These 17 facts about meat are going to make you reevaluate
your entire life.
your entire life.
1. Animals at factory farms are confined to spaces so
small they can’t turn around, lie down comfortably, or
stretch their limbs.
small they can’t turn around, lie down comfortably, or
stretch their limbs.
2. The World Health Organization placed processed
meats like bacon and hot dogs in the same category of cancer risk
as asbestos and cigarettes.
meats like bacon and hot dogs in the same category of cancer risk
as asbestos and cigarettes.
3. Growing feed crops for livestock uses a whopping 56 percent of water in the
United States.
United States.
4. The leading
source of sodium in the adult American diet is chicken.
source of sodium in the adult American diet is chicken.
5. The meat industry emits more greenhouse gases than all forms of transportation
in the world combined.
in the world combined.
6. People who eat seafood ingest up to 11,000 tiny pieces of plastic each year.
7. Piglets who are deemed too sick or small
are killed by being slammed headfirst onto concrete floors. This barbaric standard
industry practice is called thumping.
are killed by being slammed headfirst onto concrete floors. This barbaric standard
industry practice is called thumping.
8. In 2011, the USDA reported that 90 percent of defects discovered in chicken carcasses at slaughter plants involved “visible fecal contamination that was missed by company employees.”
9. Chickens raised for meat have been bred to grow so
quickly they frequently become immobilized under their own weight and
endure chronic pain.
quickly they frequently become immobilized under their own weight and
endure chronic pain.
10. The Mayo Clinic found that long-term
vegetarians live on average 3.6 years longer than their meat-eating
counterparts.
vegetarians live on average 3.6 years longer than their meat-eating
counterparts.
11. The meat industry kills bears, coyotes, wolves, foxes, prairie dogs,
and other wildlife so people can keep eating meat.
and other wildlife so people can keep eating meat.
12. The USDA estimates that about 1 million birds a year are boiled alive.
13. The National Journal estimates that 20
percent of fish caught by commercial fisheries is “bycatch,” or
unwanted fish. Additionally, other animals like sea turtles, seals, whales,
porpoises, dolphins, and sharks are trapped in huge trawling nets and often
die.
percent of fish caught by commercial fisheries is “bycatch,” or
unwanted fish. Additionally, other animals like sea turtles, seals, whales,
porpoises, dolphins, and sharks are trapped in huge trawling nets and often
die.
14. A Royal Society Open Science study
found that fish at factory farms suffer from severe depression and sometimes
“drop out, or float around lifelessly.
found that fish at factory farms suffer from severe depression and sometimes
“drop out, or float around lifelessly.
15. Dehorning,
tail docking, debeaking, and castration are mutilations performed daily at
factory farms without painkillers.
tail docking, debeaking, and castration are mutilations performed daily at
factory farms without painkillers.
16. Most cows, pigs, and chickens at factory farms won’t
feel the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until the day they are loaded
onto trucks and sent to slaughter.
feel the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until the day they are loaded
onto trucks and sent to slaughter.
17. Not a single federal law protects animals during their lives at factory farms, and the
law that protects cows and pigs at the slaughterhouse—the Humane Methods of
Slaughter Act—does not extend to birds or rabbits.
law that protects cows and pigs at the slaughterhouse—the Humane Methods of
Slaughter Act—does not extend to birds or rabbits.
—-
Unsettling, right? Fortunately, you can help spare about 30 farmed
animals each year by switching to a compassionate vegan diet.
animals each year by switching to a compassionate vegan diet.
Get started by clicking here!
