(taken from Honolulu Weekly)

Earlier this week, more than one hundred thousand South Koreans demonstrated against newly elected president Lee Myung-bak, as his entire cabinet offered to resign. At the root of this massive protest was not a declaration of war against North Korea, a boycott of the Chinese summer Olympics or even escalating oil prices. It was a treaty allowing U.S. beef imports.

Beef production accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than automobiles. Its insatiable demand for feed grains has raised world food prices to levels beyond the reach of the world's hungry and the relief agencies that support them. Creation of beef pastures is the key cause of worldwide deforestation, including the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. A beef-based diet requires more than 20 times as much land and water as a plant-based diet with equivalent amounts of calories & protein.

Nutritionally, beef offers protein, iron and some B vitamins, but no fiber, carbohydrates, nor most vitamins & minerals. On the other hand, it is replete with saturated fat, cholesterol, pesticides and pathogens, including occasionally, the prions of "Mad Cow" disease.

We should have one hundred thousand demonstrators marching on Washington to protest taxpayer subsidies to the U.S. beef industry. In the meantime, each one of us can demonstrate our own outrage with beef production on our next trip to the supermarket by selecting from the rich variety of soy-and-plant based meat alternatives in the frozen foods & produce sections.
Holden Bendedict - Honolulu

side note: (from Dale) If everyone made baby steps this world would be so much better. But people get so overwhelmed with all the new information that they just don't do anything at all. David & I eat a lot of chicken, vegetables & fruit. Everyonce in awhile we have beef but really try to avoid it if we can. A friend once told me that turning off the power switch on your computer doesn't save that much electricity...very true...however if everyone did it then that would save a lot of electricity....so see it's all about changing your perspective. HUGS & Aloha