________________
breast cancer than those women who eat
little or no meat. 26. Today's milk factory may have one worker
tending 800 calves in 45 minutes, a job in the barnyard of old which would have taken several workers an entire day. According to Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation, "Cows are sensitive creatures who naturally
develop strong bonds with their caretakers.” 27. At the expense of their own hungry
populations, exporters in poor countries will produce luxury foods such as meat for sale to rich countries. Meat is much more profitable to produce than subsistence crops
of rice, beans and vegetables. 28. The 1.28 billion cattle in the world are
responsible for 12% of the methane emissions into the atmosphere. Methane is one of the four greenhouse gasses contributing to the environmental trend toward "global warming." One methane molecule traps 25 time more solar heat than
one molecule of carbon dioxide. 29. Pigs in today's factory indoor facilities are
likely to be stacked two and three decks high, each solitarily imprisoned in a bin. For their entire lives they will live in space just big enough to fit in. They stand on metal or concrete slats which will painfully cripple the
legs of half of them before slaughter. 30. The milk from a nursing woman who eats a
diet rich in animal sources is so high in toxic substances that were it to be sold across state lines would be subject to confiscation
and destruction by the FDA. 31. Two hundred years ago, American cropland
had topsoil that averaged 21 inches in depth. Today, only about 6 inches remain. Every year in the U.S. an area the size of Connecticut is lost to topsoil erosion—85%
of this erosion is associated with livestock
production 32. Fish are living magnets for toxic chemicals.
According to Consumer Reports (Feb., 92), a notable incidence of unacceptable levels of PCB's and mercury were found in certain species of fish that were tested. Ingesting PCB's is considered a chief reason for the sperm count among American men to be 70% of what it was 30 years ago. Today, half
the world's fish catch is fed to cattle. 33. Drug addicted animals in our factory sheds
are supposed to have their drug intakes stopped at a certain interval before slaughter. Withdrawal schedules, however, are not always properly followed, if at all. Troughs of old, drug-laden feed may not be cleaned away when withdrawal should begin. Also, since animals are often fed animal waste and flesh, drug and pesticide residues continue
to be recycled. 34. The common cold, as well as allergies to
dust, cats and pollen, are more likely to go away when milk is taken out of the diet. No other mammal in nature drinks milk after weaning, nor drinks the milk of other species,
as do humans. 35. USDA meat inspection today is virtually non
existent in several of the giant meat packing plants. A new inspection process approved of during the "deregulation 1980's" nearly eliminates the role of the federal meat inspector. Dubbed S.I.S. (Streamlined Inspection System), this unprecedented inspection process speeds on-line production by up to 40%. Sometimes as few as 3 out of 1,000 carcasses are checked. Federal inspectors are not allowed to stop the assembly line if a problem is sighted. They may only complain.
To be contd....
Content Courtesy :
Jai Jinendra Pamela Teisler
Pramoda Chitrabhanu (We regret the omission of her name in the previous issue.)
Jain Education International
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