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Livestock's Long Shadow The next Nutrition Action will be a JUNE 2009 combined July/August Volume 36 Number 5 issue. It should be in your mailbox STAFF MEMO FROM MFJ by late July. EDITORIAL Michael Jacobson, Ph.D. Executive Editor Bonnie Liebman, M.S. Livestock’s Long Shadow Director of Nutrition Stephen B. Schmidt Editor-in-Chief Jayne Hurley, RD he largest study ever dead zones. And producing the fertilizer David Schardt on meat consumption requires huge amounts of energy and gener- Senior Nutritionists and health—recently ates pollution of its own. Then there’s the Danielle Hazard, BS T Amy Johnson, BA released by the National environmental cost of shipping the fertilizer, Project Coordinators Cancer Institute—should the grain, and the animals. I could go on. Melissa Pryputniewicz convince even enthusias- Two University of Chicago geophysicists, Administrative Assistant tic meat eaters to cut back Gidon Eshel and Pamela A. Martin, have CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT (see cover story). The more calculated that, for a big meat eater, adopting Dennis Bass Myriam Boucher Debra Brink red and processed meats one consumes, the an all-plant diet would be like switching from Damon Dorsey Louella Fennell Greg Hildebrandt James Nocera greater the risk of dying, mostly of heart a gas-guzzling SUV to a Toyota Camry. Cecilia Saad Chris Schmidt disease and cancer. (Poultry and fish aren’t a The global consequences of meat consump- Ken Waldmiller problem.) tion are no less dire. SCIENTIFIC If avoiding an Livestock’s Long ADVISORY BOARD early death doesn’t Shadow, a 2006 re- Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D. Yale University persuade you to eat port by the United Greta R. Bunin, Ph.D. much less (or no) Nations Food and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia beef and pork, you Agriculture Orga- Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr., M.D. Cleveland Clinic Foundation might be moved by nization, estimated Stephen Havas, M.D., M.P.H., M.S. the environmental that livestock are Northwestern University Medical School Norman M. Kaplan, M.D. consequences of responsible for Southwestern Medical Center raising cattle and 18 percent of all University of Texas, Dallas hogs. Most beef greenhouse gas JoAnn E. Manson, M.D., Ph.D. Harvard Medical School and pork produced emissions world- Susan Taylor Mayne, Ph.D. in the United States wide. That’s more Yale University Julie Mares, Ph.D. and Canada is than the emissions University of Wisconsin environmentally from transporta- J. Glenn Morris, Jr., M.D., disastrous. tion. And with the M.P.H.&T.M. Emerging Pathogens Institute The most obvi- Livestock accounts for more greenhouse gas huge populations University of Florida ous problem (par- emissions than transportation, according to a of China and India Susan B. Roberts, Ph.D. USDA Human Nutrition Research Center ticularly if you live United Nations report. consuming more on Aging, Tufts University downwind): the meat and milk Frank Sacks, M.D. huge and crowded feedlots and pens in which products, things will only get worse. Harvard Medical School Jeremiah Stamler, M.D. most cattle and virtually all hogs spend a fair Will somebody please pass me a veggie Northwestern University Medical School part of their lives. Their excrement pollutes burger? Regina G. Ziegler, Ph.D., M.P.H. National Cancer Institute the air, streams, and rivers. But even out on the range, cattle (including the organic, grass- Nutrition Action Healthletter (ISSN 0885- 7792) is published 10 times a year (monthly fed variety) emit methane, a greenhouse gas except bi-monthly in Jan./Feb. and Jul./Aug.). that is 25 times more destructive than carbon Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D. POSTMASTER: Send changes to Nutrition Action Healthletter, 1875 Connecticut Ave., dioxide. Executive Director N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20009- Less visible pollution comes from growing Center for Science in the Public Interest 5728. Application to mail at Periodical postage rates the corn, soybeans, and other grains that are approved at post office of Washington, DC, fed to beef and dairy cattle and hogs. Huge P.S. Some of the issues discussed above are in- and at additional offices. amounts of water irrigate croplands. Huge cluded in a powerful new documentary called Subscriber Services “Food, Inc.,” which features prominent critics The cost of a one-year subscription or amounts of pesticides kill off insects and gift (10 issues) is $24; two years are $42. weeds. And huge amounts of fertilizer are of America’s food system like Michael Pollan For bulk subscriptions, please write for details. To change your address, send us applied to corn fields. Too much of that fertil- (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser your subscriber number and your old and (Fast Food Nation). It opens in selected cities new address. If you don’t want us to ex- izer washes into streams that empty into the change your name, send us your name and Mississippi River and, eventually, the Gulf of on June 12. mailing-label information. Mail: CSPI, 1875 Conn. Ave., N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC Photo: © Pako/fotolia.com.Photo: © Mexico, where it produces oxygen-deficient 20009. Fax: (202) 265-4954. E-mail: circ@ cspinet.org. Internet: www.cspinet.org. Expiration date is in the upper center of your mailing label. Your subscriber num- ber precedes the expiration date. The contents of NAH are not intended The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is GUARANTEE! We’ll give you 2 FREE to provide medical advice, which the nonprofit health-advocacy group that publishes Want to Work for Us? ISSUES of Nutrition Action if there’s should be obtained from a qualified Nutrition Action Healthletter. CSPI mounts educa- ever a problem with your subscription. health professional. tional programs and presses for changes in government We are seeking a Ph.D. in nutrition, The use of information from and corporate policies. epidemiology, or public health (diet Nutrition Action Healthletter Design and production by The Page Group and health focus) with 3-5 years for commercial purposes is pro hib- (www.pagegroup.com). experience in evaluating studies to ited without written permission research and write articles for NAH. from CSPI. © 2009 by Center for Science in the Public Interest. Send cover letter, résumé, and writing samples to [email protected]. 2 NUTRITION ACTION HEALTHLETTER ■ JUNE 2009.
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