North Americans eat twice the recommended daily allowance of protein. Countries with the highest meat consumption (Canada, U.S.A. and Australia) also have the highest death rate from heart disease, whereas countries with low or no meat consumption have low heart disease mortality rates. When immigrants adopt our high-fat, low-fibre, meat-based diet, they rapidly achieve our rate of heart disease.<

According to the Greenhouse Crisis foundation, if Americans were to reduce their meat intake by even 10% (one meal per week), the grain saved annually would be enough to feed all the people who starve to death each year worldwide.

Excluding the most expensive part of our North American diet, meat, and substituting grains and legumes, is obviously a cost saving. Meat products cost five to six times as much as the equivalent amount of vegetable protein. Another benefit is decreased medical expenses due to the health problems caused by a diet high in animal products.

Due to modern farming techniques hens are crammed into small cages; calves raised for veal are chained in narrow crates with no bedding or light; pigs are crowded and may never see outside their pen. The list of cruelties to animals is phenomenal. Killing animals for food is not a necessity; it is your CHOICE.

Anatomically humans resemble herbivores much more closely than carnivores. Long intestinal tracts, teeth with flat, non-pointed surfaces, lower hydrochloric acid content in our stomachs, proportionately smaller livers, and the presence of ptylan (an enzyme to break down starch) make our digestive systems ideally suited for a diet composed of fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts, but very poorly suited for a meat-based diet.

According to the World Watch Institute in Washington, there are few more inefficient ways to produce protein than through beef production. The grain needed to provide a family of four with just one serving of hamburgers could feed someone in a developing country for over a week.

Approximately 16 pounds of vegetable protein (grain, soy, etc.) must be fed to cattle to produce one pound of animal protein. More than 50% of the grain grown in Alberta is fed to livestock.

Being a vegetarian means making the choice to eat no meat, poultry or fish. A vegetarian diet is nutritionally complete and provides all necessary nutrients. Lacto-ovo vegetarians include eggs and/or dairy products; vegans do not eat any animal products. The only dietary precaution for vegans is that a source of vitamin B12 be included in their diet.