Transcript Lecture 21 - WordPress.com

Human Health and
Animal Rights in a
Society
Milton Saier
Agenda
• Living in a McDonald’s Society
• Fast Foods and Human Health
• Agribusiness and Animal Rights
• What have our greatest thinkers said?
• Protein and muscle development
• Practical considerations.
2
Why should we care about
nutrition?
The poor state of the health of
Americans is generally
acknowledged.
•
Nutrition has a direct impact on the
quality and length of our lives.
•
Parents have a responsibility and an
opportunity to provide their children
with a healthy foundation.
3
What we are eating today
 Fast foods
 Convenience foods
 Processed foods with chemical additives
 Foods high in “bad” fat, refined flour, sugar,
sodium
 Too much meat and other animal products
 Insufficient amounts of fresh fruits, grains and
4
vegetables
Fast Foods
• Each day, 1 in 4 Americans visits a fast food restaurant.
• In 1972, we spent 3 billion dollars/year on fast foods – today we
spend more than 150 billion dollars/year.
• Surgeon General David Satcher: “Fast foods are a major
contributor to the obesity epidemic.”
• Most nutritionists recommend not eating fast foods more than
once a month.
• The average child sees 10,000 TV advertisements per year, 35%
about fast foods.
5
U.S. Nutritional Facts
• In the U.S., we eat more than 1,000,000 animals/hour,(300/second;
25% of world consumption).
• French fries are the most eaten vegetable/starch
in America, 10x more than in any other country
per person.
• In these quantities, both are harmful to our health.
6
Obesity Warnings
• The World Health Organization has declared obesity
a global epidemic.
• 60% of all Americans are overweight, many obese.
• Left unabated, obesity will surpass smoking as the
leading cause of preventable death in America.
• One in every three children will develop diabetes in
his or her lifetime.
7
Obesity: Links to Diseases
• Obesity has been linked to:
hypertension, coronary heart disease, adult
onset diabetes, stroke, gallbladder disease,
osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, respiratory
problems, endometrial, breast, prostate and
colon cancers, insulin resistance,
breathlessness, asthma, productive hormone
abnormalities, polycystic ovarian syndrome,
impaired fertility, lower back pain, and
other conditions.
8
McDonald’s Statistics
• McDonald’s feeds more than 50 million people/day.
• McDonald’s operates more than 30,000 restaurants
in more than 100 countries on 6 continents.
• You would have to walk for seven hours to burn off
a super-sized Coke, fries and a Big Mac.
• McDonald’s calls people who eat a lot of their food
“Heavy Users.”
9
More McDonald’s
• McDonald’s: “Any processing our foods undergo
makes them more dangerous than unprocessed foods.”
• McDonald’s distributes more toys per year than ToysR-Us.
• Before most American children can speak, they can
recognize McDonald’s.
10
What should we eat?
Nutritionists and ecologists agree and suggest:
 Varied whole grains
 Organic and non-GM fruits and vegetables
 Safe, quality beans and plant proteins
 Organic dairy and meat, but MUCH LESS
OF THEM
 Healthy (plant derived) fats
 Safe, but not necessarily bottled water
11
How should our children eat?
How our children eat today
 Take out
 On the run
 Skipped meals
 Snack throughout the day
 Eat for reasons other than hunger
 Eat while doing other things (e.g.,
watching TV)
12
In what ways should we change
our eating habits?
Recommended changes:




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

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Schedule time for meals.
Buy/prepare healthy uncooked foods.
Cook in advance and store.
Shop Smart; don’t buy into processed stuff.
Discourage grazing.
Teach, don’t preach.
Come up with ways to motivate others!
How much should we eat?
Americans often eat:
 Super-sized me
 Portion distortion
Nutritionists and ecologists agree and suggest:
 Recommended daily allowances (RDA)
 Know the serving size, then downsize
 Limit overeating: smaller portions are best
 Avoid waste and overconsumption
14
Helpful Nutritional Clues
Concerning Quantity
Recommended changes:
 Steer clear of “all you can eat” buffets, “value”
meals and “super-sizing”.
 Insure the eating area is clean and pleasant.
 Read labels for Quantity as well as Quality.
 Measure amounts used.
 Put less on plate – it’s okay to ask for 2nds.
 Say goodbye to the “clean plate club”.
 Eat from a bowl or plate.
15
Practical Solutions
• Raise your own
• Places to shop
• Items to buy
• Foods to prepare
• When and how much to cook
• Tricks for picky eaters
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Conclusions
•
Pay attention, ask questions and be curious.
•
Stop the addiction to processed foods.
•
Think how GOOD good nutrition can be!
•
Lead by example; involve kids in choices.
•
Think health AND the environment.
•
Above all, think small.
•
Remember, obesity is an American addiction!
17
Why Eat Less (or No) Meat?
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•
•
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•
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Ethical Reasons
Environmental Reasons
Economic Reasons
Human Survival Reasons
Health Related Reasons
Spiritual Reasons
Rational Reasons
Age of Slaughter
•
•
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Beef Cows--11 months old.
Pigs--6 months old.
Chickens--3 months old.
Veal Calves--6 weeks old.
Dairy Cows--3 to 4 years old.
Egg Laying Chickens--2 to 3 years old.
(USDA, HSUS, Coats, Robbins)
COWS
and more cows!
PIGS
and
MORE PIGS
Chickens and
More Chickens
Which do you like better?
or
Factory Farming/Industrial Agriculture
• Started in the 1950’s but reached full capacity in
the early 1980’s.
• Operates on the principles of economic efficiency
and intensive confinement.
• Makes full use of chemical and technological
manipulation.
• Animal welfare and severe pain are considered
irrelevant, unless profits are effected.
• 10 Billion mammals and
birds are killed each
year in the US for food.
• 45 Billion world wide.
(USDA, HSUS)
Killed for Food in the US Annually
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
40 million cows and calves
113 million pigs
4 million sheep
308 million turkeys
9 billion chickens (broilers)
446 million chickens (egg layers)
26 million ducks
(USDA in 2001)
One average U.S. resident living to age 75 is
responsible for the deaths of
•
•
•
•
11 cows
32 pigs and sheep
85 turkeys
2570 chickens and ducks
•
(USDA in 2001)
Good
Living?
For Whom?
Male chicks
Worthless
Hence, death do us part.
The Slaughter of Dolphins
And the Waters Runs Red….
…with Dolphin Blood.
HERBICIDES
FUNGICIDES
PESTICIDES
10,000x more “cides” are used for animals than for humans.
Pollution: Animal Wastes
Wanna drink it?
PUTRIFICATION
ALGAL BLOOMS; FISH DEATHS
What About Human Cruelty?
THINK AND FEEL:
THEY DON’T HAVE TO BE NEXT DOOR
So, if livestock are
--destroying the environment,
--contributing to the greenhouse effect and ozone depletion,
--ruining our top soil,
--poisoning our lakes, rivers, groundwater, and oceans,
--depleting our rainforests
--destroying our wildlife
--depleting our natural resources,
--contributing to world hunger, thirst, and misery,
Should we be eating MORE or LESS of them?
Albert Einstein
• “Nothing will benefit human health and
increase the chances for survival of life on
earth as much as the evolution to a
vegetarian diet.”
Pythagoras
• "For as long as men massacre animals,
they will kill each other. Indeed, he who
sows the seed of murder and pain
cannot reap joy and love."
Leonardo da Vinci
• "The time will come when men such as
I will look upon the murder of animals as
they now look on the murder of men."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "You have just dined, and however
scrupulously the slaughterhouse is
concealed in the graceful distance of
miles, there is complicity."
Leo Tolstoy
• "As long as there are slaughterhouses,
there will be battlefields."
Mahatma Gandhi
"The greatness of a nation and its moral
progress can be judged by the way its
animals are treated."
Mother Teresa
“They (animals) too, are created by the
same loving hand of God which created
us, …it is our duty to protect them and
to promote their well being.”
Albert Schweitzer
"Until he extends his circle of
compassion to all living things,
man himself will not find peace. "
Thomas Edison
“Non-violence leads to the highest
ethics, which is the goal of all evolution.
Until we stop harming all other living
beings, we are still savages.”
Nikola Tesla
“…every effort should be made to stop
the wanton and cruel slaughter of
animals, which must be destructive to
our morals.”
Benjamin Franklin
“When a human being kills an animal
for food, he is neglecting
his own hunger for justice.”
George Bernard Shaw
“It is my view that the vegetarian
manner of living, by its purely physical
effect on the human temperament,
would most beneficially influence the lot
of mankind.”
According to the American
Dietetic Association
(2003)
Vegetarian Diets Offer:
• Less saturated fat
• Lower cholesterol
• More fiber, Mg, K and antioxidants.
• Lower body mass
• Less heart disease
• Lower blood pressure
• Lower rates of hypertension, diabetes and cancer.
But where do you get your
protein?
Mr. Universe
Bill Pearl
Pearl at 55
Mr. America
Steve Holt
At 52
Carl Lewis: 9 Olympic Gold Metals and 8 World Championships
(Vegan) Tony Gonzalez-Kansas City Chiefs, 11 year veteran,
Highest paid tight end in the NFL
(Vegan) Salim Stoudamire-Guard for the Atlanta Hawks, 8 year veteran
Mr. America
Jim Morris
Nearest of Kin
Why Vegetarian?
Ethics: Because it is simply wrong for
animals to be tortured every day of
their lives.
Environment: Because animal
agriculture is the greatest threat to
wildlife, to our atomosphere, to our
water, to our land and soil, and to our
planet.
Starvation: Because hundreds of millions of children starve
and die, their food and water going to farm animals.
Health: Because vegetarians have a much lower risk of heart
disease, hypertension, cancer, obesity, and illness.
QUIZ
1.
ON WHAT POINT DID ALBERTS EINSTEIN AND SCHWEITZER AGREE
WITH PYTHAGORAS, BEN FRANKLIN, LEO TOLSTOY, GEORGE
BERNARD SHAW, MAHATMA GANDHI AND MOTHER TERESA? (1)
2.
HOW DOES EATING MEAT IMPINGE ON RAIN FOREST DESTRUCTION? (1)
3.
WHAT IS THE RATIO OF ANTIBIOTICS USED FOR FARM ANIMALS RAISED
FOR MEAT VERSUS FOR HUMAN DISEASES? (1)
4.
IF YOU EAT MEAT AS DO MOST AMERICANS, ABOUT HOW MANY
MAMMALS AND BIRDS DO YOU MURDER IN YOUR LIFETIME?
HOW MANY ARE MURDERED IN A SINGLE YEAR IN THE U. S. ALONE? (2)
5. ABOUT WHAT FRACTION OF THE LARGE FISH SEA LIFE THAT WAS PRESENT IN
1900 IS LEFT? (1)
6. FOR EVERY POUND OF FISH YOU EAT, ABOUT HOW MUCH FISH (IN POUNDS)
IS CAUGHT? (1)