Interesting Facts

A thing of the past? According to a survey conducted by Linda McCartney Foods, 12% of Brits are vegetarian. (Each generation sees more people eschewing meat, 25 years ago only 6% of the popluation were vegetarian. The younger generation is more likely to turn to tofu, in the 18 to 30 age group 20% are veggies, and across the country people are eating less red meat, with "meat free Monday" becoming more popular. It seems there's gold in them there carrots, as the UK vegetarian market is worth an estimated £820m a year.) Soure: The Wright Stuff

According to the Vegetarian Calculator page on Facebook the average human, who lives to 80, will have eaten 7,000 animals in their lifetime. (They will have eaten 11 cows, 27 pigs, an amazing 2,400 chickens, 4,500 fish, 80 turkeys, 30 sheep, and if rabbits, ducks, geese, goats, prawns and squid are included, the total of animals eaten rises to around 7,500. It reminds me of a joke: Q: What's the difference between roast beef and pea soup?  A: Anyone can roast beef. Sorry.)

According to retail consultancy Conlumino, food prices will soar by 17.8% by 2018. (Global food shortages will put an extra 25p on the price of a loaf of bread. The household food bill for the average family in the UK will shoot up; a family spending £500 a month on food six years ago could now have to find as much as £800 – an extra £3,600 a year.  The UK's annual food bill will rise by £19.6 billion. Erratic' weather, and growing global demand for meat and grain are to blame. Time to get the spade out and start digging those vegetable patches over, or maybe if we didn't waste as much:- http://www.afactaday.co.uk/2013/01/interesting-fact-waste_12.html.)

According to Professor Hugh Pennington, professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, 'bags-for-life' should never be used to carry raw meat or vegetables with soil on them. (He says bacteria can be transferred from the meat to the bag and then onto other products which are eaten raw - such as fruit - causing food poisoning, and raw meat should be carried in plastic bags which are then binned. In a study by University of Pennsylvania it was found that since San Francisco banned the use of plastic bags in 2007, hospitalisations and deaths from food-borne illnesses have nearly doubled. Penn Law professor, Jonathan Klick, found that eight per cent of reusable shopping bags contain E.coli and that 97 per cent of people admit to never washing their reusable bags. Even more scary is that they claim that washing the bags or cleaning them with antibacterial sprays is not sufficient.  This makes me feel a bit sad, because I hate plastic bags, I regularly wash my canvas b...

According to researchers at Harvard Medical School, a diet high in red meat can shorten life expectancy. (Simply by adding an extra portion of unprocessed red meat to someone's daily diet would increase the risk of death by 13%, of fatal cardiovascular disease by 18% and of cancer mortality by 10%. The figures for processed meat were even higher at 20% for overall mortality, 21% for death from heart problems and 16% for cancer mortality. The researchers concluded that saturated fat from red meat may be behind the increased heart risk and the sodium used in processed meats may "increase cardiovascular disease risk through its effect on blood pressure".  So, you might want to reconsider what you're having for Sunday lunch today.  Nut cutlet anyone?)

A roadside eatery in Texas invites diners to wolf down a 72oz steak in under an hour. (To put this in perspective, a 72oz steak is 4.5lbs or just over two kilos of red meat. About the size of a large telephone directory, and since 1960, 8,000 people have managed to eat one - plus all the trimmings! Greedy buggers, I'm glad I don't have their colons.)

According to the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), a total of just under 7.3 million tonnes of meat was produced in Germany in 2007. (Pork had by far the largest share in meat production at just under 5.0 million tonnes (68.2%), and yet you still can't buy decent bacon.)