Statistics from Nature's First Law

Natures First Law by Arlin, Dini, Wolfe and Aterhov researched

Presented by Paul Klein, 716 884 0099

Each person is encouraged to bring the most influential book that got them started on a Healthier Living Path and reviewing with the Group the highlights you’ve underscored or highlighted.

Appendix D from Nature's First Law

If you still are not convinced of the absolute benefits of The Raw Food Diet and the utter suicide of being a cooked-foodist, we have included an extensive list of facts and statistics called “Realities,” most of which were originally compiled by John Robbins and Howard Lyman. These facts have been revised and updated by Nature’s First Law. Though most of these facts simply compare a vegetarian diet to an animal based diet, remember that the differences between the two, however great, are much greater still when one compares the differences between a raw food diet and a vegetarian or vegan diet.

Humans and Livestock

1. Human population of the United States: @ 300 million

2. Number of humans that can be fed by the grain and soy beans eaten by U.S. livestock: 1.4 billion

3. Percentage of corn grown in U.S. eaten by livestock: 85%

Percentage of corn eaten by humans: 15% (99.999% of which is cooked)

4. Percentage of oats grown in U.S. eaten by livestock: 95%

5. Percentage of protein wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 90%

6. Percentage of carbohydrate wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 99%

7. Percentage of dietary fiber wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 100%

8. How frequently a child dies of starvation: every 2 seconds

9. Amount of potatoes that can be grown on 1 acre (4,047 sq. meters) of land: 20,000 pounds (9,072 kg)

10. Amount of beef that can be grown on 1 acre (4,047 sq. meters) of land: 165 pounds (75 kg)

11. Percentage of U.S. agricultural land used for the production of animal foods: 85%

12. Percentage of U.S. agricultural land used to produce beef: 56%

13. Amount of grain and soybeans needed to produce 1 pound (or kilogram) of feedlot beef: 16 lbs. (7.3 kg)

14. Amount of protein fed to chickens to produce 1 pound (or kilogram) of protein as chicken flesh 5 pounds (2.3 kg)

15. Amount of protein fed to hogs to produce 1 pound (or kilogram) of protein as hog flesh: 7.5 pounds (3.4 kg)

Humans and Livestock (con’t)

16. Number of children who starve to death each day: 40,000

17. Number of pure vegetarian who can be fed on the amount of land needed to feed 1 person consuming meat-based diet: 20 (this number cold be closer to 150 if you’re talking about pure raw-vegetarians.

18. Number of people who will starve to death this year: 60,000,000

19. Number of people who could be adequately fed by the grain saved if Americans reduced their intake of meat by a mere 10%: 60,000,000

Soil

20. Historic cause of demise of many great civilizations: topsoil depletion

21. Primary cause of topsoil depletion: grain farming for bread, rice and livestock.

22. Percentage of original U.S. topsoil lost to date: 75%

23. Amount of U.S. cropland lost each year to soil erosion: 4 million acres (16,187 square kilometers, or the size of Connecticut)

24. Percentage of U.S. topsoil loss directly associated with livestock raising: 85%

Trees

25. Amount of U.S. forest which has been cleared to create cropland to produce a meat-centered diet: 260 million acres (1.05 million sq. kilometers)

26. How often an acre (4,047 square meters) of U.S. trees disappears: every eight seconds

27. Amount of trees spared per year by each individual who switches to a vegetarian diet: 1 acre (4,047 sq. meters)

Rainforests

28. Rate at which precious rainforest land is being lost: 2.4 acres per second

29. A driving force behind the destruction of the tropical rainforests: American meat habit

30. Current rate of species extinction due to destruction of tropical rainforests and related habitats: 1,000 per year

Water

31. User of more than half of all water used for all puirposes in the United States: livestock production

32. The quantity of water used in the production of the average cow: sufficient to float a battleship

33. Water needed to produce 1 pound (0.45 kg) of wheat: 25 gal. (95 liters)

34. Water needed to produce 1 pound (0.45 kg) of meat: 2,500 gal. (9,465 liters)

35. Cost of common hamburger meat if water used by meat industry was not subsidized by U.S. taxpayer: $35 per lb ($77 per kg)

36. Current cost for 1 pound (0.45 kg) of protein from wheat: $1.50

37. Current cost for 1 pound (0.45kg) of protein from beef steak: $15.40

38. Cost for 1 pound (0.45 kg) of protein from beefsteak if U.S. taxpayers ceased subsidizing meat industry’s use of water: $89 per pound (0.45 kg)

Petroleum and Energy

39. Some energy costs incurred in livestock raising and meat sales: animal transportaton fees, feed supply costs, antibiotic expenses, slaughterhouse fees, packaging expenses, refrigeration costs, refrigerated shipping fees.

40. Amount of gasoline required to produce a pound of grain-fed beef in the United States: 1 gallon

Petroleum & Energy (con’t)

41. Average quantity of fossil fuel per year required to sustain the typical beef intake of a family of four: 260 gallons

42. Amount of carbon dioxide emitted by 260 gallons of gasoline: 2.5 tons (as much as a car emits in six months)

43. Length of time world’s petroleum reserves would last (with current technologies) if all human beings ate meat centered diet: 13 years

44. Length of time world’s petroleum reserves would last (with current technologies) if all human beings ate a vegetarian diet: 260 years

45. Principal reason for U.S. intervention in Persian Gulf: dependence on foreign oil.

46. Barrels of oil imported daily by U.S.: 6.8 million

47. Percentage of energy return (as food energy per fossil energy expended) of most energy efficient farming of meat: 34.5%

48. Percentage of energy return (as food energy per fossil energy expended) of least energy efficient plant food: 328%

49. Amount of soy beans produced by the amount of fossil fuel needed to produce 1 pound (0.45kg) of feedlot beef: 40 pounds (18.1 kg)

50. Percentage of raw materials consumed in U.S. for all purposes presently consumed to produce current meat-centered diet: 33%

51. Percentage of raw materials consumed in U.S. for all purposes needed to produce pure vegetarian diet: 2%

52. Number of cattle worldwide: 1.3 billion

53. Amount of the greenhouse gas, methane, emitted by 1.3 billion cattle:

150 trillion quarts

Sewage Systems

54. Production of excrement by total U.S. population: 12,000 lbs. (5443 kg) per second.

55. Production of excrement by U.S. livestock: 250,000 lbs. (113,400 kg) per second!

56. Sewage systems in U.S. cities: common

57. Sewage system in U.S. feedlots: nil

58. Amount of waste produced annually by U.S. livestock in confinement operations which is not recycled: 1 billion tons (907 billion kg)

59. Relative concentration of feedlot wastes compared to raw domestic sewage: 10 to several hundred times more highly concentrated

60. Where feedlot waste typically ends up: human water supply

Medical School & Nutritional Studies

61. Number of U.S. medical schools: 125

62. Number of U.S. medical schools with a required course in nutrition: 30

63. Training in nutrition received during four years of medical school by the average U.S. physician: 2.5 hours

64. Percentage of the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s budget devoted to nutritional studies: less than 1 %

Heart Attacks

65. How frequently a heart attack strikes in the U.S.: every 25 seconds

66. How frequently a heart attack kills in the U.S.: every 45 seconds

67. Most common cause of death in the U.S. : heart attack

68. Risk of death from heart attack by average U.S. woman: 46%, man: 52%

69. Risk of death from heart attack by average American purely vegetarian woman: 3% man: 4%