'Conventionally raised Holsteins produce on average about 76% more methane emissions than do organically raised Jersey cows.'

US the greenhouse gas emissions from the dairy industry alone are about 2% of the nation's total.

http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/COFEFFinal_Nov_2.pdf

************

In the U.S. over a million tonnes of GM crops are imported each year to feed non-organic livestock which produce pork, bacon, milk, cheese and other dairy products.


http://www.soilassociation.org/Whyorganic/Whatisorganic/Fivereasonstochooseorganic/tabid/334/Default.aspx

***

The FDA says that 28.7 million pounds of antibiotics and related drugs were sold for use in animal agriculture in 2009.
http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/feed/feed-latest.html#1


***

expressed by a Monsanto executive when GMOs first came on the market: "If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and

crossbones on it."  - Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto, quoted in the Kansas City Star, March 7, 1994

http://books.google.com/books?id=EC6wlTPDf0QC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=%22If+you+put+a+label+on+genetically+engineered+food+you+might+as+well+put+a+skull+and+crossbones+on+it.&source=bl&ots=q0Dt8kuWBF&sig=mCoVeeg8p-S8FRuRdMke7w9PFew&hl=en&ei=GChITbzxHobVgQfkq4WNBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false

%%%


'U.S. corn grown for ethanol  uses 10–323 gallons of
water per gallon of ethanol produced.'*

http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/AF/557.pdf

***

The agriculture sector is a significant water user, especially for irrigation. Almost
60 percent of the world’s freshwater withdrawals are used for irrigation.

Nationwide, 85 percent of U.S. freshwater consumption is
attributable to agricultural activities.

http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/AF/557.pdf

***

From E&P to refining, a total of 2.6 to 6.2 gallons of water is needed to
produce 1 gallon of gasoline from oil sands.

http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/AF/557.pdf

***

Cotton prices have jumped to a 150-year-high, rising to $1.90 per pound, more than double what it was a year ago.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110214/ap_on_re_us/us_clothing_prices

***

Honey bee colony declines in recent years are 10 to 30 percent in Europe, 30 percent in the United States and up to 85 percent in Middle East.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37731&Cr=unep&Cr1

***

Monsanto owns patents on the genes of more than 93% of soybeans, 80% of corn, and 95% of sugar beets planted in the U.S.

In 2007, more than 185,000,000 lbs. of Roundup were applied to U.S. crops, the year the Bush administration halted reporting of the herbicide's application rates.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/dr_hubers_warning/?akid=313.250080.svQJxg&rd=1&t=6#research

***

Since 1995, just 10 percent of subsidized farms – the largest and wealthiest operations – have raked in 74 percent of all subsidy payments.

http://www.ewg.org/agmag/2011/06/top-10-things-you-should-know-about-the-farm-bill/?utm_source=foodweek3&utm_medium=email&utm_content=image&utm_campaign=farm


***

From 1995-2010, $16.9 billion in tax dollars subsidized 4 food additives: corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, & soy oils, (which are frequently processed further into hydrogenated vegetable oils).

http://www.calpirg.org/uploads/72/3b/723b23b259681c0720e02a0ced6a339e/Applies-to-Twinkies-vCA.pdf


***

Half of the world’s cocoa comes from the West African nations of Ivory Coast and Ghana. An expected temperature rise of more than two degrees Celsius by 2050 will render cocoa-producing areas too hot to produce.

many of the region’s cocoa-producing areas too hot for the plants that bear the fruit from which chocolate is made.

http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/09/30/333145/global-warming-is-killing-chocolate/

*****

The top four companies control 90 percent of all beef processing. In the case of pork, four companies control 70 percent of the processing.

http://www.grist.org/factory-farms/2011-11-09-killing-the-competition-meat-industry-reform-takes-a-blow

****

'There are more Christmas trees in the U.S. than people. Four hundred million nationwide, but they only harvest about 10%, or 30 million, a year."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204531404577054361255824868.html?KEYWORDS=real%20christmas%20tree

***

Global forest cover is shrinking by 30 million acres a year. Causes include human-induced fires, agricultural expansion, logging, road-building, and exotic insect infestations.
http://www.sierraclub.org/sustainable_consumption/tilford.asp

***

Damage to the world's forests releases around a fifth of all greenhouse-gas emissions, more than the entire transport sector.
http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2012/03/features/logging-the-amazon?page=3

***

Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of oranges, providing fruit for about one in six glasses of juice drunk in the U.S.
http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2012-03-13/brazil-s-top-11-resource-riches.html#slide5

Write a comment

• Required fields are marked with *.

Name:
Email:
Subject:
Comment: *

Help prevent spam - enter security code above: