your diet can help save your life and our world”

R.E. Waste from Animal Agriculture
“The contamination of the nations’ waterways from (pork) manure run-off is extremely serious. Twenty tons of (pork and other) livestock manure are produced for every household in the country. We have strict laws governing the disposal of human waste, but the regulations are lax, or often nonexistent, for animal waste.”
(Union of Concerned Scientists )

Amount of waste produced by North Carolina’s 7 million factory-raised hogs
(stored in open cesspools) compared to the amount produced
by the state’s 6.5 million people: 4 to 1

Relative concentration of pathogens in hog waste compared to human sewage: 10 to 100 times greater

Amount of waste produced by the 1,600 dairies in California’s Central Valley: More than the entire human population of Texas.

“(It’s a) myth that U.S. cattle produce large amounts of methane, a greenhouse” gas, thereby contributing significantly to possible global warming problems.” -
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association

“Livestock account for 15 to 20 percent of (overall) global methane emissions.” -Worldwatch Institute.

R.E. Abuse of nature’s resources

“ The amount of water that goes into a 1,000 pound steer would float a (Naval) destroyer.” (Newsweek)

Nearly half the water consumed in this country is used for livestock, mostly cattle.” (Audobon, 1999)

In Central America, cattle typically graze on land that was rainforest before being cut down and burned to be used for rangeland. According to the Rainforest Action Network, 55 square feet of tropical rainforest, an area the size of a small kitchen, are destroyed for the production of every fast-food burger made from rainforest beef.

“Imports of beef by the United States from southern Mexico and Central America during the past 25 years has been the major factor in the loss of about half of the tropical forests there- all for the sake of keeping the price of hamburger in the united States about a nickel less than it wood have been otherwise.”
(MacArthur Foundation Report)

Leading cause of species in the tropical rainforests being threatened or eliminated: Livestock grazing

Leading cause of species in the United States being threatened or eliminated
(according to the U.S. Congress General Accounting Office)

Livestock grazing

“Cattlemen graze livestock on more than half the land area of the United States… These lands provide habitat for many of the species listed as threatened of endangered. The cattle business is often affected adversely by the Endangered Species Act because regulations to protect species habitat restrict land uses and limit ranchers’ management options.”
(National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, explaining its opposition to the Endangered Species Act)

“Loss of species and climate change (exemplify how) current methods of rearing animals around the world take a large toll on nature. Overgrown and resource-intensive, animal agriculture is out of alignment with the Earth’s ecosystems.”
Worldwatch Institute

R.E. food-borne disease

“ The prevalence (of E. coli 0157:H7) is very low.“
(National Cattlemen’s Beef Association)

“A report by the United States Department of Agriculture estimates that 89 percent of U.S. beef ground into patties contains traces of the deadly E. coli strain.“
(Reuters News Service )

Although E. coli is primarily a problem in hamburger and other ground beef products, if there were a contest for the most frequently contaminated food product in the United States, chicken would stand an excellent chance of winning. A study by the University of Arizona found higher levels of coliform bacteria in the American kitchen then on the rim of the toilet. The bathroom is cleaner because people are not washing their chickens in the toilet.

Every year, more than 650,000 Americans are sickened form eating Salmonella-tainted eggs.

“We don’t want Congress to get carried away just because somebody somewhere happens to get sick. The problems with eggs and salmonella have been overblown.”
( Franklin Sharris, spokesperson for a leading U.S. egg company )

“Year after year the egg industry goes to (Congress) to try to turn back public health improvements. Eggs remain at the top of the list of foods that are causing food-borne outbreaks..”
( Center for Science in the Public Interest )

“I don’t understand what all the fuss. Meats are being irradiated to make them safer, to kill E. coli and other harmful bacteria. Consumers should be glad we’re doing it. This is an example of how the meat industry gets a bad rap for doing the right thing. If anything, the labels should say ‘treated to promote health.’ People should just relax and trust us to know what we’re doing. Believe me, irradiated foods are safe to eat.”
(Dominique Jenokins, CEO of a major U.S. meat company)

You might not want to eat a fast-food burger that had been “nuked”. But thanks to the cattlemen’s effort, you may already have. On February 22, 2000, the USDA legalized the irradiation of beef and other meat products. Three months later, grocery store chains began selling irradiated meat to consumers. And while a label disclosing that meat products have been irradiated is required when those products are sold in a store, labeling is not required for foods served by restaurants and school lunch programs. Without their knowledge, customers of McDonald’s and Burger King, and children eating in school cafeterias, may now be guinea pigs in an experiment with a technology that could be extremely dangerous.