A Complete Debunk of Every What The Health Statistic (Part 2)
SWINE
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Photo from www.oneindia.com
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Because the majority of the original swine flu transmissions happened in people who reported having contact with swine, it is safe to assume that, although rare in the case of H1N1, the disease did travel zoonotically. So does this point the finger directly at livestock? It’s impossible to say for sure, but it’s important to consider the large number of feral, or un-tamed and not bred by human, hogs that plague North Carolina’s grasslands. With an estimated feral hog population of six million, they represent over half of the hog’s present in North Carolina if WTH’s claim of there being approximately the same number of hogs as people is true. They cause over $1.5 million in damages every year, and, like other varmint species such as racoons, opossums, and rats, are known to carry some pretty nasty diseases.
Considering the two types of hogs present in North Carolina, we have to ask ourselves which sounds more likely to transmit H1N1. The swine raised for pork who are kept indoors, treated with medications at the first sign of distress, and are tested for contamination during processing—while no contamination of farm-raised pork was ever found? (Fun fact: did you know that many corporate farms require that anyone who steps foot in their farms to put on bio-hazard suits to stop the transmission of disease from human to animals? This would make transmission from animals to humans next to impossible). Or is it the hogs who run free, contaminating crop fields, aggressively attacking humans, and who’s health status is impossible to track, but is known to have spread illness in the past? My guess is as good as yours, but I’m pretty sure that animal agriculture had nothing to do with the H1N1 outbreak.
Sources:
Clabby, Catherine. "When the Wild and Tame Collide." North Carolina Health News. North Carolina Health News, 09 Jan. 2017.
Web. 24 June 2017.
Myers, Kendall P., Christopher W. Olsen, and Gregory C. Gray. "Cases of Swine Influenza in Humans: A Review of the
Literature." Clinical Infectious Diseases. Oxford University Press, 15 Apr. 2007. Web. 24 June 2017.
"Wild Pigs And Diseases." Public Health Concerns Regarding Wild Pigs. Mississippi State University, n.d. Web. 24 June 2017.
Sources:
Augenstein, ML, LJ Johnston, PhD, GC Shurson, PhD, JD Hawton, PhD, and JE Pettigrew, PhD. "Formulating Farm-specific Swine
Diets." Formulating Farm-specific Swine Diets : University of Minnesota Extension. Regents of the University of
Minnesota, n.d. Web. 24 June 2017.
Reese, Duane E., Eric Van Heutgen, Hans H. Stein, Joel DeRouchey, Justin M. Benz, and John F. Patience. "Composition and Usage Rate of Feed Ingredients for Swine Diets."Pork Information Gateway. U.S. Pork Center of Excellence, 25 Mar. 2010. Web. 24 June
2017.
"Swine Nutrition and Production Solutions." Swine Custom Feed & Productivity Solutions | Cargill. Cargill, Incorporated, n.d.
Web. 24 June 2017.
Considering the two types of hogs present in North Carolina, we have to ask ourselves which sounds more likely to transmit H1N1. The swine raised for pork who are kept indoors, treated with medications at the first sign of distress, and are tested for contamination during processing—while no contamination of farm-raised pork was ever found? (Fun fact: did you know that many corporate farms require that anyone who steps foot in their farms to put on bio-hazard suits to stop the transmission of disease from human to animals? This would make transmission from animals to humans next to impossible). Or is it the hogs who run free, contaminating crop fields, aggressively attacking humans, and who’s health status is impossible to track, but is known to have spread illness in the past? My guess is as good as yours, but I’m pretty sure that animal agriculture had nothing to do with the H1N1 outbreak.
Sources:
Clabby, Catherine. "When the Wild and Tame Collide." North Carolina Health News. North Carolina Health News, 09 Jan. 2017.
Web. 24 June 2017.
Myers, Kendall P., Christopher W. Olsen, and Gregory C. Gray. "Cases of Swine Influenza in Humans: A Review of the
Literature." Clinical Infectious Diseases. Oxford University Press, 15 Apr. 2007. Web. 24 June 2017.
"Wild Pigs And Diseases." Public Health Concerns Regarding Wild Pigs. Mississippi State University, n.d. Web. 24 June 2017.
- 10 million pigs in North Carolina produce the waste equal to 100 million humans, which is equivalent to the entire Eastern Seaboard of the US flushing their toilets into the state
- Liquid pig manure is pumped into waste pits that leach into rivers and streams and then sprayed unfiltered onto nearby fields
- There is a disproportionate number of hog facilities located near communities of color and low income communities
- Dead hogs are processed into feed and fed back to the hogs
Sources:
Augenstein, ML, LJ Johnston, PhD, GC Shurson, PhD, JD Hawton, PhD, and JE Pettigrew, PhD. "Formulating Farm-specific Swine
Diets." Formulating Farm-specific Swine Diets : University of Minnesota Extension. Regents of the University of
Minnesota, n.d. Web. 24 June 2017.
Reese, Duane E., Eric Van Heutgen, Hans H. Stein, Joel DeRouchey, Justin M. Benz, and John F. Patience. "Composition and Usage Rate of Feed Ingredients for Swine Diets."Pork Information Gateway. U.S. Pork Center of Excellence, 25 Mar. 2010. Web. 24 June
2017.
"Swine Nutrition and Production Solutions." Swine Custom Feed & Productivity Solutions | Cargill. Cargill, Incorporated, n.d.
Web. 24 June 2017.
PROTEIN
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Photo from www.artofwellbeing.com
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OTHER NUTRIENTS
- Most Americans get less than half of the fiber they need
- Vitamin intake and overall nutrition go up on a plant-based diet from a meat-based diet
- The healthiest, cheapest, safest source of Vitamin B12 is a fortified food or supplement
- There is nothing in a plant based diet that you can’t get in an healthier form somewhere else
- The food that you eat determines the bacteria that live in your gut
Sources:
Bourrie, Benjamin C. T., Benjamin P. Willing, and Paul D. Cotter. "The Microbiota and Health Promoting Characteristics of the
Fermented Beverage Kefir." Frontiers in Microbiology. Frontiers Media S.A., 2016. Web. 24 June 2017.
Elli, Marina, Maria Luisa Callegari, Susanna Ferrari, Elena Bessi, Daniela Cattivelli, Sara Soldi, Lorenzo Morelli, and Nathalie
Goupil Feuillerat. "Marina Elli." Applied and Environmental Microbiology. American Society for Microbiology, 01 July
2006. Web. 24 June 2017.
Singh, Rasnik K., Hsin-Wen Chang, Di Yan, Kristina M. Lee, Derya Ucmak, Kirsten Wong, Michael Abrouk, Benjamin Farahnik,
Mio Nakamura, Tian Hao Zhu, Tina Bhutani, and Wilson Liao. "Influence of Diet on the Gut Microbiome and Implications
for Human Health." Journal of Translational Medicine. BioMed Central, 08 Apr. 2017. Web. 24 June 2017.
- The largest, strongest terrestrial animals on the planet are all herbivores
- Humans closest living relatives are chimpanzees, who get 97% of their calories from plants
- Comparing the anatomy of omnivores to frugivores
- David Carter: Former NFL Defensive Lineman
- Timothy Shieff: World Champion Freerunner, Ninja Warrior
- Mu Jin Han: Ageless Drug Free Athlete
- Tia Blanco: Professional Surfer, ISA World Champion Surfer x2
- Rich Roll: Ultra Endurance Athlete and Author of Finding Ultra & Plantpower Way
BIASED
To back up these claims, WTH does not have one scrap of evidence (unless you count the 29 times they referenced Michael Greger, who, as I’ve already explained, is a director for the Humane Society… let the irony of that sink in…). |
Original photo from www.eatdrinkpolitics.com
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As I’ve mentioned before, many vegans come to my page and attempt to wave away the multiple studies I send them that prove them wrong by simply saying that the science was funded by the meat and dairy industry. To that, I always respond with, “Please go source by source and give me the exact name of the corporation that funded this study as well as details about the transactions where money or favors exchanged hands.” I have yet to receive an answer. I will do a much more detailed blog post about this in the future, but, for now, rest assure it is not true. Let’s look at some of the pathetic ways WTH tries to get people to ignore the very vast amount of literature that disproves them:
- American Diabetes Association corporate partners
- American Cancer Society corporate partners
- Susan G. Comen Corporate Partners
- American Heart Association Corporate Partners
- American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, and American Heart Association are accepting millions of dollars from pharmaceutical companies
- The pharmaceutical company spends more money on lobbying than any other single industry
- Academy of Nutrition & Dietics puts out nutrition facts sheets from the industries themselves
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Photo from www.usda.gov
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First of all, it’s important to realize that the USDA is a government agency, meaning it runs entirely off of tax dollars. The first bullet point, discussing money received by committee members is referring to where the USDA staff worked prior to joining the department. Obviously, people with agricultural backgrounds have a better chance of landing agricultural seats in Washington—we want people making decisions about farming to have backgrounds in the industry. There are just as many, if not more, crop producers as there are livestock raisers working for the USDA.
As for the second, third, and fourth bullet points, there are checkoff programs for all of the major agricultural commodities, including meat, dairy, eggs, corn, wheat, cotton, avocadoes, blueberries, mangoes, peanut butter, and many, many more. A checkoff program is basically a venue where producers involved in the same industry (for example, say a group of cotton farmers) put money into research and promotion. Any positive benefits of cotton (see my June newsletter, available on my homepage, for an entire list of them) found through research would then be advertised to the public. The boards controlling these checkoff programs are led exclusively be producers. The USDA is only the “collection pot,” if you will. They play no role in deciding how the money is spent, and they do not receive any of the funds.
It’s definitely true that the USDA promotes agriculture… that’s literally their job. However, there is zero evidence that they encourage the success of any commodities more than others, or that checkoff programs bias their nutritional guidelines.
The next one discusses lobbying for GMO labeling, a completely separate issue that has nothing to do with going vegan, but one I’ll do a future blog post about.
The third one actually talks about lobbying through Congress, however, it says that less than half of the $123.6 million that's spent by agribusinesses on lobbying (note that that’s less than $138 million WTH claimed) actually come from the food industry. Among those that contributed, this article breaks down what issues each was lobbying for. These issues include gaining information about foreign markets, food safety, and making marketing regulations easier to understand to boost competition between producers. These efforts are aimed at making it easier for the companies to sell food (ie less mandates and clearer markets), but they have nothing to do with encouraging the public to buy certain products. Furthermore, it’s important to remember that these food companies (remember that they make up less than half of the agribusinesses participating in legislature—the actual number WTH should have given is around $60 million) are only a small portion of the stakeholders putting forth money on these issues, which totals in the billions.
The main idea that I want to express here is that the meat, poultry, and dairy producers have no access to the committees that fund nutritional research or put forth the USDA dietary recommendations, such as the MyPlate that I often refer to.
As for the second, third, and fourth bullet points, there are checkoff programs for all of the major agricultural commodities, including meat, dairy, eggs, corn, wheat, cotton, avocadoes, blueberries, mangoes, peanut butter, and many, many more. A checkoff program is basically a venue where producers involved in the same industry (for example, say a group of cotton farmers) put money into research and promotion. Any positive benefits of cotton (see my June newsletter, available on my homepage, for an entire list of them) found through research would then be advertised to the public. The boards controlling these checkoff programs are led exclusively be producers. The USDA is only the “collection pot,” if you will. They play no role in deciding how the money is spent, and they do not receive any of the funds.
It’s definitely true that the USDA promotes agriculture… that’s literally their job. However, there is zero evidence that they encourage the success of any commodities more than others, or that checkoff programs bias their nutritional guidelines.
- USDA admitted that eggs cannot legally be labeled: nutritious, low fat, part of a balanced diet, low calorie, healthful, healthy, good for you, or safe
- The dairy industry spends at least $50 million promoting its products in public schools
- Meat and dairy spend at least $138 million lobbying through Congress
The next one discusses lobbying for GMO labeling, a completely separate issue that has nothing to do with going vegan, but one I’ll do a future blog post about.
The third one actually talks about lobbying through Congress, however, it says that less than half of the $123.6 million that's spent by agribusinesses on lobbying (note that that’s less than $138 million WTH claimed) actually come from the food industry. Among those that contributed, this article breaks down what issues each was lobbying for. These issues include gaining information about foreign markets, food safety, and making marketing regulations easier to understand to boost competition between producers. These efforts are aimed at making it easier for the companies to sell food (ie less mandates and clearer markets), but they have nothing to do with encouraging the public to buy certain products. Furthermore, it’s important to remember that these food companies (remember that they make up less than half of the agribusinesses participating in legislature—the actual number WTH should have given is around $60 million) are only a small portion of the stakeholders putting forth money on these issues, which totals in the billions.
The main idea that I want to express here is that the meat, poultry, and dairy producers have no access to the committees that fund nutritional research or put forth the USDA dietary recommendations, such as the MyPlate that I often refer to.
- Ag-Gag laws criminalize whistle-blowers who photo-document abuses by the animal agriculture industry
- Jake Conroy formerly imprisoned activist
- Former chief USDA meat inspector: Mad Cow Disease whistleblower
Check out Part 1:
- Cancer
- Heart Disease
- Toxins
- Diet & Disease
- Eggs
- Dairy
- Antibiotics
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