Friday, June 13, 2008

Homework & Helping

Lord Humble is our guest blogger today for a homework assignment. Here is his post:


Recently I learned that billions of people go to bed hungry every night. Most of them are children and women who are extremely malnourished and are barely surviving. One thing that we can all do is cut back on the amount of meat we eat. A 10-acre farm can feed 60 people when used to grow soybeans, 24 people growing wheat, 10 people growing corn and only two people producing cattle This is according to the British group Vegfam. The land that it takes to raise cattle for food is a huge waste of resources that could be used to help feed more people then are being fed right now.

I was shocked when I read about the mistreatment that animals receive to make more meat. They are placed into inhumane conditions such as extremely small and cramped living space. Often on the way to slaughterhouse, some animals will collapse at the door unable to walk any further. These dying animals are called “downers” and are thrown into a pile. These animals may suffer for days, they are finally killed. All male chicks born at chicken factories are thrown away because they are useless when making money. They total about 280 million a year.

Just by cutting down on what we all eat we can make a difference, though this is not the only way. You can also do fundraisers to raise money and food to help the needy. You can donate what you make to one of the many organizations that work to feed everybody. There is the Heifer International Organization at www.heifer.org which works to teach people how to make food for themselves. They give people cows and teach them to raise the cows to start producing milk for example. There is also the United Nations World Food Program at www.wfp.org. They basically do the same thing as Heifer International.

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