This list can be found on http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/seasonal-foods.html and was extremely helpful in the process of creating my seasonal grocery list!
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A lot of individuals say that population control is the only way to stop world hunger. Though I believe this, I believe that the dispersal of resources should be considered in measure of equity. There is a reason why meat is seen as a luxury food among the worlds poor. This reason is that meat requires an unimaginable amount of resources. The World Hunger Program concluded that world harvests, if equally dispersed without feeding livestock, could supply a vegetarian diet to 6 billion people, whereas a solely meat diet could only supply 2.6 billion. 70% of U.S. grain is used to feed farm animals. "The grains and soybeans fed to animals to produce the amount of meat consumed by the average American in one year could feed seven people for the same period. The water used to raise animals for food is more than half the water used in the United States." Raising animals for consumption is the largest polluter of our water and soil. Rain forests are subject to deforestation to make room for cattle grazing. We kill millions of animals (like bears, coyotes, wolves, foxes, etc.) to protect these farm animals that we later on kill. I have heard a lot of people ask the question "if the world goes vegan, animals will over populate and then what will we do with them?" The truth is the world will not all go vegan over night. This will happen gradually and as less animals are demanded less will be breaded and impregnated. If we didn't have livestock, we would not need to kill off our predators like foxes and wolves and effect our food webs natural balance. Watch "How wolves change rivers" for an idea of what I mean. This world once had 98% wildlife and 2%humans and their claimed land. I am sure you know that now there is 2% wildlife and 98% humans and their claimed land. Now, what about grass fed? A grass-fed cow will use 35 percent more water and 30 percent more land than a grain-fed cow. Grass-fed leads to more water usage and more deforestation. It takes 2,500 gallons of water, 12 pounds of grain, 35 pounds of soil, and the energy equivalent to one gallon of gasoline to make one pound of beef. Not only does grass-fed take up more resources, it also takes years longer to supply these resources, for a grass fed cow to reach the weight of a grain-fed cow in 3 to 6 months. |
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