For I was hungry and you gave me food.… [A]s you did it to
one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.
Sadly, while tens of millions of people die annually from
starvation-related causes and close to a billion suffer from
malnutrition, more than 30% of the world’s harvested grain is fed to
animals being raised for slaughter; in the United States, the figure
is around 70%. We choose to ignore the plight of the poor and the
hungry around the world if we consume animal products.
For Jesus preached, “For I was hungry and you Jesus you did it to
one of the least of these gave me food.… [A]s my brethren, you did
it to me” (Matt. 25:35, 40 RSV). Yet, while tens of millions of
people die annually from starvation--related causes and close to a
billion suffer from malnutrition, 37 percent of the world’s
harvested grain is fed to animals being raised for slaughter; in the
United States, the figure is 66 percent.
Only a fraction of what chickens, pigs, and other animals eat
makes them grow edible flesh—most is needed to simply keep them
alive or to grow body parts that people don’t eat. Consequently,
farmed animals consume much more food than they produce. Converting
plant foods to meat wastes 67–90 percent of the protein, up to 96
percent of the calories, and all of the fiber. Because land, water,
and other resources are limited, the world can support many more
vegetarians than meat eaters. As worldwide demand for meat has
grown, the net effect is that the world’s poor have become
increasingly unable to afford food of any kind.
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