09/26/14 All Human Problems are the Result of Eating Animals
On the occasion of World Vegetarian Day, Animal Friends sent a letter to the Prime Minister Milanovic
- The Prime Minister is Right: Breeding and Eating Animals Causes Long-Term Negative Effects on People, Animals and the Environment
On World Vegetarian Day, celebrated on October 1 worldwide, Animal Friends sent a letter to the Prime Minister, Zoran Milanovic. The reason for addressing the Croatian Prime Minister was when, this summer, looking at 23,500 chickens through a window at a farm in Gradiste, he said to the farm owner that - "all human problems are the result of eating animals"-.
Animal Friends organization has been educating the public on animal rights and sustainable living for 13 years and it can only confirm the truth behind the Prime Minister's words and agree that intensive farming and eating of animals causes long-term negative effects on all, people, animals and the natural environment. Intensive farming and killing of animals for food is connected with the mass consumption of natural resources, world hunger and the cataclysmic destruction of the environment, as it is unsustainable.
Animal Friends believe that Prime Minister Milanovic truly understands how right his words are, in every way. Meat is the least cost-effective food we eat: the price for one kilogram of meat -sourced proteins is twenty times higher than the price of an equal amount of vegetable sourced proteins This is the reason why countries subsidize the meat, milk and egg industries. Cattle, worldwide, alone consume the same amount of food that is sufficient to meet the calorie needs of 8.7 billion people – more that the entire human population on Earth.
Moreover, Animal Friends says that the Prime Minister, surely, must know that one third of arable land in the world is used for the cultivation of grains as food for animals. In order to prepare these fields for the growing of grains, trees must be cut down and water must be drained, which results in releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases. In addition, we must include the production of methane in cattle and the large amounts of energy spent for the production of artificial fertilizers. Soil, groundwater, rivers and creeks are polluted by so much animal faecal waste, by the dirty water resulting from unnecessary meat production and by pesticide residues. Producing food from animal products uses daily ten times the amount of fresh, drinking quality water than you or I need in one day.
It is also known that a diet consisting of excess food of animal origin is directly related to an increased risk of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity. These risks can be reduced and even prevented by changing one’s eating habits.
Animal Friends feels that Croatia is a country striving for civilized progress, and therefore, cannot ignore the fact that, each year, tens of billions of animals in the world are exposed to extreme suffering because of farming policies and are brutally slaughtered to support an unhealthy and, in the long term, the unsustainable eating of meat, milk and eggs.
On World Vegetarian Day on October 1, Animal Friends celebrated that a meatless diet is followed by over 160 thousand Croatians, and according to the most recent public opinion polls, 86 percent of Croatian citizens support vegetarianism, while almost 30 percent of us said they would consider becoming vegetarians.
Animal Friends have said that they advocate a sustainable lifestyle. This means that taking natural resources to fulfil human needs must not endanger the balance of nature and all natural environments in any way. Animal Friends also believe that political decisions must be made only taking into consideration nature's rights, This will help create a better future for all citizens of Croatia. Finally, we know that the Prime Minister's words will help encourage sustainable development and the healthier eating habits of the Croatian people.
