Matters of Scale - Fat of the Land
Fat in one foil-packaged restaurant serving of butter | 6 grams |
Fat in one Burger King "Whopper" | 40 grams |
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Amount of global-warming carbon dioxide released by driving a typical
American car, in one day | 3 kg |
Amount released by clearing and burning enough Costa Rican rainforest
to produce beef for one hamburger | 75 kg |
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Amount spent annually by McDonald's advertising its products | $800 million |
Amount spent annually by the National Cancer Institute promoting fruits and vegetables | $1 million |
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Average cholesterol level in the United States | 210 |
Average cholesterol level of vegetarians in the United States | 161 |
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Gallons of oil spilled by the Exxon-Valdez | 12 million |
Gallons of putrefying hog urine and feces spilled into the New River in
North Carolina (immediately killing over 10 million fish) when a "lagoon"
holding 8 acres of excrement burst | 25 million |
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Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in chickens in Denmark prior to a ban on routine use of antibiotics in chicken production | 82 percent |
Prevalence three years after the ban | 12 percent |
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Sources: John Robbins, The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and the World (Berkeley: Conari Press, 2001).
Robbins citations: Burger King Corporation, 2000 (Whopper); Rachel's Environment and Health Weekly, January 2, 1997 (McDonald?s);
Archives of Internal Medicine, 1986 (cholesterol); Feedstuffs, July 3, 1995 (hog waste); World Watch, July/August 1994 (carbon dioxide);
Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1999 (antibiotics).