Read 'n' Seed 5: fourth quarter of "The Food Revolution"

Chapters and Pages Covered:

For the fourth quarter of the book, "The Food Revolution" by John Robbins,I read pages 252 to 360 (Chapters 14 through 19) which finished the excellent/informative book.

Main Topics

Robbins covered a lot of important topics that I am really glad I have been informed of. Robbins did an excellent job at going into details about each of these topics. First of all, I read about tropical rainforests and how the vast majority are bring destroyed in order for hamburgers and other meats to be produced.

Another main topic is how 1.2 billion people are over-mal nourished and another 1.2 billion people are over mal-nourished. There are 6 billion people on this planet and 1 billion of these people do not have enough to eat which can lead to physical impairments.

I learned about grain and where it is all going.

It was interesting to read about the lack of fish in the ocean and how some fish are on their way to extinction.

Lastly, I learned about genetic engineering and how many products it affects.

Significant things I Learned

Tropical rain forests contain 80 percent of the worlds species of land vegetation and account for oxygen supply. They have so much beauty to them but unfortunately they are being destroyed at a very fast rate.  I fount it very heartbreaking  to read that every second an area,the size of a football field, is destroyed. In central America 55 square feet of the tropical rain forest is destroyed for every fast food hamburger made from rain forest beef. Not only are they slaughtering cows, they are destroying beautiful land. The truth is, we need our forests. They give off oxygen, purify our water, and they are home to our plants, trees, and animals.

Moving toward  a more plant based-diet seems more out of the question these days because they are getting rid of a lot of our resources. Eating vegetables are helping our environment and even helping out the atmosphere because there would be less green house gasses filling the air.

Today, there are 6 billion people on our planet. Sadly, more than 1 billion of these people do not have enough to eat. 1/3 of our children do not get enough to eat and certainly not a all the nutrients needed  which makes them more susceptible to infectious diseases  which can cause physical impairments in their future.

40% of our worlds grain is fed to livestock. In reality, all of our grain is going hand in hand with out meat. Underfed people and overfed people have pretty much the same qualities because they are both malnourished. Over fed people are getting too much fatty foods and underfed people are not getting enough food to begin with. According to John Robbin's,"human  beings who could be fed by the grain and soybeans eaten by U.S. livestock is 1,400,000,000. However, they are being fed to animals in order for them to produce meat.

 

It is believed by any that it takes 12-16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef. This, according to USDA is false. It actually takes 17 pounds for each pound of beef.  Cows are kept in feedlots for 100  where they are fed about about 20 pounds of grain per day. During the 100 days the animals gain about 300 pounds so that they can produce more meat. Think of all the gain going to waste that billions of starving people could have and become more nourished. 

Another interesting topic I read about was the lack of fish in the ocean. I learned that 34% of all fish species were in danger to extinction. Fishing ships have had to drop their nets deeper into the ocean in hopes of catching. Restaurants have been told to take sword fish off their menu in hopes of recovery. Some fishing ships take out 80,000 pounds of fish in a single netting. No wonder some fish are on their way to extinction.

I learned that genetic engineering involves, "the permanent alteration of the genetic blueprint of a seed". by doing this scientists hope the plant grown form the seed will have certain characteristics such as lasting longer in stores so the certain food does not go bad right away. However, there has been controversy about genetic engineering and whether it is safe or not. The same gene can produce different effects depending on the  soil and chemicals/ I learned that two-thirds of the foods sold in the United States grocery stores contain genetically modified substances.

Implications of What I Read

I finished this book  with a whole new perspective on meat, including fish. I cannot believe all the beautiful, perfectly good rain forests are being destroyed in order to slaughter animals to produce meat. I have found myself cutting back on eating meats while I have  been reading,"The Food Revolution". If I can help save a perfectly good rain forest and help animals it would definitely be worth it. I was shocked when I fould out that 1.2 billion people on this plant are mal nourished. If we did not focus all of our attention on meat, we would have a lot more plant based meals, healhier land, not as many chemicals floating around in the air, and more grain to feed people.