Kyleen, a Junior from the 2007 program, did a poster presentation at her local community Science Health Fair.
The text of her poster is below, describing her goals and information to pass along to other.
Making An Impact is Easy as 1-2-3
#1 Eat One Less Serving of Meat per Week
Problem
Crops such as soybeans, oats, corn, and wheat are high in protein, fiber, and complex carbohydrates, and low in cholesterol and saturated fat. We feed them to animals and create a product with no fiber or complex carbohydrates at all, but with plenty of cholesterol and saturated fat (it takes 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of animal flesh!). It’s almost like taking pure water, running it through a sewer system, and drinking it!
Health Benefits
Ø Healthy Vegetarian Diets provide protection against our country’s three biggest killers: Heart Disease, Cancer, and Strokes
Ø Vegetarians have lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease, lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer.
Ø Vegetarians are less likely than meat-eaters to be obese.
Strong and Athletic: “A healthy vegan diet gives important advantages over a meaty diet, which is why many Olympic and professional athletes are vegetarians… A healthy vegan diet will give you the strength and stamina you need to leave those sluggish meat-eaters in the dust.”- Neal Barnard, M.D.
Reduced Risk for Heart Disease and Cancer: “Vegetarians have the best diet. They have the lowest rates of coronary disease of any group in the country, and they have only 40 percent the cancer rate,” – William Castelli, M.D., Director, Framington Heart Study
Healthy Vegetarian Kids: “Children who grow up getting their nutrition from plant foods rather than meats have a tremendous health advantage. They are less likely to develop weight problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer.”
– Benjamin Spock, M.D.
Environmental Impact
Conserve Energy
More than one-third of all fossil fuels produced in the United States are used to raise animals for food. How? Imagine how much oil it takes to transport enough grain to feed the 10 billion land animals raised for food in the U.S. each year, then truck those animals to automated slaughter facilities, truck the dead animals to processing centers, run the processing and packaging machines, and then truck the packaged meat to grocery stores.
Protect Water Supplies
Raising animals for food requires as much water as all other water uses combined. Furthermore, one dairy cow produces 100 pounds of excrement per day. The animals raised for food in the U.S. produce 130 times the excrement of the entire human population of this concentration. This excrement is usually contaminated with herbicides, pesticides, toxic chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, etc. Currently, there is an enormous “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, where no fish or other animals live, due to the huge amounts of animal waste that has flowed from factory farms, down rivers and streams, and into the gulf.
Save Land Space
The average vegetarian requires a half acre of land to satisfy their food requirements for a year, while the average meat eater requires three and a half acres of land.
Carbon Impact: Save 195 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. #2 Bring Two Reusable Bags to the Store Problem
The United States goes through 100 billion plastic bags annually, 98% of which are thrown away.
Solution
Each person who brings two reusable grocery bags to the store will save 4,160 bags per year from being thrown away over 20 years.
Benefits for You
Many stores are offering credit to customers who bring their own bags. Safeway offers 3 cents for every bag you bring in, and A&P offers 5 cents(in Ketchikan).
Environmental Impact
Ø Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups.Ø The petroleum used to make the 100 billion plastic bags Americans use everyday is enough to drive a car 500 million miles, or 20,000 times around the world.Ø Plastic Bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade – filling up landfills for up to 1000 years, where they break into smaller and smaller bits of plastic that contaminate waterways and soil.Ø Plastic debris act like sponges for toxic chemicals, soaking up huge amounts of deadly compounds, including DDE (a breakdown product of the notorious insecticide DDT). These bits of plastic are ingested by marine organisms and filtered through the food chain.Ø The toxic chemical ingredients needed to make plastic produce pollution during the manufacturing process.Ø Once swallowed, plastic bags choke animals or block their intestines, leading to an agonizing death.Ø Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales, and other marine animals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.Ø On Land, many cows, goats, and other animals suffer a similar fate when they accidentally ingest plastic bags while foraging for food. Carbon Impact: Save 5 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. #3 Replace Three Regular Grocery Items with the Organic Version What’s the Difference?
Conventional Farming Vs. Organic Farming
Ø Apply chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth VS. apply natural fertilizers, such as manure or compost, to feed soil and plants.
Ø Spray insecticides to reduce pests and diseases VS. use beneficial insects and birds, mating disruption or traps to reduce pests and disease
Ø Use chemical herbicides to manage weeds VS. rotate crops, till, hand weed or mulch to manage weeds.
Ø Give animals antibiotics, growth hormones and medications to prevent disease and spur growth VS. Give animals organic feed and allow them access to the outdoors. Use preventative measures (rotational grazing, balanced diet, clean housing) to help minimize disease.
There are numerous problems associated with traditional chemically-dependent, land-intensive agriculture:
Health Risks
Heavy reliance on pesticides by conventional pesticides by conventional farmers is suspected of leading to increased rates of cancer and reproductive problems in humans. More than 80% of the most commonly-used pesticides today have been classified by the National Academy of Sciences researches as potentially carcinogenic – and are routinely found in mother’s milk.
Toxic Run-Off
Pesticide-heavy runoff from farmland into rivers, lakes, and streams takes a toll on wildlife. Riparian habitats within watersheds are destroyed by chemical contamination. Additionally, the conversion of wild habitat to agricultural land significantly reduces fish and wildlife populations through erosion and sedimentation, the effects of pesticides, removal of riparian plants, and the diversion of water.
Topsoil Erosion
One-third of our nation’s topsoil has eroded due to modern industrialized farming practices. Not only does each lost inch cause a 6% drop in farm yields, but it also leads to increased flood exposure as a result of siltation.
Decreased Biodiversity
With its emphasis on yield, uniformity, market acceptability and pest resistance, present-day agricultural norm sacrifices variety of species. Before the advent of modern industrialized agriculture, farmers produced roughly 80,000 species of plants; today farmers rely on about 150. The increasing reliance on a small number of crop species means declining nutritional variety for consumers as well as increased strain on overburdened farmland.
Organic or Not? Check the Label. Products that are at least 95% organic will display the USDA sticker.
Fruits and vegetables produced without pesticides and fertilizers tend to ripen faster, so they’re handled more carefully and transported more quickly to the market. Sometimes, the shorter trip from “vine to mouth” can give organic foods a better taste.
“People who choose organic foods tend to want a more holistic eating pattern, one in which their family’s foods aren’t exposed to antibiotics, growth hormones, and pesticides.” – Terrie Holewinski, R.D., University of Michigan Health System
Carbon Impact: Save 200 pounds of Carbon Dioxide Annually
