From: tara@starburst.umd.edu (Tara McDermott)
Newsgroups: rec.food.veg
Subject: Beyond Beef's Adopt-A-McDonald's Campaign
Date: 26 Jan 1993 19:36:17 GMT
Organization: University of Maryland, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
NNTP-Posting-Host: starburst.umd.edu

BEYOND BEEF'S ADOPT A McDONALD'S CAMPAIGN:

In April and May 1993, thousands of concerned Americans will gather
each weekend at local McDonald's restaurants in cities across the
country.... not to each fast food.....but to "Adopt-A-McDonalds's". 

They'll be informing their friends and neighbors about the
real(underlined) costs of eating hamburgers, and how the beef culture
contributes to the destruction of our environment, human hunger,
animal suffereing and disease.

If you'd like to know the facts, and how you can participate in the
Adopt-A-McDonald's campaign.......read on....

THE real COST OF A HAMBURGER:

World Hunger - At a time when nearly a billion people suffer from
cronic hunger, more than one-third of all the grain grown in the world
is fed to cattle and other livestock.  That's enough to give every
child, woman and man a meal a day.

Human Health - Seventy percent of U.S. deaths are related to diet,
particularly the overconsumption of beef and saturated animal fats.
Red meat is directly linked to heart disease, strokes, and cancer of
the colon and breast.

Animal Suffering - Each and every day, 100,000 cattle are slaughtered
in the U.S.  Their deaths are cruel and horrible--shoked with electric
prods, beaten and kicked, shot with a stun-gun, hung by their feet,
their throats cut.

Destroying the Rain Forest - Cattle ranching is  aprimary cause of
rain forest destruction in Central and South American.  Since 1960,
more than 25 percent of the forests of Central America have been
cleared to create pasture land for grazing cattle.  While some
fast-food chains claim they no longer use South American beef, for
every quarter pound hamburger still being exported from this region,
55 square feet of rain forest is destroyed.

Creating Deserts - Cattle are major contributors to soil loss and
destruction.  As much as 85 percent of U.S. western rangeland, nearly
685 million acres, is being degraded by overgrazing and other
problems.  The U.S. has already lost a third of its topsoil; more than
80 percent of this erosion is directly attributed to grazing and
unsustainable methods of producing feed crops for cattle and other
livestock.

Polluting our Water - Cattle produce a billion tons of organic waste
each year.  Waste from livestock, and the pesticides and fertilizers
used to grow feed, are the number one non-point source of water
pollution in the U.S.

Depleting our Water - Almost half the water used in the U.S. each year
goes to grow feed and provide drinking water for cattle and other
livestock.  It takes 29 gallons of water to produce a pound of
tomatoes; 139 gallons to produce a pound of bread; but 2,464 gallons
to produce a pound of beef.

Global Warming - Cattle are a major source of greenhouse gases.  Tens
of millions of tons of methane are released into the atmosphere by the
world's 1.3 billion cattle.  In addition, hundreds of millions of tons
of CO2 are released by burning forests to create cow pastures.

CAMPAIGN GOALS:

1 - Reach at least 1,000,000 McDonald's patrons with information about
the harmful impact of beef on our world, the rold McDonald's plays in
the beef culture, and why individuals should reduce their beef
consumption by at least 50 percent.

2 - Establish "good neighbor agreements" with local McDonald's
franchises and managers promising to encourage vegetarian meals at
their restaurants, and have McDonald's adopt a company policy placing
non-meat alternatives to hamburger on their menu.

3 - Win a commitment from McDonald's to devote 25 percent of its
national advertising budget to promote these meatless alternatives.

HOW YOU CAN ADOPT-A-MCDONALD'S

Beyond Beef is forming 1,000 Adopt-A-McDonald's teams.  Each team of
four or more people will be responsible for adopting at least one
McDonald's restaurant in their community, and speaking with at least
1,000 McDonald's patrons as they enter or leave the restaurant.
During April and May 1993, each team will provide customers with
leaflets, educational materials, buttons ad BEYOND BEEF baloons.
They'll hold press conferences and carry placards.  They'll focus the
attention of the country on the real cost of eating hamburgers.  If
you want to join the BEYOND BEEF team and Adopt-A-McDonald's this
spring, print your name, address and phone number, and send it to:
Beyond Beef, 1130 Seventeenth Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington D.C.
20036.  Phone: (202) 775-1132, Fax: (202) 775-0074.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

--
Tara McDermott               
tara@starburst.umd.edu       
I eat tofu, and I vote.
Newsgroups: rec.food.veg