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EarthSave Research Update
April 1997

HEALTH

CANCER TREATMENT and VEGETARIAN DIETS: A recent article in Issues in Vegetarian Dietetics (a publication of the American Dietetic Association's Vegetarian Practice Group) announced, "A vegetarian diet can be both safe and beneficial for people undergoing cancer treatment, provided they know how to make appropriate food choices. In fact, vegetarian foods may even help people get through difficult times during cancer treatment when their regular diets may falter."

Source: Donna Paglia, MS, RD, "Vegetarian Diets During Cancer Treatment," Issues in Vegetarian Dietetics, Vol VI, No 2, Winter 1997.

BREAST CANCER and VEGETABLE CONSUMPTION: In a 1996 study of premenopausal women 40 years of age or older, researchers found that the intake of vegetables decreased the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer by 54 percent.

Source: Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1996;88:340-8.

BREAST CANCER and MEAT CONSUMPTION: A study in Uruguay (where breast cancer is the most common cancer among women) found that high intakes of total meat and red meat were associated with significant increases in risk of breast cancer. The risk of breast cancer among women eating the most red meat was 4.2 times greater than for those eating the least. Fried meat had an especially high association with breast cancer risk, likely due to the carcinogens formed when meat is cooked at high temperatures.

Source: International Journal of Cancer 1996;65:328-31.

STOMACH CANCER and ONIONS: Studies in Iowa and China have shown that the consumption of vegetables in the onion family (onions, leeks, garlic and shallots) may reduce considerably the risk of stomach cancer.

Source: Gastroenterology 1996;110:10-20.

CHILDREN and FRUIT/VEGETABLE INTAKE: Across the board, children in the US are not eating enough fruits and vegetables (F&V). In the most comprehensive study done to date, researchers found: (1) only one in five children consumed five or more servings of F&V per day; (2) 50 percent of all children consumed less than one serving of fruit per day; (3) French-fried potatoes constitute 23 percent of all vegetables children consumed; (4) only one in 14 children ate at least 3 vegetables and 2 or more servings of fruit per day; (5) intake of specially emphasized F&V (including citrus and dark green/deep yellow vegetables) was especially low.

Source: Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 1996;150:81-86.

CHRONIC DISEASES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: The following is excerpted from Chapter Four of the Worldwatch Institute's State of the World 1997.

  • As developing countries shift toward the western model of a meat-based diet, (egged on by television and global marketing) chronic diseases are replacing infectious diseases as leading killers.
  • By 1989, cardiovascular disease--including coronary heart disease and stroke--had become the leading cause of death in China. In Latin America and the Caribbean, nearly twice as many people die from chronic diseases as from infectious ones. A similar pattern exists in the Middle East and some Asian countries. By the year 2020 in developing countries, chronic diseases will account for 7 out of 10 deaths and nearly 60 percent of all illness and disability. (61)
  • The economic burden of chronic disease threatens to overwhelm health services that are already under financial strain...In the US alone, diet-related diseases--including heart disease, cancer and stroke--cost nearly $180 billion a year in medical expenses and lost productivity. (62)
  • The diet characteristic of many industrial societies today represents a break with dietary evolution. (63)
  • Although doctors and research scientists know what constitutes a healthy diet and what diets minimize chronic disease, people are not moving toward that standard. In fact, more people are following the western model. A look at the trends in consumption of oil, fat, and meat shows where developing countries, and consequently the world, are heading. (64)
  • Coronary heart disease rates are more than five times higher among American men than Greek men, and about four times higher for American women than Greek women. (64)
  • More than two thirds of saturated fat comes from meat, milk and eggs. (64)
  • Generally, people in developing countries eat less than half as much meat as people in industrial countries do. As with fats and oils, per capita consumption has increased dramatically in newly industrialized countries, where it reached 34.8 kilograms in 1995, up from 6.9 kilograms in 1965--a boost of nearly 400 percent. (65)
  • Current meat consumption trends in China, however, are especially troubling, as they point to the direction that other developing countries may be heading in. Demand for all red meat in China quadrupled between 1975 and 1995, and is expected to keep rising in the near future. If it does, the most populous country in the world can expect to see a growing incidence of heart disease, stroke and cancer. (65)
  • Because the western diet is still new in developing countries, diet-related chronic diseases are just beginning to emerge and the full effects may not be seen for 20-30 years. (65)
  • By 2010, chronic diseases are expected to account for nearly three fourths of all deaths in Brazil...Cardiovascular diseases are expected to soon be responsible for one out of four deaths in developing countries...In parts of China, Egypt and Poland, the prevalence of hypertension is already approaching levels seen in Finland, which has one of the highest mortality rates from stroke among middle-aged men in the world. (66)
  • Rather than aspiring to a western diet, people in developing countries would be better off eating like people in Mediterranean areas. (67)
  • The bottom line is that the western diet is neither inevitable nor desirable. There is a lot of diversity and variability in diet patterns, even among westerners. One key to reducing the dietary contribution to chronic disease is education about the health risks and benefits of food choices. As consumers in developing countries face an onslaught of western fast-food chains, food experts, and advertisements, they would do well not to succumb to the unhealthy habits of westerners. With the right kind of information, people can maintain the healthy aspects of their own traditional diet, and supplement it with fresh fruits and vegetables. (68) (emphasis added)
  • Developing countries are in a unique but potentially tragic situation. Because changes in eating, drinking, and smoking are occurring more rapidly there than they did in industrial countries three generations ago, and because they affect more people, the costs of chronic disease in money and lives threatens to be much higher. (75)
  • Ongoing education about health and safety risks is important to counter misleading and seductive advertisements, especially for young adults. (75)
  • Food policies that discourage overconsumption of fat and meat are best for human health. In some areas, such as China and other Asian countries, promoting nutritional health means preserving traditional diets, cooking methods, and cultural preferences rather than succumbing to western influences...Food pricing schemes can be established based on health benefits from grains, meats, fruits and vegetables...When people know the facts, they often change their eating habits. (76)
  • If current trends in western diet and in alcohol and tobacco use continue, developing countries will face an enormous social and economic burden of chronic disease on top of the continued burden of infectious disease. On the other hand, if governments seize the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of industrial countries, developing countries will avoid increases in chronic disease and reduce the incidence where it already exists. (77)

HEART DISEASE and FOLATE: A study of 5,100 Canadian men and women found that those with the lowest levels of folate in their blood were at 70 percent higher risk for heart disease than those with the highest levels. Vegetables and legumes are rich in folate. Folate is required to convert homocysteine (an amino acid closely associated with the consumption of meat) into methionine. Homocysteine is linked with both stroke and heart disease.

Source: Journal of the American Medical Association 1996;275:1893-96.

HEART DISEASE and FIBER: In a study of 44,000 men, researchers found that those who ate the most fiber were at a 41 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease than those eating the least amount of fiber. Researchers concluded that fiber appears to be an important component in preventing heart disease.

Source: Journal of the American Medical Association 1996;275:447-51.

HEART DISEASE and MEDICAL COSTS and DEAN ORNISH, MD: A total of 507 heart disease patients who followed Dr. Dean Ornish's low-fat diet and lifestyle regimen may have lowered medical costs by up to $7 million over the past three years according to a study by the insurance company Mutual of Omaha. The insurer and Ornish said most of the patients who initially needed bypass surgery or angioplasty were able to avoid the procedures after participating in the Ornish program. Mutual of Omaha arrived at the $7 million savings figure by comparing the medical costs of 14 of its policyholders who took part in Ornish's program with a control group of 14 other policyholders who had similar histories of heart disease but were not in the program. Medical costs were $3,826 for Ornish participants and $13,927 for those not in the program, a savings of more than $10,000 per patient. According to the study, chest pain disappeared after a year in 65 percent of the patients who had it, and progression of artery blockages was stopped or reversed in 66 percent.

Source: Shannon Querry, "Sparse Diet OK'd For Heart Disease," Associated Press, Feb. 12, 1997.

MAD COW DISEASE: Author Robert Rhodes, who wrote The Making of the Atomic Bomb, has written a book called Deadly Feasts: Tracking the Secrets of a Terrifying New Plague on the subject of Mad Cow Disease. A review of Deadly Feasts in the New York Times notes, "Infectious material drawn from victims of spongiform diseases [of which Mad Cow is one] can be bombarded with radiation, soaked in formaldehyde, baked at 700 degrees--and it remains infectious." Rhodes calls the practice of feeding protein supplements made from dead livestock to other livestock (a practice responsible for Great Britain's outbreak of Mad Cow Disease) "industrial cannibalism." Because this practice is widely used in the US, Rhodes believes that American beef may already be infected with the agent that causes Mad Cow Disease.

Source: George Johnson, "The Brain Eater," New York Times, March 16, 1997.

MAD COW DISEASE and RENDERING: The emergence of Mad Cow Disease is attracting press coverage to America's secretive rendering industry. The New York Times recently revealed that rendering is "the ancient but seldom-discussed practice of boiling down and making feed meal and other products out of slaughterhouse remains and restaurant scraps, dead farm animals, road kill and--distasteful as it may seem--cats and dogs euthanized in some animal shelters."

"This quasi-cannibalism lies behind the [Mad Cow Disease] outbreak in Britain and regulators want to be sure it will not cause problems in the United States," said the Times.

"Rendering, which dates to the early Egyptians, operates in the shadows of polite society, persisting because it provides an essential service: disposing of millions of pounds of dead animals every day."

"Renderers in the United States pick up 100 million pounds of waste material every day--a witch's brew of feet, heads, stomachs, intestines, hooves, spinal cords, tails, grease, feathers and bones. Half of every butchered cow and a third of every pig is not consumed by humans. An estimated six million to seven million dogs and cats are killed in animal shelters every year."

The materials are cooked and then separated into fatty acids "for lubricants, lipstick, cement, polish, inks and waxes. Other fractions, including the gelatinous layers, tallow and grease, go into thousands of products including soaps, candles, pharmaceuticals, homeopathic medicines and gummy candies." The heavier protein materials become "the major ingredient in pet and animal feed. It is a cannibalistic practice that has proved highly profitable."

"Since 1989, British renderers have tried to keep infected meat out of their products...In 1989, the American rendering industry initiated a voluntary program under which, for example, no sheep heads were to be accepted at rendering plants. An Agriculture Department (USDA) survey three years later found that [only] 6 of 11 plants inspected did so."

The Times reports that USDA has proposed a new rule to ban the feeding of protein derived from cows, sheep, goats, deer and elk back to cows. But according to Dr. Richard Marsh, a veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin, the cow epidemic may have nothing to do with the processing techniques used by renderers in making animal feeds. Says Marsh, there are reasons to believe that Mad Cow Disease has already spontaneously risen in American cattle. In a stunning revelation, the Times continues: "Spontaneous cases of Mad Cow Disease may well occur in one cow out of every million cows each year, said Dr. Joseph Gibbs, a leading expert on Mad Cow Disease at the National Institute of neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Md. There are 150 million cows in this country, which means that each year 150 of them might develop Mad Cow Disease--all on their own, without any exposure to tainted feed." (emphasis added)

"Renderers pick up carcasses of 100,000 downer cows [those that die for no readily apparent reason] every year and mix them in with other animals, Dr. Marsh said. Although [USDA] tries to test downer cows for signs of Mad Cow Disease, it can only sample a small percentage. Moreover, animals can be quite sick and not show signs of it before they are sent to slaughter, Dr. Marsh said. Thus, try as they might to avoid the problem, renderers could unknowingly introduce infected animals into animal feed and start an epidemic."(emphasis added)

"Deer and elk also have a spontaneous mad-cow-like disease, Dr. Gibbs said. If they die in the woods, the disease would not be transmitted. But if they are killed on the road, they are sent to zoos or greyhound tracks or, more often, go straight to the rendering plant to end up as cattle feed or pet food."

Source: Sandra Blakeslee, "Fear of Disease Prompts New Look at Rendering," New York Times, March 11, 1997.

MAD COW DISEASE and FDA BAN: In what is being billed as a purely preventive measure to keep Mad Cow Disease from reaching America's livestock herd, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing a ban on mixing dead cows, sheep and other ruminants into livestock food that is fed back to cows, the means by which Mad Cow Disease was spread among British cattle. But ranchers and meat processors are protesting, claiming the ban will cut into profits. An FDA study determined that the ban will cost the rendering industry $20 to $50 million. The renderers claim that $160 million is more accurate.

Feed expenses make up the majority of the costs of raising livestock, so higher costs could translate into more expensive beef and pork, some say. Beef producers fear that this will accelerate consumers departure from beef for chicken and fish.

The ban could also present another problem for ranchers: the disposal of animal carcasses and byproducts which no longer have commercial use. Cattlemen would have to resort to burying carcasses and byproducts or turning them into fertilizer, both of which are expensive and inconvenient, say ranchers.

Source: Michelle Crouch, "Proposed Mad Cow Disease ban will hurt ranchers, processors," AP Business Extra, March 12, 1997.

OBESITY and MEAT CONSUMPTION: A study in the British Medical Journal found that the average weight of male and female meat eaters was 13 pounds and 10.3 pounds greater than the respective average weight of their counterparts who eat a vegan diet.

Source: British Medical Journal 1996;313:816-17.

OSTEOPOROSIS and BONE HEALTH and PROTEIN CONSUMPTION: Dietary protein increases urinary calcium losses and has been associated with higher rates of hip fracture in cross-cultural studies. (Such bone fracture rates are considered a barometer of overall bone strength and health). Now a study of 85,900 women has found that protein was associated with a 22 percent increased risk of forearm fractures for women who consumed more than 95 grams per day compared with those who consumed less than 68 grams per day. (The Recommended Dietary Allowance of protein for women is 50 grams per day.) This increased risk was observed for animal protein only, not for women eating larger-than-recommended quantities of vegetable protein.

Researchers also calculated that women who consumed at least 5 servings of red meat per week had a 23 percent increased risk of forearm fracture compared with women who ate red meat less than once per week.

Source: American Journal of Epidemiology 1996;143:472-9.

VEGETARIAN DIETS and LONGEVITY: A study of 11,000 vegetarian and health-conscious people followed for an average of 17 years found that they had an overall mortality level 44 percent below that of the general population.

Source: British Medical Journal 1996;313:775-79.

VEGETARIAN DIETS and HEALTH: In a study in northern Mexico, researchers found that people following a vegetarian diet for an average of five years had lower sodium, higher potassium and lower blood pressure than the non-vegetarian control group. In addition, 11.1 percent of the non-vegetarians were overweight and suffered from high blood pressure, compared to only 2.7 percent of those following a vegetarian diet.

Source: Nutrition Research 1995;15(6):819-30.

WIC and DIETARY CHANGES: The USDA is considering changes to the Women With Infant Children (WIC) feeding program to include more vegetarian options, reports Suzanne Havala, RD. WIC is considering the addition of soy-based milk and possibly other soy foods. The proposed changes are believed to be "on a fast track." Changes to the WIC program follow the same formal rule-making process that changes made to the National School Lunch program follow.

Source: Suzanne Havala, MS, RD, FADA, "WIC Program May Undergo Changes to Include More Vegetarian Options," Issues in Vegetarian Dietetics, Vol VI, No 2, Winter 1997.

ENVIRONMENT

STATE OF THE WORLD: Each year, the Worldwatch Institute publishes State of the World, a report on progress being made toward a sustainable society. Here are excerpts from Chapters One through Three of State of the World 1997. In the May issue of the EarthSave Research Update, we will cover Chapters Five Through Nine.

Chapter One: The Legacy of Rio

  • A newborn in the US requires more than twice as much grain and 10 times as much oil as a child born in Brazil or Indonesia, and produces far more pollution. In fact, a simple calculation shows that the annual increase in the US population of 2.6 million people puts more pressure on the world's resources than do the 17 million people added in India each year...Unless industrial countries develop less resource-intensive life-styles and less-polluting technologies, it will be impossible to develop a sustainable world economy, regardless of where the world's population stabilizes. (19)
  • Detailed studies undertaken in Germany conclude that by using resources more productively, it will be possible in coming decades to reduce energy and material consumption levels in industrial countries by a factor of four while actually improving the standard of living. (19)

 

Chapter Two: Facing the Prospect of Food Security

  • All oceanic fisheries are being fished at or beyond capacity (23)
  • A large share of Asia's 3.1 billion people are moving up the food chain, eating more pork, poultry, beef, and eggs and drinking more beer, all of which are grain-intensive products. (24)
  • Grain harvests increased dramatically from 1950 to 1990, but have increased by only 3 percent from 1990 to 1996. (24)
  • The average American requires 800 kilograms of grain a year, the great bulk of it consumed indirectly in the form of beef, pork, poultry, eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt and ice cream. The average Indian, in contrast, gets by with 200 kgs of grain a year, almost all of it consumed directly. The world's healthiest people...live at an intermediate position, using perhaps 400 kgs of grain, the so-called Mediterranean diet...Two billion tons of grain (slightly more than all the world's farmers currently produce) could support 5 billion people eating a Mediterranean diet (400 kgs grain/year), 2.5 billion Americans (800 kgs grain/year), or 10 billion Indians (200 kgs grain/year). (34-5)
  • Between 1990 and 1995, China's grain consumption increased by 40 million tons. Of this total, 33 million tons were consumed as feed and 7 million as food. "China is not alone in moving up the food chain. In India, the broiler industry is growing by 15 percent a year, doubling every five years. And milk consumption is rising. The broiler industry in Indonesia, a country of 200 million people, is growing at a comparable rate. Feedgrain use is now climbing throughout Asia: in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. (36)
  • For the world's poor, grain scarcity could mean a life-threatening doubling of grain prices. This could lead to social unrest. (38-9)
  • For the world's affluent, grain scarcity could have a major effect on the world economy and growing political instability in developing countries. "This could directly affect the profits of multi-national corporations, the performance of stock markets, and the earnings of pension funds." (39)
  • Until recently, the world had three reserves it could call on in the event of a poor harvest: cropland idled under farm programs; surplus stocks of grain in storage; and the one third of the world grain harvest that is fed to livestock, poultry and fish. As of early 1997, two of these reserves--the idled cropland and the surplus stocks--have largely disappeared. The only remaining reserve that can be tapped is the grain used as feed. This is much more difficult to draw on." One way to do this without having grain prices soar is "to tax the consumption of these products among the affluent, thus lowering the demand for grain...Unpopular though it would be, such a tax might be politically acceptable if it were the key to maintaining political stability in low-income countries." (40-1)

 

Chapter Three: Preserving Global Cropland

  • Nearly everywhere, the greatest threat to cropland comes not from the bulldozer but from a less visible and more diffuse source: land degradation. Around the world, agriculture has eroded, compacted, contaminated, salted or waterlogged extensive tracts of cropland. And the damage continues to be unabated today. (48)
  • A landmark 1991 United Nations study estimated that 552 million hectares--equal to 38 percent of today's global cultivated area--had been damaged to some degree by agricultural mismanagement since World War II. (49)
  • In an era of increasing scarcity, Worldwatch asks, "does Africa have a greater moral claim to grain exports because it uses grain more efficiently--for direct human consumption--while Asians feed much of their imported grain to livestock? And if efficient use is a moral issue, does the US--with one of the world's highest levels of meat consumption per person--have a moral obligation to cut its grain consumption first?" (54) (emphasis added)
  • Pressure on agricultural land can also be minimized by reducing demand. In the short run, the easiest way to reduce grain consumption is to lower the intake of meat and milk, grain-intensive foods. Roughly two of every five tons of grain produced in the world is fed to livestock, poultry or fish; decreasing consumption of these products, especially of beef, could free up massive quantities of grain and reduce pressure on land. Indeed, the most prosperous nations have plenty of room to cut down their meat (and therefore grain) consumption. Average annual grain consumption is just over 300 kgs per person globally, yet people in 18 nations consume well over 500 kgs, and the average American consumes more than 800. If the greatest consumers of grain had eaten on average 400 kilograms of grain in 1995Ñthe Italian level of consumptionÑ13 percent more grain would have been available that year. This represents what can be grown on more than 70 million hectares of land." (59) (emphasis added)

 

FARMERS and ENVIRONMENTALISTS: 250 Wisconsin farmers who raise about 80,000 acres of irrigated potatoes have committed themselves to a timetable of reductions in their use of carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting pesticides, adoption of biointensive Integrated Pest Management practices and protecting the habitat of the rare Karmer Blue butterfly and the sandhill crane. In exchange for these changes, the World Wildlife Fund has committed to developing a label and third-party certification for the potatoes as well as to educating consumers about the environmental improvements made by the growers.

Source: Ben Larson, "Farmers, environmentalists unite to fix potatoes," Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News, Feb 10, 1997.

FISH IN DECLINE: A report issued in February by the Natural Resources Defense Council says that overfishing is the lead factor in the 46 percent decline in the US's fish population. The NRDC report notes that swordfish, red snapper, Atlantic cod and shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico are disappearing faster than they can be replaced.

Source: Eun-Kyung Kim, "Holy Mackerel: Group Claims Fish Levels In Peril," Associated Press, Feb 11, 1997.

PORK PRODUCTION and WATER POLLUTION: In February, the Associated Press reported that Smithfield Foods Inc., one of the nation's largest meatpackers, is accused of polluting a Chesapeake Bay tributary. Suits filed by the state could amount to fines up to $2 million, but the US EPA has filed its own $125 million lawsuit against Smithfield.

Industry analysts say the company's long-term outlook remains bright, however. In February, Smithfield reported profits of $15.4 million for its third quarter, up from $8.2 million the previous year. Smithfield slaughters a total of about 70,000 pigs each day at five of its plants.

Source: Sonja Barisic, "Analysts: Pollution Troubles Will Have Little Impact on Meatpacker," Associated Press, Feb 19, 1997.

OTHER
Economics/Food Trends/People/Public Policy/And More

CLONING: Ever think that all cows look indistinguishable? It might not be long before they ARE indistinguishable, even genetically.

The announcement in February that scientists had successfully cloned sheep and monkeys begs many questions about the laboratory engineering of farm animals. The news raises the prospect that (1) pigs and cattle could be specially designed as human organ donors and (2) herds of cloned farm animals might allow for "more efficient care and slaughter." For example, cloning could lead to pigs that produce lean, tender meat, chickens that produce low-cholesterol eggs, or the production of steaks or pork chops that are similar in taste and appearance.

On this last point, Roger McCaw, a beef specialist with NCSU extension said, "In my opinion it could be implemented in a very short time. From a technical standpoint, I would expect it within three years." McCaw said that the beef and dairy industries would likely be the first to benefit from cloning since both already have extensive genetic and performance databases that would help identify prime candidates for cloning.

Cloning could "revolutionize" animal agriculture and breeding, says Neal First, professor of animal biotechnology and reproductive biology at the University of Wisconsin. All milk cows could produce 40,000 pounds of milk per year, compared to the 13,000 pounds produced by the average dairy cow. This could allow for a reduction in herd size, cut food costs and protect the environment, he says. Among the downsides--many dairy farmers would go out of business.

Sources: Matt Crenson, "It's a Brave New World--Especially if you are a sheep," AP Science Editor, Feb 25, 1997; Reuters, "US livestock industry eyes cloning cautiously," Feb 24, 1997.

HUNGER and MEAT CONSUMPTION: A study by two Stanford University researchers has found that two or three bad grain crop years in a row will hurt the world's poorest, who already spend much of their income on food, the most. The researchers also note that the potential harm done by grain shortages is exacerbated by the fact that 38 percent of the world's grain production is being fed directly to livestock. In 1995 and 1996, the price of wheat rose 40 percent and the price of corn rose 60 percent. Such escalations in price not only heighten the risk of hunger, they also heighten the chance for social unrest and political destabilization, the researchers conclude.

Source: "Food Supply Fluctuations Could Cause Crises for World's Poor, Researchers Say," News/Business Editors & Agricultural Reporters, Business Wire, Feb 13, 1997.

NATURAL FOODS SALES: In 1992, 12 percent of senior managers of traditional supermarkets said it was "very important" to offer natural products. In 1996, the figure jumped to 51 percent. Why? To meet consumer demand, boost sales, attract new customers and anticipate "an upcoming trend," according to the Food Marketing Institute.

Source: Robert Steyer, "Organic Food Industry Booms As People Change Eating Habits, Lifestyles," St. Louis Dispatch, Feb 24, 1997.

SCHOOL LUNCHES and THE NATIONAL CATTLEMEN'S BEEF ASSOCIATION: The NCBA plans to reach 10,515,700 school children with its "educational" kits over the next five year.

Source: "Carrot and Stick," Vegetarian Times, Dec 1996, p14.

SCHOOL LUNCHES and YOGURT: Beginning in March, students can chose yogurt instead of hamburgers, sloppy joes or other meaty entrees as their main course in school cafeterias. In a move opposed by the cattle industry, the USDA has added yogurt to the list of foods that cafeteria managers can substitute for meat, including cheese, beans, eggs and peanut butter.

The USDA provided schools with 146 million pounds of beef during the 1995-6 school year.

Source: "Where's the beef? It's in the yogurt," Associated Press, The Orlando Sentinel, March 4, 1997. "Yogurt May Replace Meat in Some School Lunches," Washington Post, March 4, 1997.

VEGETARIAN DIETS IN PRESS DRAW FIRE: The March issue of Muse, a children's magazine affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution featured a cover story on vegetarian diets and raised a cloud of controversy. Congress members and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association vehemently objected, noting that the Smithsonian is a federal institution. Though the Muse story was quite even-handed, offering views on why some children eat vegetarian diets and others don't, the protest compelled the Smithsonian to apologize immediately and pull the magazine from its shelves and Web page. Muse publisher Robert Harper defended the story, saying that it fit into the company's tradition of getting kids to think. "We are upset that people think we were trying to tell children how to think," he told the Washington Post. Muse has about 80,000 readers.

Excerpts from the Muse story follow:

  • Every time you put meat in your mouth, you're eating a slaughtered animal. This fact bothers some kids so much that they stop eating meat--they become vegetarians. But even if you've never thought about this question, you can't avoid it. You take a stand one way or the other every time you eat.
  • The main reason kids stop eating meat is that they don't want to kill animals. After all, since we can be perfectly healthy without eating meat, shouldn't we leave animals alone? What could be more horrible than unnecessary killing? And the killing isn't the only problem. The way animals are raised for food is often disgusting and cruel. That won't change soon, either. Taking good care of animals makes meat too expensive for most people to afford.
  • Is eating meat right or wrong? We can't give you the answer; you have to decide for yourselves. So what should you do? You can think about it. Find out about nutrition. Find out about animal rights. Ask your parents and your friends. But in the end, none of that can tell you what to do. You have to decide for yourself which reasons make sense to you. There's no getting around it.
  • Some people say that it's natural for humans to eat meat because for millions of years, our ancestors hunted and killed animals for food. Natural, however, doesn't necessarily mean better. You could argue that disease is natural--yet we don't think disease is good.
  • There are millions of vegetarians in the world--more than 12 million of them in the United States alone--who live without eating meat. So the question isn't whether a person is meant to eat meat, but whether he or she wants to.
  • Everyone, vegetarians and meat eaters alike, should watch what they eat. Vegetarian doesn't necessarily mean healthy. A person could eat French fries and ice cream all day long and be an unhealthy vegetarian. A healthy vegetarian diet is one based on grains, fruits, vegetables and other foods.
  • What you eat is a decision you can't avoid. It's a decision you have to make, today and every day of your life. Because, after all, if you can't choose what you eat for dinner tonight, how are you going to be able to decide what to do with the rest of your life