Just a few facts and figures...

Poverty:

• Every minutes 12 children under the age of 5 die because of malnutrition (source: FAO, State of Food Security in the World, 2003)
• The richest 20% of the world uses 86% of the worlds natural resources (source: UNDP 2003)
• More then 1.2 billion people earn less then $1 a day. That’s 23% of the world’s population (source: UNDP 2003)
• 1.1 billion people suffer from obesity
• 2.7 billion people don’t have a restroom (source: World bank)
• A poor African receives $8 compensation by the EU, the compensation for a cow is as high as $913 (source: UNDP 2003)
• There are 42 million people in the world infected with AIDS, 39 million of them are living in developing countries (source: UNDP 2003)
• The rich countries spent $56 billion to help developing countries, $300 billion to help their own farmers and $600 billion on the military (source: World bank, 2003)
• Three companies dominate 83% of the coca trade, six companies dominate 85% grain trade and another three companies dominate 80% of the banana trade.
• Every year Europeans and northern-Americans spend $17 billion on food for animals and $18 billion on makeup (source: World Watch, State of the World 2004)

Nature:

• Every year an area of the jungle as big as the country of Portugal is cut down, with the main reason of growing cattle-fodder and tending cattle
• One-third of the grain in the world is used as cattle-fodder (source: World Watch Institute)
• To produce a kilo(about 2 pounds) of potatoes 500 liters(about 130 gallon) of water is needed, the produce a kilo of meat 10.000 liters (2650 gallon) are needed, coming mainly out of parched areas (source: Colin Tudge, So shall we reap)
• According to NASA the Northern ice-cap will be melted in a hundred years if we keep on going the way we’re going right now (source: NASA, 2004)

The Netherlands:

• One million people in the Netherlands claim to have no friends (source: Salvation Army, 2004)
• One-tenth of the labor-force is suffering from burnout symptoms (source: CBS)