VEGETARIANISM AND VEGANISM: THE RIGHT CHOICESContent:

Purpose & definitions Reason 1: God’s Commandment Reason 2: Global hunger Reason 3: Global warming Reason 4: Health Reason 5: Animal welfare Reason 6: Conditions in the meat industry Reason 7: Cost & food security Reason 8: Human nature Reason 9: Spiritual development Reason 10: Aesthetics Famous vegetarians & vegans Quotes about vegetarianism Videos, reports and other resources

PURPOSE & DEFINITIONS

The purpose of this presentation is to help people make more informed choices of food and beverages, leading to a reduction in the overall consumption of animal products

Vegetarian: a person who does not eat meat Vegan: a person who does not consume or use

any animal products, such as meat, fish, eggs, cheese, milk and leather

REASON 1: GOD’S COMMANDMENT

The 6th Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill” "He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man“ (Isaiah

66:3) According to the Bible, the first people were

vegetarians "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of

the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food” (Genesis 1:29)

"What I want is mercy, not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6)

REASON 2: GLOBAL HUNGER

Raising animals for food is extremely inefficient. Animals raised for food have to eat as many as 16 pounds of grain to create just 1 pound of edible flesh.

There is more than enough food in the world to feed the entire human population. While more than a billion people are chronically hungry, 40% of the world’s grain is fed to farmed animals.

It takes about 300 gallons of water per day to produce food for a vegan, and more than 4,000 gallons of water per day to produce food for a meat-eater.

REASON 3: GLOBAL WARMING

More than 50% of greenhouse gas emissions come from raising animals for food and dairy (or “livestock production”)

The dairy sector accounts for about 4% of man-made global warming; the rest is due primarily to the production (and consumption) of meat

These figures do not account for the consumption of “seafood,” estimated at about 110 million tons annually

REASON 4: HEALTH

Vegetarians and vegans have a significantly lower incidence of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, gallstones, obesity, food-borne illnesses, and mortality.

Meat has a lot of toxins. Soy provides all essential amino acids in addition to proteins.

Over 70 animal diseases can be transmitted to humans through meat-eating, including mad cow disease, swine flu, bird flu, salmonella, and e-coli.

“Regular” milk is very harmful for humans.

REASON 5: ANIMAL WELFARE About 58 billion land animals are killed every year worldwide.

The figure does not include sea creatures, wild animals killed by hunters, animals killed for fur or leather, and wildlife displaced by animal agriculture.

In 2006, the global “production” of fishing and aquaculture reached approximately 144 million tons, of which 110 million tons (76.4%) were used for human consumption.

All living creatures, including for example lobsters and mice, can feel pain. Some animals have senses that humans do not. Insects also have senses that are triggered by stimuli and a nervous system that translates stimuli into a response.

“He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.” ~ Immanuel Kant

REASON 6: CONDITIONS IN THE MEAT INDUSTRY

The money-hungry farm animal industry exploits poor people, immigrants, and children.

According to figures from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly one in three slaughterhouse workers suffers from illness or injury every year, compared to one in 10 workers in other manufacturing jobs.

Killing animals is inherently dangerous work; the fast pace, filthy killing floors, and lack of training make working at a slaughterhouse "the most dangerous factory job in America," according to Human Rights Watch.

REASON 7: COST & FOOD SECURITY

Generally meat is more expensive and takes more time to prepare.

Staples such as rice, corn and beans can make trips to a grocery store less expensive. The biggest savings most likely come later from health-care costs.

Vegetarianism also enhances a nation’s self-sufficiency in food production and overall food security. For example, depleted fish stocks in many countries will not be sufficient to meet rising demand.

REASON 8: HUMAN NATURE

The American Dietetic Association notes that most of mankind for most of human history has lived on vegetarian or near-vegetarian diets

The prominent Swedish scientist Karl von Linne states, "Man's structure, external and internal, compared with that of animals, shows that fruit and succulent vegetables constitute his natural food”

Our teeth, saliva, stomach acid, and intestines are most similar to other herbivores, and dissimilar to carnivores and true omnivores

Our so-called "canine teeth" are not at all comparable to the really long and pointed teeth of carnivores

REASON 9: SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

“The most merciful shows mercy to those who have mercy on others. Show mercy to those on earth, and the One above the heaven will show mercy to you." ~ Prophet Mohammed

"If a man eats meat, he will take on the qualities of the animal he eats and once those qualities enter, the man's anger, his hastiness, and his animal qualities will increase. If he does not kill anything on the inside he will not kill anything on the outside." ~ Islamic Holiness M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen

“The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion.” ~ Buddha

"I do feel that spiritual progress does demand, at some stage, that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

"When one becomes a vegetarian, it purifies the soul“ ~ Isaac Bashevis -- singer, author, Nobel laureate

REASON 10: AESTHETICS

FAMOUS VEGETARIANS & VEGANSListing every famous vegetarian could fill a town's phone book. Here are some names of people who are vegetarian and/or vegan:Bryan Adams, Casey Afflek, Vishwanathan Anand, Pamela Anderson, Aristotle, Alec Baldwin, Brigitte Bardot, Drew Barrymore, Kim Basinger, all members of the Beatles, Victoria Beckham, Pierce Brosnan, Buddha, Jackie Chan, Deepak Chopra, Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Phil Collins, Confucius, Jennifer Connolly, Penélope Cruz, Leonardo da Vinci, Darwin, Peter Deunov, Danny DeVito, Princess Diana, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Dr. Dre, Bob Dylan, Clint Eastwood, Thomas Edison, Einstein, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Ford, Benjamin Franklin, Mahatma Gandhi, Richard Gere, Supreme Master Ching Hai, Thich Nhat Hanh, George Harrison, Anne Hathaway, Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Imbruglia, Michael Jackson, Samuel Jackson, Mick Jagger, Steve Jobs, Kafka, Abdul Kalam, Immanuel Kant, Coretta Scott King, Dexter Scott King, Lenny Kravitz, Lisa Kudrow, Tommy Lee, Sean Lennon, Avril Levigne, Carl Lewis, Lincoln, Tobey Maguire, Mahavira, Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, Ricky Martin, Steve Martin, Paul McCartney, Alyssa Milano, John Milton, Moby, Demi Moore, Alanis Morrissette, Mya, Martina Navratilova, Petra Nemcova, Newton, Sinead O'Connor, Rosa Parks, Guy Pearce, Pink, Brad Pitt, Plato, Plutarch, Natalie Portman, Prince, Prodigy, Pythagoras, Sade, Seal, Steven Seagal, Jerry Seinfeld, George Bernard Shaw, Brook Shields, Alicia Silverstone, Socrates, Queen Sofia of Spain, Tabu, Henry David Thoreau, Justin Timberlake, Tolstoy, Tina Turner, Mark Twain, Shania Twain, Liv Tyler, Mike Tyson, Van Gogh, Voltaire, Alice Walker, Vanessa Williams, Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon

QUOTES ABOUT VEGETARIANISM

“As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.“ ~ Pythagoras

"As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields.“ ~ Tolstoy

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.“ ~ Thomas Edison

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.“ ~ Einstein

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.“ ~ Gandhi

VIDEOS, REPORTS AND OTHER RESOURCES

“Animal Agriculture: The Facts” (video)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcjyn2GFJxk&feature=player_embedded

“Milk The Deadly Poison …” (video)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYpafipJyDE

“Livestock and Climate Change” (report)http://www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/Livestock%20and%20Climate%20Change.pdf

"A New Global Warming Strategy: How Environmentalists are Overlooking Vegetarianism as the Most Effective Tool Against Climate Change in Our Lifetimes“ (article)http://www.earthsave.org/globalwarming.htm

“The Case Against Meat” (article)

http://www.emagazine.com/archive/142 “Meat the Truth” (film)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uTJsZrX2wI “Earthlings” (film)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTjhtgX72lw “A Cow at my Table” (film)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zn3j1aRses