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GIANT MODERN CARNIVOROUS DIET. "Each Briton, on average, eats about 85kg of meat a year, which roughly translates into 33 chickens, one pig, three-quarters of a sheep and a fifth of a cow. This...accounts for why some 30 per cent of ice-free land in the world is used for growing food for animal livestock while just 4 per cent is used for crops destined for human consumption." (Americans eat over 200 pounds). " " http://lnkd.in/d-KqFJRhttp://lnkd.in/dT6VG5C View in LinkedIn

US FACTORY FOOD OMNIPRESENT. "When you take into account the fact that factory farms raise 99.9 percent of chickens for meat, 97 percent of laying hens, 99 percent of turkeys, 95 percent of pigs, and 78 percent of cattle currently sold in the United States, it’s shocking how much time we waste debating each other, rather than trying to actually change the system."" " http://lnkd.in/d2NQmhB View in LinkedIn

POLITICS IN LOCKSTEP WITH BIG-FOOD INDUSTRY."The number of cattle tested for mad cow disease has fallen almost 90 percent since 2005, according to U.S. Agriculture Department statistics, a drop that consumer groups say endangers America’s food supply."" " http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/testing-for-mad-cow-disease-falls-90-since-2005-usda-says.html View in LinkedIn

BEEF INDUSTRY LACK OF TRANSPARENCY has dogged the beef industry in recent years, famously illustrated by former US president George Bush proclaiming that it was "unscientific to test for mad cow disease." That decision cost a large Japanese contract." " http://lnkd.in/dmDtvCphttp://lnkd.in/dYEE-XA View in LinkedIn

IMPACT OF INDUSTRIAL FARMING. "Industrial livestock production is resource-hungry and carbon-intensive, depending on high inputs of global natural resources – energy, water and land. Livestock production takes up 30 per cent of the world’s useable land area and consumes a third of the global grain harvest. It also contributes approximately 18 per cent of global man-made greenhouse gas emissions."" " http://lnkd.in/d_ejCrm View in LinkedIn

INDUSTRIAL FACTORY FARMS. "Sixty billion farm animals are already used to produce food annually, the majority in industrial-scale factory farms. Policymakers now predict that meat production will double by 2050, potentially doubling the number of animals used to 120 billion a year. The majority of this growth will come from factory farms, which are increasing at six times the rate of traditional mixed farming systems."" " http://lnkd.in/d_ejCrm View in LinkedIn

WINSTON CHURCHILL predicted synthetic meat. "We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium. Synthetic food will, of course, also be used in the future. Nor need the pleasures of the table be banished."" " http://lnkd.in/d2H8CnE View in LinkedIn

CONTAMINATED MEAT, (Sinclair Lewis's The Jungle may still be relevant today). "A 2011 study reported that according to a nationwide study nearly half of the meat and poultry sold in U.S. grocery stores—47 percent—was contaminated with S. aureus, and more than half of those bacteria—52 percent—were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics."" " http://lnkd.in/dGN-cmD View in LinkedIn

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL? "The industrial food chain uses 70 percent of agricultural resources to provide 30 percent of the world’s food, whereas what ETC calls “the peasant food web” produces the remaining 70 percent using only 30 percent of the resources."" " http://lnkd.in/dRh9Tjf View in LinkedIn

MRSA POOL IN PIGS. "Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been identified in pigs and humans raising concerns about the role of pigs as reservoirs of MRSA for human infection. One study found that 20% of pig farmers in the United States and Canada in 2007 harbored MRSA. A second study revealed that 81% of Dutch pig farms had pigs with MRSA and 39% of animals at slaughter carried the bug were all of the infections were resistant to tetracycline and many were resistant to other antimicrobials."" " http://lnkd.in/dGN-cmD View in LinkedIn