Hey everyone,Sorry I haven't written in so long.... I know you all have been waiting with bated breath for a new post (and that might possibly explain why I had 32 pageviews today when nothing new was on.... either that or someone just refreshed the page 32 times. Good for you!)
Anyway, no meal today (that's right, I didn't have dinner... nah, just kidding. We had boring food that I didnt even make). So I've decided to do a more informational post (and I really should be doing more of these...).
Now, you might be wondering why I put the word "fun" in parentheses with a question mark (aren't you just fascinated by punctuation?) Well, that's because while information about the meat you eat may be interesting/gruesome/shocking, I'm not sure I would call it fun. It was all for alliteration's sake, you know?
Also, I'm too lazy to put citations and sources down for my information. All my sources are reliable. Trust me. I did not make this stuff up. I mean, who would?
So here we go with 5 (fun?) Facts you didn't know about meat:
1.) 99% of all animals eaten in the U.S. come from factory farms- Yes, I have put this on my blog before. However, I believe it is one of the most shocking and truly revealing facts about meat consumption in the U.S. Factory farms are what make up the core of the problems we face here with meat. Because of it, we have bad quality meat that abuses animals, puts chemicals into our bodies, and eventually makes us sick. You know how one day you might wake up and throw up, but the next day you're fine? Many people just say "Oh, I caught a bug". But in reality, most "24 hour stomach bugs" come from consumption of bad meat.
2.) Animal agriculture is the #1 cause of global climate change- When we think of things like "global warming" and "global climate change" the first thing that comes to mind as a cause is things like gasses and transportation. That is part of what makes animal agriculture the #1 source (as in transporting meat), but in fact animal agriculture contributes even more to climate change than all transportation in the world combined.
Anyway, no meal today (that's right, I didn't have dinner... nah, just kidding. We had boring food that I didnt even make). So I've decided to do a more informational post (and I really should be doing more of these...).
Now, you might be wondering why I put the word "fun" in parentheses with a question mark (aren't you just fascinated by punctuation?) Well, that's because while information about the meat you eat may be interesting/gruesome/shocking, I'm not sure I would call it fun. It was all for alliteration's sake, you know?
Also, I'm too lazy to put citations and sources down for my information. All my sources are reliable. Trust me. I did not make this stuff up. I mean, who would?
So here we go with 5 (fun?) Facts you didn't know about meat:
1.) 99% of all animals eaten in the U.S. come from factory farms- Yes, I have put this on my blog before. However, I believe it is one of the most shocking and truly revealing facts about meat consumption in the U.S. Factory farms are what make up the core of the problems we face here with meat. Because of it, we have bad quality meat that abuses animals, puts chemicals into our bodies, and eventually makes us sick. You know how one day you might wake up and throw up, but the next day you're fine? Many people just say "Oh, I caught a bug". But in reality, most "24 hour stomach bugs" come from consumption of bad meat.
2.) Animal agriculture is the #1 cause of global climate change- When we think of things like "global warming" and "global climate change" the first thing that comes to mind as a cause is things like gasses and transportation. That is part of what makes animal agriculture the #1 source (as in transporting meat), but in fact animal agriculture contributes even more to climate change than all transportation in the world combined.
3.) The average American eats the equivalent of 21,00 whole animals in an entire lifetime- Okay, so this one absolutely shocked me. And I'm still trying to figure it out. Seem's like a lot of meat, huh? Just think about it in terms of whole animals. It's kind of gruesome, isn't it? Although I'm still not sure of the validity of this one, I still feel it was worth sharing (and thinking about!)
4.) About 1/3 of the land surface of the Earth is used for livestock- Don't we have better things to do with our land than to use it for caging and abusing various animals? This is mind boggling as we keep in mind that most of the Earth is water anyway. So now that we know that (yay learning!), think about it. Of the remaining space left over on the earth, we use it for farming animals (and not even in a good way!). Don't get me wrong, it's fine if a good amount of land is used for livestock, but 1/3 is simply ridiculous.
5.) And now I leave you with my favorite fact, complete with a video! 70% of America's beef is treated with ammonia- The video really explains it all, but really. First of all, they're using the outside of the meat that isn't even meat. Or edible. But then they use something called ammonia to "clean" it. Ammonia is a chemical. It is absolutely not made for human consumption. And even worse, labels don't even tell you if you're consuming ammonia or not. Because apparently it's a process. A process? Really? Next thing you know they're going to call high fructose corn syrup a process and you won't know if you're eating that either!
Anyway, here's the video (if you need a visual aid/ deeper explanation)
4.) About 1/3 of the land surface of the Earth is used for livestock- Don't we have better things to do with our land than to use it for caging and abusing various animals? This is mind boggling as we keep in mind that most of the Earth is water anyway. So now that we know that (yay learning!), think about it. Of the remaining space left over on the earth, we use it for farming animals (and not even in a good way!). Don't get me wrong, it's fine if a good amount of land is used for livestock, but 1/3 is simply ridiculous.
5.) And now I leave you with my favorite fact, complete with a video! 70% of America's beef is treated with ammonia- The video really explains it all, but really. First of all, they're using the outside of the meat that isn't even meat. Or edible. But then they use something called ammonia to "clean" it. Ammonia is a chemical. It is absolutely not made for human consumption. And even worse, labels don't even tell you if you're consuming ammonia or not. Because apparently it's a process. A process? Really? Next thing you know they're going to call high fructose corn syrup a process and you won't know if you're eating that either!
Anyway, here's the video (if you need a visual aid/ deeper explanation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wshlnRWnf30
Happy Eating!
(Oh, wait. That's going to be quite hard after watching that video....)
Happy Eating!
(Oh, wait. That's going to be quite hard after watching that video....)
Leda :)
(Image credit: procsilas via flickr)
(Credit to Jonathan Safran Foer Eating Animals)
(Image credit: procsilas via flickr)
(Credit to Jonathan Safran Foer Eating Animals)
nice preamble ;)
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