Vegetarian Statistics

 There are many people who have become vegetarians for health reasons, who are convinced that heir good health is attributable to their vegetarian lifestyle.  Others are vegetarian for ethical reasons, which may be questioned from time to time, but vegetarian statistics seem to support their case.

1. EarthSave have produced some interesting statistics, which are included below, and which seem to support the view that to opt for a vegetarian lifestyle, is an ethical choice.

Astonishingly, more than 1.3 billion people could be fed every year, from the soybeans and grain that goes to feed farm animals in the USA.

Just to emphasize the point, it means that you could feed the whole population of the USA, and have sufficient left over to feed a further billion people.  Nutritional values would be upheld, but the big question is, would the surplus be channeled to where it was most needed, to feed the starving millions elsewhere in the world?  Some vegetarians believe that it is unethical to allow anybody, anywhere to starve, in the midst of such a potential surplus.

2. Livestock reared in the USA, to feed the non-vegetarians, produces between 20-30 times more waste than people.  Human waste, of course, is treated in highly developed sewage plants, but animal waste is left untreated, to become an acknowledged environmental problem.

3. Converting vegetable protein to animal protein is a wasteful process.  For instance, it takes about 7½ lbs of protein from wheat and beans, to create 1 lb of pork, and for chickens the ration is around 5:1.  Vegetarians are well aware of such considerations, and so some question the ethics of this sort of food production, in a world where famine still exists.

Vegetarians may think it paradoxical that vast resources are utilized in the production of wheat and soy, for use as animal feed, when the return in absolute food terms is so low.  So they think that to become a vegetarian, on ethical grounds is entirely justifiable.

Vegetarians realize that there are economic and political considerations.  However, in a world where billions of dollars are allocated in aid, particularly by the United States, it ought to be possible to manage food resources in such a way as to eliminate starvation, whilst ensuring that the growers do not lose out.  A vegetarian pipedream - perhaps - but where there's a will, there's a way!