· It can take up to 16 lbs. of grain to produce one pound of meat?

· It takes 1233 gallons of water to produce 1 serving of beef but an entire vegan meal needs only 98 gallons of water.

· 50% of U.S. land is used for agriculture - 65% of which is used for animal agriculture.

· The USDA estimates that confined farm animals generate more than 450 million tons of manure annually. That's three times more waste then the entire U.S. population.

· 50% of corn and 75% of soy is grown for livestock feed in the U.S., yet there are 800 million people starving globally.

· A Harvard Medical School study shows that high calcium is a probable risk of prostate cancer and lactose is a possible risk of breast cancer.  It also concludes that milk is not necessarily the best source of calcium for strong bones. It suggested exercise & green leafy vegetables for bone health.

· The World Health Organization recommends 5% protein for adults. We consume 3 to 4 times this amount.

· Milk from rBGH-treated cows contains higher levels of IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Factor-1). Humans also naturally have IGF-1, and increased levels in humans have been linked to colon and breast cancer. The FDA does not require labeling of dairy products derived from rBGH-treated cows.

· Overuse of antibiotics, confinement and filthy  conditions at factory farms have set the scene for pandemic illnesses such as the Bird Flu and H1N1 Swine Flu .

· 70% of all antibiotics manufactured in the U.S.A. are fed to livestock.

· Our government subsidies are less than 1% for sustainable organic farming.

· U.S. beef and dairy are prohibited in the U.K. due to studies related to health concerns around, antibiotics, growth hormones and livestock feed derived from dead animal tissue.

· The U.S. Government Assurance Organization reports that one of the 15,000 CAFOs in the US (concentrated animal feeding operation) can produce the amount of raw waste equivalent to a city the size of Houston TX. (4th largest in the USA) Often this waste is dumped into our environment untreated due to poor regulations and monitoring.

· One feedlot can confine as many as 110,000 head of  cattle.

· The filthy litter from the bottom of hen houses is fed to cattle - up to 70% is allowed in their diet.

· Livestock too ill to make it to slaughter are fed to chickens, hogs, and other animals like our pets.

· Restaurant waste is fed to cows which can contain beef in it. Mad cow disease is not eliminated from tissue or blood by the cooking process. The USDA and FDA are aware of this.

· Slaughter house workers are the lowest paid in our nation next to dishwashers. Yet they suffer the highest injury rates in the country.

· Meat packaging plants recruit and bus employees from up to 100 miles away due to difficulties in finding workers. Often destitute foreigners are illegally hired. They are paid minimal wages, no overtime or sick time and are afraid to speak out about some of the most atrocious working conditions in our country.

· Local communities see a decline in property values when factory farms move in.

· Typically the factory farms do not purchase consumables from the local farm suppliers.

· Many chickens have no more then the size of a quarter of a sheet of paper to live in. They can not spread their wings or lay down to nest - ever.

· Chickens are deprived food for up to 12 days & water for 3  to force a molt to produce more eggs for human consumption.

· Male chicks are unwanted and discarded in piles to be suffocated in large bags or crushed alive for livestock feed.

· There are no federal laws protecting the humane treatment of chickens.

· Sadly most confined animals including poultry, pigs, sheep, calves and cows never get fresh air or see the sun light until the day they are sent to slaughter.

· Many livestock animals have their beaks burnt off, tales cut off, are castrated, toes chopped off, teeth pulled out,
horn-buds burnt off without anesthetic.

· Baby calves are removed from their mothers hours after birth. They are fed a milk substitute which contains dried blood from slaughter houses. This has potential for Mad Cow.

· HUMANS are the only mammals that consume the milk of another species & consume milk as adults.