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Authors: Dr. Richard Oppenlander

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The meat and dairy industry is very large and powerful, and they have a great deal of money and lobbying force. They certainly would not want you to know everything about your food choices because you then would stop eating their food. Parents and school systems are equally at fault for not telling the truth to children about their food choices. Again, it's out of sight, out of mind.

These are the realities of your food choices. With every burger, steak, pot roast, turkey sandwich, fried chicken, rib, barbecue, pork chop, bacon, ham, or whatever you want to call it or however you want to cook it, you are perpetuating the demand, which furthers the business of raising animals and then slaughtering them for you to eat. You can turn your head the other way, but the process continues. It continues at the detriment and ill fortune for the animals, for our health, and for the health of our planet. Until this moment, most of you have been comfortably unaware with regard food responsibility and global depletion. What you decide to eat is killing our planet, but it does not have to be that way—if the right choices are made.

A Final Word

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
—Albert Einstein

I WANT TO EXPRESS MY SINCERE
gratitude to my readers for allowing me to challenge you with a new way to look at the food you choose to eat, to challenge many cultural doctrines, and to challenge you to understand and be responsible for the decisions you make regarding food. Much, much more important than expressing my own appreciation, however, is that … our planet thanks you.

END NOTES
CHAPTER I

1
      United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Report, November 2006.

2
      US Emissions Inventory, 2008.

3
      US Emissions Inventory, 2008.

CHAPTER II

4
      
Epidemiology
May 2007;18:373-382.

5
      United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 2008.

6
      Blue Planet Biomes. Amazon Rainforest. 2003.

7
      Margulis, Sergio (2004) (PDF).
Causes of Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon
. Washington D.C.: The World Bank.

8
      Turner, K., Georgiou, S., Clark, R., Brouwer, R. & Burke, J. 2004. Economic Valuation of water resources in agriculture, From the sectoral to a functional perspective of natural resource management. FAO paper reports No. 27, Rome, FAO.

9
      Chrispeels, M.J.; Sadava, D.E. 1994. “Farming Systems: Development, Productivity, and Sustainability”. pp. 25-57in
Plants, Genes, and Agriculture
. Jones and Bartlett, Boston, MA.

10
    Pimentel, D., Pimentel, M. “Sustainability of meat-based and plant-based diets and the environment.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 78, 660S-663S, September 2003.

11
    Pimentel, D., Pimentel, M. “Sustainability of meat-based
and plant-based diets and the environment.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 78, 660S-663S, September 2003.

12
    WorldWatch Institute, “Fire Up the Grill for a Mouthwatering Red, White, and Green July 4th,”, 2 Jul. 2003. World Health Organization, 2008.

13
    “Soy Benefits”, National Soybean Research Laboratory.

14
    Steinfeld, H.; Gerber, P.; Wassenaar, T.; Castel, V.; Rosales, M.; de Haan, C. 2006. U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome. “Livestock's Long Shadow -Environmental issues and options.”

15
    Steinfeld, H.; Gerber, P.; Wassenaar, T.; Castel, V.; Rosales, M.; de Haan, C. 2006. U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome. “Livestock's Long Shadow -Environmental issues and options.”

16
    World Health Organization, 2008.

17
    World Health Organization, 2008.

CHAPTER III

18
    Siegenthaler, et al., 2005.

19
    WorldWatch Institute, “Fire Up the Grill for a Mouthwatering Red, White, and Green July 4th,” 2 Jul. 2003. World Health Organization, 2008.

20
    UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 2006.

21
    United Nations Report, November 29, 2006.

22
    United Nations Report, November 29, 2006.

23
    United Nations Report, November 29, 2006.

24
    United Nations Report, November 29, 2006.

25
    United Nations Report, November 29, 2006.

CHAPTER IV

26
    Rainforests, National Academy of Science.

27
    Moran, E.F., “Deforestation and Land Use in the Brazilian Amazon,” Human Ecology, Vol 21, No. 1, 1993.

28
    United Nations Environment Program, 2009.

29
    Greenpeace, “KFC Exposed for Trashing the Amazon Rainforest for Buckets of Chicken,” 17 May 2006.

30
    Greenpeace, “Eating up the Amazon.” April 2006.

31
    Raintree Nutrition, Inc. 1996.

32
    Roberts, R. “Amazon Rainforest.” Tropical-Rainforest Animals.com.

33
    U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization: Amazonian and Caribbean Culture, “Crops of the Amazon and Orinoco Regions: Their Origin, Decline, and Future.”

34
    U.N. F.A.O: Amazonian and Caribbean Culture, “Crops of the Amazon and Orinoco Regions: Their Origin, Decline, and Future.”

35
    Taylor, L. “
The Healing Power of Rainforest Herbs.”
Square One Publishers, Inc. 2004.

36
    Taylor, L. “
The Healing Power of Rainforest Herbs.”
Square One Publishers, Inc. 2004.

CHAPTER V

37
    Steinfeld, H.; Gerber, P.; Wassenaar, T.; Castel, V.; Rosales, M.; de Haan, C. 2006. U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome. “Livestock's Long Shadow -Environmental issues and options.”

38
    Motavalli, J. “So You' re an Environmentalist … Why Are You Still Eating Meat?” E- The Environmental
Magazine. January/February 2002.

39
    Steinfeld, H.; Gerber, P.; Wassenaar, T.; Castel, V.; Rosales, M.; de Haan, C. 2006. U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome. “Livestock's Long Shadow -Environmental issues and options.”

40
    
Food Revolution
, John Robbins, 2001.

41
    Fleischner, T. “Ecological Costs of Livestock Grazing in Western North America.” Prescott College Environmental Program.” 1994.

42
    Fleischner, T. “Ecological Costs of Livestock Grazing in Western North America.” Prescott College Environmental Program.” 1994.

43
    United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 2004.

44
    Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), 2005a.

45
    Wassenaar et al., 2006.

46
    Eswaran, Lal and Reich, 2001.

47
    Reich, et al 1999.

48
    Global Footprint Network, Data and Results, 2008.

49
    Kelly, S. “Cattle and Sheep Grazing.” Land Use History of North America/Colorado Plateau.

50
    World Conservation Union (IUCN), Red List of Threatened Species 2008.

51
    Chrispeels, M.J.; Sadava, D.E. 1994. “Farming Systems: Development, Productivity, and Sustainability”. pp. 25-57 in
Plants, Genes, and Agriculture
. Jones and Bartlett, Boston, MA Rifkin, J. The Guardian, May 17, 2002.

52
    Rifkin, J. The Guardian, May 17, 2002.

53
    Rifkin, J. “The World's Problems on a Plate: Meat Production is Making the Rich Ill and the Poor Hungry.” Guardian of London. May 17 2002.

54
    Rifkin, J. “The World's Problems on a Plate: Meat Production is Making the Rich Ill and the Poor Hungry.” Guardian of London. May 17 2002.

55
    Rifkin, J. “The World's Problems on a Plate: Meat Production is Making the Rich Ill and the Poor Hungry.” Guardian of London. May 17 2002.

56
    Rifkin, J. “The World's Problems on a Plate: Meat Production is Making the Rich Ill and the Poor Hungry.” Guardian of London. May 17 2002.

CHAPTER VI

57
    Haliweil, B. “Grain Harvest Sets Record, but Supplies Still Tight.” Worldwatch Institute, December 12, 2007.

58
    North Carolina State University Swine Extension 2003, National Research Council.

59
    Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, American Dietetic Association.

60
    Opie J,
Ogallala
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000) 158.

61
    Wikipedia.org.

62
    Steinfeld, H.; Gerber, P.; Wassenaar, T.; Castel, V.; Rosales, M.; de Haan, C. 2006. U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome. “Livestock's Long Shadow -Environmental issues and options.”

63
    Compka, Krchnak and Thorne, 2002; UNESCO, 2005.

64
    Turner et al. 2004.

65
    Southern Nevada Water Authority, 2008.

66
    David A. “
Geology of the Salton Trough,”
Western Washington University, May 28, 2005.

67
    Brown, L “
Emerging Water Shortages,”
(New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006).

68
    Langellier, B “
Accidental Oasis,”
Tucson Citizen, Special Report 6-20-06.

69
    Carrier, J “
The Colorado: A river run dry.”
National Geographic.

70
    USDA, 2008.

71
    Fradkin, P.
“A river no more: The Colorado River and the west”
(Berkley: University of California Press, 1994).

72
    Opie, J.
Ogallala
41.

73
    LEAD, 2006.

74
    Erlich
“The Population Explosion”
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990) 29.

75
    Opie, J.
Ogallala
152.

76
    Opie, J.
Ogallala
152.

77
    Opie, J.
Ogallala
3

78
    National Study of Chemical Residues in Lake Fish Tissue, study ongoing 2004.

79
    Neilemann C., Hain S.jk, Adler J.
“In Dead Water: Merging of Climate Change with Pollution”
United Nations Environment Programme 2008.

80
    Roberts and Hirschfield, UNEP 2006.

81
    Cheung, W. et al.
Intrinsic vulnerability in the global fish catch
, Marine Ecology-Progress Series (2007) 333:1-12.

82
    Morato, T.
Vulnerability of seamount fish to fishing
. Journal of Fish Biology 2006 b, 68:209-221.

83
    Johnston and Santillo, 2004.

84
    “A Run on the Banks: How ‘Factory Farming' Decimated Newfoundland Cod.” E/The Environmental Magazine..

85
    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) 2008.

86
    Broadway, M., Stull, D. “Meat Processing and Garden City, KS: Boom and Bust.”
Journal of Rural Studies
, Volume 22, Issue 1, January 2006, Pages 55-66, Michael J. Broadway and Donald D. Stull.

87
    FAO.

88
    United Nations, 2004.

89
    Safina, C.
“The World's Imperiled Fish,”
Scientific American, Nov 1995.

90
    Report of the Secretary-General, United Nations General Assembly, Oceans and the Law of the Sea, 14 July 2006, item 150.

91
    Hance, J. “One-third of Global Marine Catch used as Livestock Feed.” mongabay.com October 30, 2008.

CHAPTER VII

92
    Livestock's Long Shadow, 2006. Henning Steinfield, Pierre Gerber, Tom Wassenaar, Vincent Castel, Mauricio Rosales, Cees de Haan.

93
    Livestock's Long Shadow, 2006. Henning Steinfield, Pierre Gerber, Tom Wassenaar, Vincent Castel, Mauricio Rosales, Cees de Haan.

94
    Congressional Legislative Information (OCIR). “Legislative Hearings and Testimony: Statement of Michael Cook before the subcommittee on livestock, dairy, and poultry and the subcommittee on forestry, resource conservation, and research of the committee on agriculture U.S. House of Representatives.” May 13, 1998.

95
    “Rearing Cattle Produces More Greenhouse Gases Than Driving Cars, UN Report Warns,” UN News Centre, 29
Nov. 2006.

96
    Surf or Turf: A shift from feed to food cultivation could reduce nutrient flux to the Gulf of Mexico. Simon D. Donner, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, 410a Robertson Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. Received 26 May 2005; received in revised form 10 February 2006; accepted 26 April 2006. Worldwatch Institute, December 2008.

97
    Sherman, K., Aquarone, M.C. and Adams, S. (Editors) 2009.
Sustaining the World's Large Marine Ecosystems
. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. viii+142p.

98
    Worldwatch Institute, December 2008.

99
    Weiss, K Salmon
Farms are Factory Farms: Dioxins, Pollution and Environmenal Carelessness
L.A. Times, December 9, 2002.

100
  Weiss.

101
  EVS Environmental Consultants.
“Impacts of Freshwater and Marine Aquaculture on the Environment: Knowledge and Gaps”
. June 2000, p 7.

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