Download  P 15 on 17 English.

cSite Map.and challenge in french.

 

Food

our internal ecology

and its external consequences.

  SENS-DE-LA-VIE.com

Version française & Versión en Castellano

Heraclès used to say: "Man’s health is earth’s reflection".

Since the 18th nov 2001 you are the th visit of sens-de-la-vie.com.

Page created 14 th november 2002, with Nathalie and Lea's precious help.

Contents:

V - So that the world changes, the humanity should modify its dietary customs.

Please, release your spirit of the conditioning of all the powers.

Fourteenth part.

The consequences of our food on our external and internal ecology.

I have recently found some information from the Geneva University, Sociology Department, stemming from Professor Jean Ziegler and (his/her) assistant Tegegne’s as well as Mr. Denis Bloud research, on the benefits of a vegetarian diet. This research parallels the sever impacts - mainly ecological- caused by the occident’s meat over consumerism. Although I do not agree completely with their conclusions, in favor of an exclusive vegetarian diet, they have nevertheless contributed precious and sound data

It is on these solid bases that the idea of simple common sense, if largely applied, would enable, by itself to save humanity and regenerate the planet for our children, as I will be demonstrated below.

Note : My heartfelt thanks and congratulations to these individuals who have had the courage to open a crack in conventional dogma’s wall and by doing this, have found the fundamental breach of the whole globalisation "system" that we are made to endure, because if man begins to sustain itself consciously, masters of the world hold will slowly disappear.

I - The consequences of the food industry.

Heraclès used to say : " Man’s health is earth’s reflection".

Force is us to notice that both are mainly compromised well by our way of feeding us.

Demonstration :

The same amount of fossil combustion is required to produce modern food as to heat houses or drive (automobiles/cars).

Industrial food trade uses as much first matter as needed for the manufacturing or cars or machines.

This food industry uses 20 times more water than households: 400 liters of water per hour, 24 hours a day, to produce the food requirements of one individual.

Beef production uses 80 times more water than that of potatoes or bananas.

Cattle is responsible for more water pollution than all our combined sewers.

In the US, the animal excrements problem is taking huge proportions with quotas in the balance. The US meat industry produces 61 million tons of manure, 130 times the volume of human waste, or 5 tons for each American. According to the Environment Protection Agency, swine, cattle and poultry have contributed to 35,000 miles of polluted rivers through 22 states and contaminated underwater sources in 17.

The micro organism, Pfiesteris nourishes itself of phosphor and nitrogen contained in manure, highly toxic for humans and fish.

In 1991, Pfiesteris caused 1 trillion fish to die in the Neuse river in North Carolina. Since 1995, and equal amount have been killed by manure leaks in coastal and estuary regions of Carolina, Maryland rivers and Virginia, emptying into Chesapeake Bay. These can be directly linked to the 10 million swine bread in North Carolina and the 620 poultry on Chesapeake Bay’s south shore.

In the state of Virginia, the dangerous fecal coliform’s health level is fixed at 200 per 100 milliliter of water. In 1997, some water had a level of up to 424,000 per 100 milliliter.

In the US, 20 million out of 50 million tons of antibiotics produced annually are give to animals: 16 million tons to poultry for enhanced growth, 4 million tons are administered to control disease caused by industrial breading conditions where animals restrained in confined spaces contract anemia, colds, diarrhea, pneumonia etc. 20 % of poultry is carrier of Salmonella and 80% is contaminated by Campylobacter in slaughter and transformation houses.

Industrial breeding conditions cause animal sickness. A study demonstrates for example, that 80% of hogs have pneumonia when slaughtered.

5000 deaths and 76 million of food poisoning are reported each year in the US.

According to the United Nations, the planets 17 main fishing zones have attained their limit or are missing and a third of all fish caught are for cattle feeding.

Food production, transport, preparation and sales absorb about 16.5% of the US’ energy, where 75% of the food trade is of industrial origin.

It has been estimated that 5% of arable surfaces would be enough, if the US population would adopt a vegetarian diet, and a biological agriculture, without chemical or artificial products. Only then can an intense reforesting program be started.

Epilogue: "Although cattle grazing in the West has polluted more water, eroded more topsoil, killed more fish, displaced more wildlife and destroyed more vegetation than any other kind of land use, the American public pays ranchers to do it." - Ted Williams (Audobon, 1991)

When environmental destruction and planetary balance is hurt, by what happens in the Third World, we tend to forget to only think of the Occident that we consider a natural and practical reservoir, being destroyed without scrupules:

It is why 50 hectares of tropical forest disappear from the globe EVERY MINUTE, to produce meet and pay back imaginary debts, threatening humanity’s oxygen provision.

Five meters of tropical forest disappear for every hamburger meat ball produced.

This is why (English/British) vegetarians declare that meat is not only murder, it is suicide!

The carnivorous ecological disaster does not only concern the Third World.

"The transformation of hearth to desert that we witness to happens as much in Europe as in the US. For the US example we will quote some facts taken from a November 1989 article of "The Atlantic", a monthly publication, entitled "Backto Eden", by Evan Eisenberg.

This article gives the results of Wes Jackson, genetics specialist, who founded the "Land Institute" in Arkansas, preaching the abolition of present day agriculture and a return to the wild prairies.

Approximately 10 000 years ago the evolutionary process begun a 400 million years ago to get to the present species, was reversed with the apparition of a new life form the "farmer". The plough’s steel has decimated future generationsmore viciously than the sword. The prairie lives of its interest while the wheat field lives of its capital.

In the US a third of the humus has already disappeared, burned by chemical flooding. In 1948, 7,500 tons of insecticide was needed to leave only 7% of harvest for insects. In 1988, a mere 40 years later, insect consummation has double despite 10 times more insecticides !

All this for meat, since 88% of all vegetal matter thus obtained is used to feed swine, cattle and poultry.

If 4 million American farmers have left the fields since 1938, it is not to leave place to destructive farming enterprises always more performing, exporting their methods and chemical products, even their biotechnologically treated grain exported to the Third World.

Factor in that presently we see entire regions without drinking water because of nitrates and lisiers pollution, as well as encephalitis epidemics in bovines fed animal detritus.

A completely new society could get free of the current chaos if the fundamental choices were turned to a behavior vegetarian, or more simply more vegetarian.

Examples:

The best per hectare food production is obtained in orchards.

roads could be paved each side by walnut and chestnut trees: a double row of these trees on a distance of only 16 kilometers would equal a 46 hectares surface.

Fruit trees contribute to reforestation, offering ecological conservation of the humus layer.

Etc, etc ....

An American author remained unknown:

In 1997, Bruno Schubert had published, in California, an excellent little book proving how food changes of this type, together with an economic reform close to the economic thesis of Gesell or of the distributive economy of Duboin, could transform society towards a golden age. " The survival of the human race " is unfortunately lost.

One hundred people can live on the grain output of five football fields but only two can with beef meat, the choice between carnivorous or vegetarian lifestyle is the key to the planetary problem and the survival of our species.

  II - From meat eating to anthropophagy of the Third World by the rich.

 

The following may surprise but is only the lapidary image of a concrete and measurable reality:

All hygienist or other vegetarian justifications put aside, these mere facts are enough to enlighten our eyes and hearts:

The cattle of rich countries eat as much cereals as the Indians and Chinese combined. It takes an average of 7 kilograms of food produce directly edible by humans human to obtain one kilogram of animal derived food. (Save our Bodies. Dr Kousmine p.215).

A giant Californian plant counting 100 000 bovines consumes 850 tons of corn, enough to feed 1,7 millions East Africans.

 Half of the United States water supply serves to fatten cattle destined to food processes, 5 times the population’s consumption, with 20 times more excrements and 85% loss of humus.

World hunger is erroneous at its base in the sense where the problem does not take into account an eventual return to vegetarianism, often traditional in Third World societies. In famine, to import cattle grain from Ethiopia becomesan indirect way to take the bread away from the exploited and force them to extremes, including death.

The Eastern block buys an enormous quantity of grain from the global market, (52 million tons in 1984 for the USSR) a big part of which goes to feed their market planned cattle.

 Only 22% of cereals from industrialized occidental countries are use for human consumption. In developing countries the rate is 87% according to the FAO ( 1981 data). Switzerland imports each year 1,4 tons of cereals from which 71% is forproduce destined cattle.

If only the United States would eat 10% less meat, 60 million people would not die of hunger ( cited from Dr Christian Schaller in The Geneva Tribune of November 30 1989)

With the quantity of cereal which one uses to feed the animals of breeding in the western countries, one could feed all the population of the globe. 1 only hectare gives 7 800 000 calories with some bread, 3 millions with some milk but only 121 576 with some meat. In terms of proteins, it corresponds to 255 , 153 and 13 grams respectively (Dr Schlemmer).

Less than 1% of big Brazilian owners posses 46% of the land while 89% of little owners only have 18%, the others (34% of land) are middle owners (9%). The Brazilian meat exportation’s growth is superimposed to their "debt" to that of the deforestation of the Amazonian forest. All this to satisfy the meat demand of the well to do.

 

III - My forest for an hamburger !

 

For each kilogram of meat exported, Costa Rica sacrifices two tons and a half of its thin humus strate. Also, more than a thousand beef tons are transformed each day in McDonald’s across the United States.

Costa Rica’s territory was forested by 72% in 1950. Today, its forest covers only 26%, 60,000 hectares being used up each year. It takes one hectare of artificial prairie one whole year after deforestation to feed one head of cattle.

After 5 years, the thin humus layer is used up and it then takes 5 to 7 hectares for each cattle head. It then only takes 3 to 5 years for the desert to take over. Fires alight further: during the months of July and August in 1989, 59 000 devastating fires were light in Amazonian forest, covering 33000 square kilometers, more than Belgium (Geneva Tribune, September 1, 1989, p.7)

Every 17 hours an new Mc Donald opens somewhere in the world, giving out more than 25 million hamburgers per DAY; corresponding to 125 square kilometers of extra desert per day et contributes to the extinction of irreplaceable animal and vegetal species, since we hardly know the one hundredth of biochemical proprieties of plants, some are discovered each day in the savage surfaces remaining.

The accumulation of these facts is mind boggling as much by their fundamental absurdity as by their enormity. But at the basis of this auto destructive frenzy are Freud’s two main precepts: becoming big and satisfying oneself; or in other macro analytical words, financial profit and consumerism of merchant values. This brings us back to individual motivations and social determinants, political and economical. If, the Third World is able of paying us 20 million dollars in interest, daily, it is because we take a whole lot of environment from it. The result will be the same for the world, but only a small portion of human kind will have profited of its pleasures.

Satellite vue of the Amazonian forest being burnt.

Note :

(ASP) - The Amazonian forest has only 20 years life expectancy. It contains 40% of the world’s tropical forest, playing a major role in the bio diverse balance, of the regional hydrography and of the earth’s climate. It also has the highestdestruction rate; two million hectares per year.

Deforestation threatens not only vegetation and fauna but also the populations who live there:

(ASP) - LIBREVILLE - In Gabon, abusive deforestation by wood supply companies and by the villagers who practice burning cultures and poaching, threaten the rare Pygmy populations.

 

IV - Alimentation must be modified, or Apocalypse.

Albert Einstein had this to say:

"my view is, the vegetarian lifestyle, by its physical effects on human temperament could beneficially influence the future of human race"

On the other hand, as we can see, the non vegetarian life style can not only negatively , but very destructively influence the future of this human race.

René Dumont had foreseen the year 2000 as the point of no return and said that if, until the end of this century vegetarianism had not become the normal and conscious way of men, it would mean the Apocalypse. It may well be that unconsciously, this is what society, confusedly fallen into a world not its own anymore, wants. But how to find a surhuman dimension lost in an unmemorable fall if we are unable to harmonize with our environment and fellow species ?

My point of view is that it is never too late to do well, because as a know

saying goes, today is the first day of the rest of your life.

To you to do something different !

 

V - So that the world changes, the humanity should modify its dietary customs.

Crédit: http://www.phuketdir.com/baanrimpa/

It takes ten times more arable land to feed a carnivore than to feed a vegetarian and we have seen the consequences of where meat consumption has taken us.

It is therefore evident, that by a more vegetarian lifestyle, much less animal, all famine problems would be resolved, as well as those of our mother earth’s destruction.

Of more every citizen of the world should have the absolute right to use a plot of land to cultivate there himself its own food exempt from poisons.

Since Hermès Trismégiste in ancient Egypt, Pythagorean in Greece and the Latin naturalist Pline the Ancient, up until today, great minds and thinkers have proned the nutritive and curative vertues, for body and soul, of a natural vegetarian based diet. It is true!

But I would not go as to say:

"If humanity want the world to change, it has to change its ways of life by becoming conscious of the spiritual value of vegetarianism. This credo of the new vegetarianism might seem ambitious et go well over the simple eating habits. But on second thought, the choice between life and death, suggests a rigorous dialectic and an determinant link that was maybe not perceived before: the vegetarian behavior, by its internal logic of natural life against merchant anti values, seems like a basis on which other movements must rest or become superficial. Before bringing new life rules for a more balance world, one must internalize these choices within oneself. However, to me, the vegetarian behavior seems the most sincere attitude, compatible with survival in an industrialized environment, and giving an ecological alternative in synch withpresent problems, towards which the "Green" solutions pale and timid." D. Bloud

There is no reason to be so extremist and deter many people from the go, because, in my mind, if humanity wants to survive, it must adopt, not a pure and hard vegetarianism, but more a return to the natural diet of its ancestors before massive and intensive agriculture.

This diet is easy to define by observing our dentition ; man is a grain and fruit eater, a small carnivore and not counting the glacier era, when there was little choice but to eat almost exclusively game, it is thus that they sustain themselves, with, let us add a lot of raw foods.

It is also how many thaïs still nourish themselves to this day.

The basis of their diet is perfect:

It consists essentially of rice, associated to spices and herbs for the taste, the whole mixed in very few animal proteins (shellfishes, fish, chicken, pig, in most 30 - 50 gr a day) to which always add a plate of fresh vegetables and not flavored, and fruits.

Note 1 : it must be mentioned that thaïs distinguish very clearly between meat consumption and that of beef that is very exceptional for them, since most of them do not eat it, just as Hindus, because of what is said below, we understandtheir religious beliefs and taboos towards bovines.

Reducing meat consumption by 300 to 400 grams per day (or more for Americans) to only 100 grams per day, would be ideal , like the thaïs, to 30 to 50 grams, would consequently diminish at a minimum to 2/3 and up to a maximum of 90% the breading impact on forests or on agriculture (usage of pesticides and fertilizer), would put a term to de forestation in Amazonia and Africa (if linked to a stop of exotic wood exportations) and would considerably diminish the social assurances deficits because over consumerism of meat and sugar is the root cause of all illnesses.

Surfaces dedicated to the cattle breeding representing in any 35,68 % of the appeared lands it would as well allow, as a consequence, to return to the nature approximately 30 % of the global surface.

It is considerable!

Note 2 : 26% of emerged earth is for cattle grazing and 9.68% for agricultural surfaces for cattle, representing by themselves 11% in all.

Nota 3 : an false idea, strongly implanted, opposes itself to diminution of food consumption, saying this would make one "strong", which is false! A Taurus only consumes grass! Is it a symbol of strength or weakness ? The wildbore, omnivore like us, eats mainly wild forest fruits or grains if it finds any and it is the animal with an extraordinary and exceptional vitality!

Ghandi said: " Vous devez incarner le changement que vous souhaitez voir se produire dans le monde."

In each country there is one or many variety of cereals and if you add to that only fresh and natural products from that country, and you DO NOT consume any artificial or industrial drink or foods, then the benefits of such a change would be endless:

You would quickly reach your ideal weight and physical condition!

You would save a lot of money!

Your energy level would reach a never dreamed level!

Your intellectual and sexual capacities would progress in all!

You would reduce, almost make disappear your medical expenses!

You would greatly reduce the ecological destruction of the planet!

You would seriously de stabilize the economic and social system imposed by the masters of the world!

You would drastically reduce their financial profits and would force them to reconvert their activities!

Finally, if you posses a parcel of earth and clean water, you could ( provided you us elbow grease) easily become free.

Whereas to continue to eat some meat would amount to commit suicide to you now, you and your children, but also collectively.

This simple truth, if largely adopted and applied, would, by itself save

humanity and regenerate our planet.

end of page or return to contents

Source des information:

UNIVERSITE DE GENEVE - DEPARTEMENT DE SOCIOLOGIE

Cours du 26 février 1990: "Le comportement végétarien dans son environnement social contemporain."

Intervention de Mr Denis BLOUD.

Bibliographie :

J. Ziegler : LES VIVANTS ET LA MORT, Seuil, Paris, 1975.

L. Ossipow : LE VEGETARISME, Cerf, Paris, 1989.

Leakey et alii : Nature 1976, in M. Bader : LES DENTS DE LA VIANDE ET LES DENTS DU BLE, Science et Vie, 11-1985

 H. Ruesch : CES BETES QU'ON TORTURE INUTILEMENT, Favre, Lausanne, 1980.

Dr J.A. Scharffenberg: VIANDE ET SANTE, Soleil, Genève, 1985

A. Dumoulin: MANIFESTE VEGETARIEN, Soc. Vég. de Genève, 08-1985.

C. Lévi-Strauss: LE CRU ET LE CUIT, Paris.

Dr E. Bertholet: VEGETARISME ET SPIRITUALISME, Genillard, Lausanne, 1964

Dr C. Kousmine: SAUVEZ VOTRE CORPS, Laffont, Paris, 1987.

Dr C. Schaller: VIANDE, TdG, 30-11-1989.

R. Suzineau : CLEFS POUR LE VEGETARISME, Seghers, Paris, 1977.

D. Bloud: L'ALIMENTATION ET L'AGRESSIVITE, TdG 26-04-1984, p. 20.

D. Bloud - Société Vég. Romande: LETTRE A MIGROS, 25-01-1989.

D. Bloud : EFFET BOEUF, 24 Heures, Lausanne, 21-04-1989.

D. Bloud : LA FORET POUR QUELQUES BOULETTES, La Grande Relève, Paris, 04-1989.

J. Barkas : THE VEGETABLE PASSION, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1975.

Dr H.G. Bieler : FOOD IS YOUR BEST MEDICINE, Ballantine Books, 1966.  

Dr Bonnejoy : LE VEGETARISME ET LE REGIME VEGETARIEN RATIONNEL, Paris, 1889

Sir William Earnshaw Cooper : LA CULPABILITE SANGUINAIRE DE LA CHRETIENTE.

 Dr P. Dauphin: LE FRUIT-ALIMENT, Marseille, 1934.

 P. Desbrosses: LE KRACH ALIMENTAIRE, Rocher, 1988.

Dr J. Lévy : LA REVOLUTION DE LA MEDECINE, Rocher, 1988.

  Prof. Raoux: MANUEL D'HYGIENE ET DE VEGETARISME, Lausanne, 1881.

  D. Weir et M. Shapiro : PESTICIDES SANS FRONTIERES.

 G. Messadié: L'ALIMENTATION SUICIDE, Fayard, Paris.

" Frères des Hommes" : Des petits plats pour faire avancer les choses

Emmanuelle Aubert : Les 9 grains d'or dans la cuisine, Le courrier du livre, 1983

Danièle Starenkyj : Le bonheur du végétarisme.

Principes de vie et recettes, Orion 1988

 

Ecoagir

Le site de Jean pierre Houde du Québec vous aide pour créer des écovillages et contient une quantité d'informations passionnantes, voir liens.

" Bien que les méthodes se sont raffinées avec le temps, il reste que l’alimentation carnivore de l’homme, n’a aucun avenir, surtout dans un contexte de surpopulation. La perte d’énergie dans les différents niveaux, fait que l’énergie récupérée en haut de la pyramide n’est qu’une fraction de l’énergie disponible en bas. Si dans la nature, les prédateurs sont si peu nombreux, c’est que dans la nature, l’équilibre est naturellement présent. L’humanité ne peut être composée d’une majorité de prédateurs, c’est d’aller à l’encontre de l’équilibre." JP Houde

 

Vous pouvez compléter l'étude de ce sujet par ce qu'est l'élevage industriel

et des liens de cette page vers l'Université de Genève et le site Ecoagir.