Stats And Information

I didn't know that (IDKT) ....

1. Obesity adds $147 billion dollars a year to our doctor bills.
2. Less than 1% of American cropland is farmed organically.
3. A pig goes from birth to slaughter in approximately five months.
4. 19% of U.S. fossil fuels goes toward food production.
5. Americans spend less than 10% of their incomes on food. In 1966 it was 18%.
6. When we eat a cheeseburger, a Chicken McNugget or drink soda, we're also eating corn?
7. In the past 10 years, the Federal Government dumped over 50 billion dollars into the corn industry, keeping prices artificially low.
8. Nearly 23 million tons of fertilizer is used for crop production a year.
9. Fertilizer run off contributes to the "dead zone", a seasonal approx 6,000 square mile area in the Gulf of Mexico that has almost no oxygen and almost no sea life. The Gulf of Mexico fishing industry loses approx 212,000 metric tons of seafood a year as a result. There are nearly 400 similar "dead zones" around the world.
10. It is estimated that 70% of antimicrobial drugs used in the USA are given to animals.
11. 1% of Americas cattle are raised organically.
12. Chipolte Restaurants buy organic and local whenever possible and serve some of the most nutritious fast food on the market today.
13. Organic methods of farming can produce just about as much yield per acre as conventional farming but it requires more human labor. With unemployment soaring, going organic could help the economy and our land/environment at the same time. A win win situation if you ask me.

Now you know (NYK)! Pass it along and be A VOICE FOR CHANGE.
Namaste (I bow to you), Donna

Info taken from an article by Bryan Walsh "The Real Cost of Cheap Food", "America's Food Crisis and How to Fix It" as found in the August 31st, 2009 issue of Time Magazine.