Israel-based food tech start-up, ChickP Protein, Ltd., has developed a chickpea isolate that can be used in making plant-based cheese.
ChickP says its prototypes for chickpea-based cream cheese and firm cheddar cheese match the appearance and flavor of conventional cheese.
Chickpea cheese
“Flexitarians dominate the consumer market for dairy alternatives,” Liat Lachish Levy, CEO of ChickP, said in a statement. “They are eager to eat vegan alternatives as long as those alternatives can level up to real dairy’s sensory and nutritional attributes. These are precisely the gaps the industry is striving to close. While some cheese analog producers succeed on the sensory points, this often comes at the expense of the desired nutritional balance — and vice versa.”
ChickP hard cheese | Courtesy
ChickP’s formula includes a high-functioning chickpea isolate with a 90 percent whole protein composition, providing a nutritional boost to plant-based food applications. The isolate is also a clean-label ingredient, with a neutral flavor, which the company says makes it highly versatile.
The new cream cheese formulation combines the isolate along with other simple ingredients and traditional cheesemaking processes that ChickP says make the resulting product naturally replete with probiotic benefits. The company says emmental, parmesan, and mozzarella are in the works.
“We insisted on applying only traditional processes for our winning cheese analogs,” explains Maor Dahan, application manager for ChickP. “Our formulas contain no stabilizers or gums. We explored a range of cultures to find the strains that work best with our formula. On top of that, the synergy between the chickpea isolates and starch helped create a rich, smooth, creamy textured spread on par with real dairy cream cheese and awards hearty complete protein fulfillment.”
Demand for dairy-free cheese
ChickP says a Smart Protein Project survey conducted across ten countries found cheese is increasingly popular with individual consumption averaging from one to six times per week.
Chickpea’s protein makes for creamy ice cream | Courtesy
The findings show there is also strong interest in plant-based versions, but consumers say taste, texture, and value of products currently on the market don’t meet their expectations. Still, demand for plant-based cheese is expected to reach $7 billion by the end of 2030.
I made my first visit to Expo West in 1999. More than two decades later, I take a look back.
The way things change over time is fascinating. Watch any movie from the 1940s and you may find yourself astounded that people who look not so different from us today, lived completely different lives less than a century ago. For one, they had no cell phones, computers, or electric cars. Back then, the average woman owned only about seven dresses, whereas today, she’s likely to purchase nearly 70 new garments a year.
The differences are also noticeable in the changes to our food choices. Back then, grapefruits and hard-boiled eggs were mainstays on nearly every breakfast table, lunch was eaten at an Automat, sherry-sipping happened in the late afternoons, and steaks were on most dinner tables.
These days, breakfast tables are more likely to feature avocado toast or overnight oats (that is if you’re not intermittent fasting). Lunch might be a salad, a wrap, or perhaps, a smoothie. Instead of sherry, you may have a kombucha, or maybe a matcha latte — with oat milk, of course. And while steak is still on (far too many?) dinner tables, healthier fare from kale and quinoa to meat successors like Impossible burgers, or the humble, versatile bean, have become equally, if not more, popular.
The author at Expo West in 2019 (left), Michelle Gannon (right) | Jill Ettinger All Rights Reserved
I was thinking about all of this recently as I reflected back on the spring of 1999, when the Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, Calif., attracted about 31,000 attendees. I was one of them. It was my first trek to the industry trade show (also known as ‘Expo West’ or ‘Expo’). Earlier this month, I made what should have been my 25th visit, but was my 22nd as a result of missing the last three years due to the pandemic.
Prior to the pandemic (which shut the event down for 2020 and 2021, and has slowed traffic in the last two years to around 65,000 attendees), attendance would tip past 80,000 retailers, brands, press, and more — all consumers at heart — clamoring into the ever-expanding Anaheim Convention Center to taste their way through the endless aisles of food and drink, looking for the next big products destined for a supermarket shelf near you.
“The energy on the floor this year makes it undeniable that the innovations at Expo West are not only shaping the future or natural and organic but of CPG overall,” Carlotta Mast, Senior Vice President and Market Leader at Informa Markets’ New Hope Network, said in a statement. “The thousands of new products on display are from an increasingly diverse group of founders and serve a diverse consumer base that cares about ingredients, responsible sourcing, and the greater impact their purchases can have.”
Something for everyone
The Expo is not unlike a choose-your-own-adventure book. Are you an organic enthusiast? How about gluten-free? Or, maybe, like me, you’re interested in vegan food. There are other noteworthy considerations like regenerative agriculture, B Corporations, or Fair Trade-certified offerings. Maybe it’s not food you come for at all — there are also aisles and aisles filled with body care products, pet products, vitamins, supplements, and so much more.
In 1999, I attended the event as a grocery buyer for a mid-sized East Coast health food store. While stores have become chains and chains have consolidated into retail empires, grocery buyers are still the holy grail of booth visitors for brands, especially for the young brands spending all of their money to showcase at Expo West, eager to find placement for their new products and, possibly, start a new food revolution as so many have before them.
Luna Bar | Courtesy
I wish I could say I remember more of what I saw on the show floor that first year as a retailer. My cell phone didn’t have a camera back then to record all my favorites. I do remember finding a vegan energy bar I was particularly excited about. Those were the days of slimy, congealed Power Bars and the sweet-and-chalky Balance Bars. Clif Bar had created Luna Bar — the nutrition bar designed for women — flipping the script on both the emergent bar category and how to market to untapped demographics. It’s more than 20 years later and I still look at the Lemon Zest bar with the same admiration as I did after my very first bite. This year, though, I looked at the Clif Bar booth a bit wistfully, as the company’s longtime founders recently sold to Mondelez after decades of being proudly independently owned.
Much of the show’s focus in 1999 was on organic, even though it would be a few more years until the USDA officially launched the National Organic Program. Brands were eager then to talk about how they eschewed synthetic chemicals, espousing the benefits of minimal soil inputs. Today, organic is the label de rigueur for any self-respecting brand. Now, if you really want to stop people in their tracks, regenerative certification is the must-have.
Kamut was the hot “it” grain back then, finding its way into pasta and cereal, among other products, boasting a better-for-you replacement for conventional wheat. I don’t think I saw one kamut item this year, or in any recent years, for that matter. But I sure saw a lot of oats and chickpeas.
Hemp was up-and-coming in 1999, but still years away from anything close to going mainstream. Now it’s in everything from soda and soap to supplements and even dog treats.
Dairy made up as big a chunk of the show back then as it does today, with farmers on hand to talk about how loved and cared for their cows are. In 1999, meat was largely absent from the Expo save for the Ostrim craze (it’s ostrich! And beef! And maybe elk!) and all manner of jerkies, which still permeate the show two decades on. I’m still as skeptical today about both as I was in my 20s. (Maybe even more so as animal agriculture is deeply tied to global emissions, deforestation, and human health issues.)
Across the show floor on the supplement side, echinacea was peaking in the late ‘90s, as were other herbal mainstays like ginseng, ginkgo, kava kava, and the buzziest of them all, St. John’s Wort. This year was all about gummies, adaptogens, and something that resembled a Starburst fruit chew, but with melatonin instead of gelatin, which I happily downed several hours later as I climbed into bed fried from the day and too exhausted to sleep. I think it helped.
As I walked the show this year, I was struck by how much had changed and, even more so, just how much hadn’t.
Old and new trends
There were still new energy bars trying to break into the crowded category. This year, it seemed most were aimed at kids. But that could also just be because I now view the show through my mommy goggles. My daughter loved the blueberry-purple carrot snack bar from Yumi that I brought home. Even at age nine, she knows how saturated the category is, telling me, “I didn’t think I would like another kind of bar, but this one was really delicious.” Maybe there’s room for more after all.
Green drinks and powders always seem to be on the cusp of their big breakthrough at Expo. And even though they’re certainly more popular now than they were nearly 25 years ago, the widespread acceptance brands are always hopeful for every year is somehow perpetually still just out of reach.
Water is always at the Expo in one form or another. In the early days, after my years in retail, I worked as a broker. One of our favorite clients was an Idaho water brand called Trinity Springs. For years they’d make quite the Expo splash with their phenomenal story, which I committed to memory like the Pledge of Allegiance (ask me!). That booth was always a popular destination until the show banned single-use plastic water bottles. Then came the paper box water that never quite took off. This year, the show was filled with what seems like the only logical workaround: recyclable aluminum cans and bottles.
Courtesy Sparkling Botanicals By Rishi
Sparkling water and drinks reigned supreme. My favorite product at the show in any category this year was the delicious Schisandra Berry sparkling water from Rishi’s Sparkling Botanicals. There were loads of other options in the category, including the prebiotic soda cohort that has taken health food stores by storm with their nine-plus grams of fiber per can. (But trust me on the Schisandra.)
Plant-based then and now
Then, of course, there were the vegan options. Long gone are the days of Tofurky founder Seth Tibbott sporting his pilgrim costume as he served up his delicious roast. He’s retired now and the company was just recently acquired.
I don’t think it was that 1999 show, but in one of those early years, I remember the thrill of a brand (maybe Lightlife?) having a hot dog cart on the show floor filled with veggie dogs. That was long before you could get a vegan hot dog at a sports stadium or a vegan burger at a fast food restaurant. I probably visited it five times over the weekend.
Amy’s Kitchen was absent this year, but for years, decades, really, it had a buffet of tasty options and cushy booth carpeting for tired feet that gave you two reasons to make multiple visits.
This year saw no shortage of vegan innovations, with Colorado’s Meati causing all kinds of buzz for its minimal ingredient mycelium meat — a far cry from those veggie dogs of years past. The meat was exceptionally juicy, with a dense and chewy texture likely to satisfy die-hard meat-eaters. If you had told me in 1999 I’d still be coming to this trade show 20+ years later and eating mushroom meat on a stick (and taking pictures of it with my phone!), I’d probably have asked you if you’d eaten another kind of mushroom. But here we are.
Courtesy Meati Foods
Meat wasn’t the only place mushrooms made their mark this year, though. The kind folks at Oasis Adaptogens are taking cues from Four Sigmatic and blending mushrooms and other good-for-yous into coffee replacement and a delicious matcha blend. In fact, I think some of those sparkling drinks I loved were filled with mushrooms promising all manner of benefits, too. I can’t help but wonder what Terence McKenna would make of all this mushroom madness.
Climax Foods created a buzz with its plant-based take on classic French cheese — a marbled, stinky blue cheese and creamy, soft brie. I wasn’t a big cheese fan before I went vegan — in fact, I rather hated the stuff — but I’m humbled by the vegan cheese evolution. In 1999, the best attempts at vegan cheese were products from Galaxy Foods or Soymage. And, let’s not beat around the bush: they were all awful, waxy, and not anything like cheese. It’s funny to think that I have only become a cheese lover since going vegan when so many people cite cheese as the reason they won’t go vegan.
There were scores of other innovations from bee-free honey to more plant-based milk, ice cream, yogurt, and so many vegan egg products. It’s exciting and overwhelming; I feel a sense of duty to my 20-year-old new-vegan self to try it all, but with more than 700 vendors boasting vegan options, it’s a feat most impossible.
Another show favorite is a staple in our house: Gotham Greens. If you haven’t seen this brand yet, you will soon. The company is bringing healthy, local food to urban consumers by growing it in cities, like in its greenhouse located on top of a Brooklyn Whole Foods Market. From fresh produce to the very best vegan pesto you’ll ever have, Gotham Greens is changing the way cities grow and eat vegetables.
A giant returns
The biggest thrill this year was seeing Just Ice Tea make its Expo West debut, or rather, its drop-the-mic comeback. The story is documentary-worthy: in 1998, plucky optimists and iced tea lovers Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff launch Honest Tea – a ready-to-drink line of iced tea driven by their hankering for a cold tea product that wasn’t as cloyingly sweet as the category leaders Arizona and Snapple.
They were also activists at heart and wanted to support a brand that spoke to their ethos. (I remember one moving speech by Goldman at Expo East, the autumnal sister event to Expo West, which was held in Washington D.C. for a number of years. He was receiving an award, and during his speech passionately called for the then-named Washington Redskins football team to change their inflammatory, derogatory name. If you don’t follow football, the team did change its name in 2020 to the Washington Commanders. Goldman has always been ahead of his time.)
Just Ice Tea co-founders Seth Goldman (left) and Spike Mendelsohn | Courtesy
Honest Tea was a huge success, and a decade after Goldman and Nalebuff founded it, the company sold to its largest shareholder, Coca-Cola. The brand chugged along with placement in mainstream retailers and fast-food chains. But as drink preferences changed, the soda giant announced last year that it was going to discontinue the tea line.
Goldman, who now also serves as Executive Chairman at Beyond Meat, almost immediately announced the tea would return through his Eat the Change snack platform along with Spike Mendelsohn under a new name, Just Ice Tea. Same formulas, same ethos, and nearly the same packaging, but, an even more refreshing sip knowing the brand has its heart and soul restored. (Watch this inspiring video of Goldman and Mendelsohn visiting their tea grower partners in Mozambique.)
The continuum
In 1999, I left that first Expo West with a suitcase full of samples and a sense of awe about an industry I had no idea would become such a defining part of my life. This year, I left with another bag of samples (and a bit worried I had caught covid). I also left with the realization that this industry, while it’s bigger than it ever was, is also still as dynamic as it ever was, and will be even long after I’ve made my last Expo visit. Despite the businesses that have gone under, the mergers, the lawsuits, and those dear friends we’ve lost along the way — just like all of us, food changes. It has to.
New Hope, which produces the event, identified five defining trends to look out for at the show: the intersection of health systems (driven by nurturing microbiomes), delivering on climate commitments, radical transparency, sustainability, and the “subscriptionalization” of everything (think: meal kits).
“It’s always tempting to zero in on the year’s hottest innovations or the latest go-to ingredients, but it’s important to recognize that these trends are reflections and manifestations of the much broader cultural forces that are truly driving today’s natural products industry,” said Jessica Rubino, Vice President, Content at Informa Markets’ New Hope Network. “These big-picture trends exist on a continuum, and Natural Products Expo West offers a front-row seat to observe their evolution.”
It’s refreshing to see Rubino remind us that the trends are part of a systemic continuum — as is everything. We need to widen the lens in order to get the clearest view. It’s like that old Chinese proverb that Alan Watts loved to tell. The story is always a work in progress.
With more than 65,000 attendees, thousands of brands, and new convention center wings to visit, it’s impossible to taste or see everything at a show of this magnitude. The trends (and the trendiest) always bubble up to the surface anyway, making their presence hard to miss. Besides, the more Expos you attend, the more you’ll come to realize that tasting everything isn’t the imperative, it’s catching that glimpse into our ever-evolving food system, and seeing how we’re evolving along with it, that’s the real takeaway.
Ditching meat and going vegan are the best things you can do for animals, the planet, and your own health, so it makes sense that vegan meat has been on the rise in many Latin American countries. As demand for animal-friendly products increases, companies across the region are rising to the occasion, creating delicious and innovative faux meats packed with the flavors that Latin American cuisines are known for.
These brands are creating vegan versions of proteins, from chorizo and carnitas to burgers and chicken nuggets, that challenge the meat industry, which treats cows, chickens, pigs, fish, and other animals as if they were objects, not individuals:
NotCo is a Chilean company that’s using an innovative AI to create vegan options that taste delicious, with unique ingredients like pineapple, coconut, sour cabbage, and seeds. Its products include animal-free chicken, burgers, cutlets, milk, cream, and more. The brand can be found at Burger King and Papa John’s in Chile and on store shelves in other Latin American countries. It’s also expanding its NotBurger, NotChicken, and NotMilk offerings to U.S. markets.
Mexico-based company Delike makes six flavors of vegan burgers, along with three varieties of tasty veggie “bites.” These meatless patties are made with nutritious whole foods, including brown rice, beans, lentils, oats, and veggies for quick and easy meals.
Felices las Vacas (“Happy Cows”) is an Argentinian brand making vegan meat, dairy, and other tasty foods with respect for animals. Its products include crispy breaded “meat” cutlets, vegan chicken nuggets, plant-based grilled burger patties and cheeses, and more. Its savory patties are also available at Latin America’s first vegan fast-food chain, JOY Burgers & Plants.
Mundo Vegetal’s crispy tofu Milanese, veggie sticks, falafel bites, and more make it super-simple to add a healthy dose of protein and flavor to any meal. Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the brand can be found at various shops and markets around the city.
Vegan brand Benji is approaching traditional Mexican meats in a nontraditional way, by creating healthy, fat-free carnitas, chorizo, bistec, pollo, chicharron, and more. Its products are made with protein-packed vital wheat gluten, and they’re full of flavorful spices and marinated in sauces for an authentic taste free from cruelty.
The Live Green Co. is a Chilean food tech company that produces vegan meats better for animals and the planet. Its goal is to use ancestral knowledge about native plants to create a healthier and more sustainable alternative to processed foods. Pea protein, chickpeas, flax, lentils, mushrooms, and other whole foods make up its meaty vegan burgers.
Tech-forward Argentinian company Tomorrow Foods is creating vegan meat, egg, and dairy products with the goal of fighting climate change through animal-free food. Since animal agriculture is one of the leading contributors to the climate catastrophe and other environmental disasters, going vegan makes a lot of sense.
What if someone asks you, “Why do people hate PETA?” People hate being confronted with the systemic abuse of our fellow animals every single day in industries that they support.
We know cognitive dissonance when we see it. Humans accustomed to eating meat and wearing leather don’t want to be reminded of the gentle cows who are killed at slaughterhouses, where workers hang them upside down and slit their throats. Those who buy products that were tested on animals don’t want to think about sensitive rabbits, who suffer when experimenters drip painful chemicals into their eyes or implant electrodes in their heads before killing them.
Speciesism—or the idea that humans are superior to other animals and therefore have the “right” to exploit them—is deeply ingrained in our society and is the basis for industries that exploit animals, from various forms of entertainment to the “pet” trade.
PETA routinely exposes the enormous suffering inherent in these industries. We conduct shocking undercover investigations, coordinate provocative campaigns, and organize bold street protests. When we speak up for animal rights, we don’t do it to make people feel comfortable—we do it to urge them to change.
People should feel disturbed by all the cruelty that PETA exposes—that’s the point. But hating on the messenger pointing out what’s uncomfortable to know won’t change the facts: Countless animals are suffering, and we have the power to help them.
Here are a few simple ways you can help our fellow animals instead of hating on PETA:
Help our fieldworkers house and feed neglected companion dogs.
PETA’s fieldworkers diligently help neglected “backyard dogs,” who are often chained outside 24/7 and forced to endure extreme weather conditions. In addition to showing these animals the care and affection that they’re routinely denied, our fieldworkers provide them with food, sturdy doghouses, veterinary care, toys, and more. You can help us continue this work by sponsoring a doghouse or by donating as little as $5 to provide a neglected dog with a week’s worth of food.
Don’t buy products that have been tested on animals.
Experimenters kill countless rabbits, mice, rats, and other animals in pointless product tests each year, which can involve force-feeding them test substances or dripping chemicals into their eyes. Always opt for cruelty-free beauty and household products, which you can find through our Beauty Without Bunnies program.
Speak out against abusive animal displays.
Remind everyone never to patronize crummy roadside zoos, marine parks, traveling animal acts, or any other cruel operation that exploits animals for entertainment.
Cook a vegan meal for your neighbors, donate vegan items to your local food bank, and ask your friends and family to take PETA’s 3-Week Vegan Challenge.
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If you want to take further action for animals, check out our top 10 action alerts this month:
After escaping from a slaughterhouse and running through the streets of Brooklyn, a 4-month-old cow will now live in peace at a New Jersey sanctuary.
Video footage of the calf roaming the city inspired a public outcry for the slaughterhouse to give her a chance at life.
#WATCH: As a cow escapes from a slaughterhouse and wildly ran through the streets
#Brooklyn | #Newyork⁰
Video shows a cow running for its life as it escaped from a slaughterhouse in Canarsie Brooklyn Tuesday evening as multiple individuals were trying to capture the… pic.twitter.com/mCre8i1rTr
The facility surrendered her to Skylands Animal Sanctuary & Rescue, where she will have the opportunity to graze on open pastures, roam freely, and do whatever else she likes.
Did You Know?
Cows are extremely intelligent and have been known to go extraordinary lengths to escape from slaughterhouses. Emily the cow became an international celebrity when she survived for several weeks in the woods, following her daring escape from a Massachusetts slaughterhouse. A statue was even erected in her honor.
Where Is the Public Outcry for the Countless Others Who Suffer Every Day in the Meat and Dairy Industries?
A happy ending for this Brooklyn calf is certainly something worth celebrating, but the countless other animals who are suffering on farms and in slaughterhouses aren’t so lucky. Each year, more than 29 million cows in the U.S. alone are exploited and killed in the meat and dairy industries.
Dairy farms repeatedly artificially impregnate mother cows and then tear their babies away from them when they’re just a day old. When mother cows can no longer produce milk, they’re sent to slaughterhouses to be killed for their flesh. There, cows are hung upside down before their throats are slit—often while they’re still conscious. These animals deserve to be free, too.
Here’s How YOU Can Help Cows
By going vegan, you can save nearly 200 animals per year. Start sparing animals today by making the compassionate switch:
At Starbucks’ annual meeting tomorrow, three shareholders and a PETA representative will fire a barrage of questions at the company, including at its new CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, urging the Seattle-based “environmentally conscientious” coffee purveyor to eliminate the surcharge it imposes on eco- and animal-friendly plant milks even though animal agriculture harms the environment, including via cows’ output of greenhouse gases. They’ll point out that Starbucks—which perpetuates immense cruelty to cows and their calves, who are separated so that the milk the mothers produce for their babies can be sold—lags behind others in the coffee industry and earns the ire of Gen Z and lactose-intolerant populations by pricing vegan milks higher than cow’s milk, even after admitting that dairy is the biggest contributor to its carbon footprint and yet having done nothing about it.
PETA supporters and activists with Animal Rights Initiative will also descend on Starbucks’ headquarters in downtown Seattle at the start of the meeting to make their position known. During the meeting, PETA will also present its shareholder resolution calling on Starbucks to commission a report examining whether or not the company is actually losing sales and hurting its reputation via its unpopular upcharge for vegan milks.
“Milking customers up to 90 cents more for eco- and animal-friendly vegan milks is indefensible, cruel, and environmentally harmful,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA and other concerned investors are going full steam ahead in urging Starbucks to ditch this shameless surcharge.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
The full shareholder questions follow.
Question #1
I’ve been a loyal Starbucks customer for years. Back in the day, Starbucks was an industry trailblazer as one of the first national coffee chains to offer soy milk. When you added coconut and almond milk, I felt that Starbucks was truly listening to its customers. But times have changed. Now virtually every neighborhood café offers oat milk, and more and more have stopped charging extra for oat, almond, soy, and other vegan milks. As someone who regularly travels abroad, I’ve also noticed that many Starbucks stores around the world—such as those in France, the U.K., and now Germany—have dropped the vegan upcharge. But here in the U.S., Starbucks is still charging up to 90 cents extra for vegan milks! I now feel that Starbucks has shifted from responding to its dairy-averse customers to exploiting us. I would like to ask this: When will Starbucks return to the values that made me an investor by listening to its customers, leading the coffee industry instead of lagging behind, and dropping the upcharge on vegan milks?
Question #2
I have a question for corporate management. As someone who lives in Seattle, I’ve been proud to watch Starbucks share our coffee culture with the world. But I’m also deeply concerned about climate change and the effect my choices have on our beautiful planet. I’ve read that coffee chains Blue Bottle and Stumptown Roasters have made oat milk the default for all coffee beverages because of dairy’s high carbon footprint. LinkedIn’s office tower in San Francisco also made oat milk the default at its coffee bar, and that move cut its carbon footprint in half! You keep telling us that Starbucks cares about the environment, but your actions say otherwise. My question is this: Since Starbucks has admitted that dairy is the biggest contributor to the company’s carbon footprint and is a major factor in climate change, why doesn’t Starbucks institute a dairy surcharge or, even better, drop dairy altogether?
Question #3
I consider myself a savvy investor, but lately, Starbucks has me concerned. I recently read about a study that found that almost half of Gen Z is ashamed to order dairy and that nearly 60% plan to give it up this year! This did not surprise me. It’s impossible not to notice the explosive popularity of oat milk lattes, coconut-based ice creams, and other dairy-free options at coffee shops, restaurants, and grocery stores. I was shocked, however, to learn that Starbucks has partnered with Arla, the dairy cooperative that conducted the study on Gen Z and dairy. This partnership makes no sense whatsoever. Today’s young people are passionate and outspoken. They vote with their wallets, they blast their opinions on social media, and they are quick to cancel anyone or anything that doesn’t align with their values. Gen Z’s estimated spending power is over $360 billion, and the consumption of dairy in the U.S. has been steadily declining since the 1970s. In order to remain financially and socially relevant, Starbucks should be dropping dairy, not supporting it. Here is my question: Given Gen Z’s aversion to dairy, why doesn’t Starbucks make vegan milk the default option instead of charging more for it?
Question #4, PETA
I have a question on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and our millions of members and supporters. Nearly 10 million cows in the U.S. alone are forced to endure a lifetime of misery for dairy every year. The typical cow spends her entire life confined to a filthy concrete-floored enclosure. When she is only 4 to 5 years old—utterly worn out from a relentless cycle of forced impregnation, birth, and round-the-clock milking—she’ll be crammed onto a truck without food or water, sent to a slaughterhouse, shot in the head with a captive-bolt gun that may or may not stun her, hung up by her legs, slashed across the neck, and left to bleed to death.
Starbucks aspires to do everything “through the lens of humanity.” Members of the board, use that same lens to look at the mistreatment of cows used for dairy. Surely not one of you would agree that endorsing such cruelty could “inspire and nurture the human spirit,” which Starbucks proudly claims is its mission. We ask you this: Knowing that dairy is the product of immense suffering, environmental destruction, and dietary racism, how do you justify supporting and even actively promoting its consumption by continuing to impose an “ethical tax” on vegan milks?
With Pesach just around the corner, PETA is sharing a roundup of our favorite vegan recipes that are kosher for Passover and kind to animals year round. From egg-free matzah balls and potato kugel to gefilte “fish” and mushroom chopped “liver,” each of PETA’s picks will have you saying, “Good yum tov!”
Looking to host an animal-friendly Seder? PETA’s tips include swapping a red beet for a shank bone and an avocado for a hard-boiled egg, to accommodate the rapidly growing number of vegans within the Jewish community and in Israel. Each individual saves nearly 200 animals every year by eating vegan, in addition to honoring the mitzvah of tz’ar ba’alei chayim (compassion for animals).
“Going vegan spreads a little light and kindness to other species as we advocate for their much-needed exodus from cruel farms and slaughterhouses,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s Jewish staffers invite the rest of the community to pass over the suffering with a healthy, delicious, and compassionate vegan Seder.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
A Good Burger sequel is just months away—but PETA thinks it will take more than Ed’s special sauce to keep the film’s burger joint popular. In a letter sent today to stars Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, the group asks that the duo use their influence to make the fictional eatery “home of the vegan burger” with a sustainable, animal-friendly menu.
“Welcome to Good Burger, home of the vegan burger—can I take your order?” That’s what we at PETA have in mind for Good Burger 2,” writes PETA Associate Director Lauren Thomasson. “Some things (like beef patties) are better left in the ’90s, and if Good Burger has any hope of surviving new competition in 2023, its menu will abundantly feature animal-free offerings, including meat-free burgers, dairy-free shakes, and, of course, a special secret vegan sauce.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
PETA’s letter to Kenan and Kel follows.
Dear Kenan and Kel,
“Welcome to Good Burger, home of the vegan burger—can I take your order?” That’s what we at PETA have in mind for Good Burger 2. Some things (like beef patties) are better left in the ’90s, and if Good Burger has any hope of surviving new competition in 2023, its menu will abundantly feature animal-free offerings, including meat-free burgers, dairy-free shakes, and, of course, a special secret vegan sauce.
We know more than ever about the appalling ways in which animals are raised and killed for food. Cows are branded and castrated, and their horn buds are gauged out of their skulls. They endure these routine mutilations without pain relief. They’re kept on crowded, filthy feedlots, only to then be forced onto trucks and transported for miles through all weather extremes, typically without food or water. At the slaughterhouse, the throats of those who survived the transport will be slit, often while they’re still conscious. Animal agriculture is also a leading contributor to the climate catastrophe and many other environmental issues, and the World Health Organization has declared that eating processed meats causes cancer.
Today, we have vegan patty options like Beyond Meat that imitate beef and satiate even the meatiest cravings without involving cruelty to animals, and vegan burgers have even made their way onto the menus of popular chains, including Carl’s Jr., Johnny Rockets, and TGI Fridays, to name a few. In fact, vegan fast food has taken the nation by storm, with all-vegan burger joints such as, Kevin Hart’s Hart House, Monty’s Good Burger, and Veggie Grill popping up across the country, so Good Burger would be in good company by making the switch to a vegan menu.
Given that the meat and dairy industries are causing the senseless suffering of billions of animals, destroying the planet, and wreaking havoc on human health, would you, Kenan and Kel, please use your influence to ensure that the sequel promotes kindness and sustainability with an all-vegan restaurant in the film?
We’d be happy to meet with the production to help in any way we can. Thank you for your consideration. We hope to hear from you soon!
With kind regards,
Lauren Thomasson
Associate Director, Animals in Film and Television
Following a string of quarterly losses, Sweden-based Oatly has raised $425 million in new funds to continue its expansion, that now includes a deal with McDonald’s.
In a statement last week, Oatly Group AB said the $425 million comes in a deal with hedge fund Silver Point Capital LP for $125 million in a guaranteed term loan B credit agreement along with the sale of $300 million in convertible notes.
Advancing Oatly’s mission
“We’re pleased with the confidence demonstrated by our anchor shareholders and new investors in advancing Oatly’s mission and fueling the tremendous global opportunity ahead for our organization,” Oatly Chief Executive Toni Petersson said in a statement last week.
Courtesy
“With our operations better stabilized and business plan now fully funded, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the strong underlying global demand for our products and create significant, long-term value for our shareholders,” he said.
The news sent Oatly shares up 17 percent to $2.43, Marketwatch reported.
Oatly x McCafé Austria
Earlier this week, Oatly announced it had struck a deal with McDonald’s Austria to bring its Oatly Barista Edition to all 800-plus McDonald’s McCafés across the country.
“We have noticed an increased demand for oat-based dairy alternatives among our guests and responded to that. With addition of Oatly Barista, we can now cater a delicious alternative to the growing number of our guests who prefer oat-based drinks at our McCafé, and at the same time we offer our guests a maximum taste experience,” Tanja Wallner, Marketing Professional McCafé & Breakfast at McDonald’s Austria, said in a statement.
Courtesy McDonald’s
The move marks the first oat drink in McCafés in Austria and builds on Oatly’s relationship with the fast-food giant. In 2021 it announced a partnership with McDonald’s in mainland China.
“We’re excited to partner with McDonald’s Austria and commend their commitment to providing their guests with great-tasting drink options that are better for the planet,” says Roland Griesebner, Country Manager Austria at Oatly. “For Oatly, our partnership with McDonald’s Austria allows us to introduce our best-selling product to a wider audience.”
McDonald’s Austria was one of the first countries to debut the plant-based McPlant burger. Last summer, McDonald’s rival Burger King made plant-based meat the default at its Austrian location.
“Meat is one option, but it is not the only one,” Jan-Christoph Küster, marketing director of the TQSR Group, Austrian master franchisee of Burger King, said when the campaign launched last year. “We leave it open to our guests what is normal for them: everyone should have the same taste.”
Ousted vegan cheesemaker and founder of Miyoko’s Creamery, Miyoko Schinner files countersuit against her former employer.
Following her dismissal last June and the official public announcement that went viral last month, Miyoko Schinner, founder of vegan dairy brand Miyoko’s Creamery, has filed a countersuit against her former company, alleging that she was forced out after filing multiple HR complaints about recently-hired male executives who “openly denigrated women.”
Schinner was hit with a lawsuit last month following her departure from the company that she founded in 2014, with claims that the founder was in breach of contract, stole company documents and trade secrets, and misappropriated intellectual property.
‘A campaign of mistreating women’
Schinner’s countersuit was filed last week by The Bloom Firm. The counterclaims follow weeks of the ousted founder sharing videos on social media to publicly deny the accusations made by her former employer and to condemn shifts to the work culture following key hires over the last several years. Her claims include gender discrimination, retaliation, and unlawful use of her likeness on the company website without her consent.
Miyoko’s cheese | Courtesy
Schinner claims that following the hire of René Weber as VP of operations at Miyoko’s in 2021, he “immediately began a campaign of mistreating women,” including excluding them from meetings and withholding critical information that Schinner’s countersuit says made it “impossible for her to continue to effectively do her job.” According to the lawsuit, Weber “openly denigrated women, their expertise, and their contributions at Miyoko’s, calling some ‘stupid’ and ‘terrible,’” — terms Schinner says Weber never used about men.
Schinner claims Weber “mansplained” to her that she did not understand her own products or the company she founded. “In a markedly gendered tone, he described her ideas and ambition as unrealistic, driven by emotion and whim,” reads the countersuit.
Schinner says she also filed complaints to HR about John Zabrodsky, an operations consultant she says was hired by Miyoko’s at the urging of one of the company’s investors, PowerPlant Partners. Miyoko’s then “swiftly retaliated against [Schinner] by demoting her and then terminating her.”
The company raised nearly $60 million, including a $52 million Series C funding round in 2021.
‘Blindsided’
The Miyoko’s Creamery board of directors says Schinner’s exit from the company came as she lacked the necessary skills to take the company to the next level as its CEO. Schinner maintains that she was “blindsided” by the lawsuit.
Explaining the decision to reporters, board member James Joaquin from investor Obvious Ventures said the company was seeking a new CEO with “proven P&L experience who has scaled a larger business.”
Miyoko Schinner, via Instagram
According to the court filings, Miyoko’ssenior leadership team brought “multiple concerns” about Schinner to the board and “threatened to quit due to Schinner’s mismanagement.”
Miyoko’s is being represented by the San Diego law firm Mintz. Company counsel Jennifer Rubin told AgFunder News that while the company cannot comment given the pending lawsuit, as the company’s former CEO, Miyoko Schinner was “responsible for managing all of the organization’s employees, functions, strategies, and operations and, more importantly, providing information necessary to allow the company’s board to fulfill its oversight obligations.”
At PETA, we’re always speaking up for animals used for food, whose voices are ignored by those who profit from their deaths. While our work is far from over, we’ve seen major strides in the public’s understanding of land-based animals and their interests as well as calls for their welfare, rights, and liberation. In the case of aquatic animals used for food, though, the picture is grimmer: Crabs and lobsters are regularly boiled alive, fish are suffocated, and others’ bodies are gutted while they choke—they all suffer agonizingly in the moments before their deaths.
In light of this treatment of crabs and other sea life, who have emotions, feel pain, and have memories, we started a nationwide campaign in 2018 to encourage diners to leave them off dinner plates entirely and let them live in peace. Our provocative message has gotten a lot of attention in Baltimore, which is known for its crab industry, so we’ve kept the public conversation going there ever since. Check out the messages we’ve sent and some actions we’ve taken in defense of crabs and other aquatic animals killed for their flesh in Maryland.
I’m ME, Not MEAT
This is the billboard that started it all.
In August 2018, we loudly and proudly put our message on a giant billboard near Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The ad was close to several seafood restaurants—including Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, Phillips Seafood, Mo’s Fisherman’s Wharf, McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks, The Oceanaire Seafood Room, and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.—and was up for the Baltimore Seafood Festival.
This billboard encouraged viewers to see the individual animals behind the piles of corpses found at “crab feasts,” nets full of fish and other targets (along with “bycatch”), and lobsters killed after being stuck in cramped tanks—and to recognize that each had their own interests, preferences, and unique lives. Workers are paid to kill billions of aquatic individuals every year—a scale of suffering that’s almost incomprehensible. When this billboard stirred up a lot of conversation among individuals and restaurateurs alike, we knew we had to keep going.
Why So Crabby?
We’ll tell you what restaurants and fish markets won’t: The flesh of sea life contains horrors like heavy metals, cholesterol, and, of course, cruelty.
Because Baltimore’s seafood industry took our first billboard so personally, we snapped into action and pitched our next billboard in September 2018. It featured a picture of a crab and read, “Why So Crabby? Letting Others Live Might Just Save Your Life!”
This piece references the mercury, PCBs, and other toxins routinely found in the flesh of dead fish, which make their way into the human body when eaten. Despite the health claims made by corporate fishmongers, a healthy vegan diet incorporates all the omega fatty acids found in fish flesh and none of the bad stuff!
Like a Phoenix From the Ashes
After public life got back into swing following the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to resurrect our actions in defense of aquatic animals. PETA rolled up to the Maryland Seafood Festival in September 2022 with a mobile billboard playing a stunning public service announcement featuring Joaquin Phoenix—in the short, he “drowns” on camera to show the agony fish endure when they suffocate to death.
Fish feel pain as acutely as mammals do, have long-term memories, and even sing underwater. Choosing vegan seafood helps prevent fish from being gutted on the decks of fishing boats, live lobsters from being dropped into boiling water, and crabs and octopuses from being cut up while still conscious.
I Never Lent You My Flesh!
Going vegan is an excellent way to respect all life year-round.
In February 2023, just ahead of Lent, we made our latest move. We placed this striking billboard about a block from Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, encouraging viewers to abstain from fish and all other animal-derived foods. Lent is a period of fasting during which many Christians give up all meat—except fish flesh. This distinction is perplexing at best and is based on ancient understandings of animals. PETA asks that Christians practice a more compassionate fast by leaving fish as well as other animals—who can all experience pain, fear, joy, and suffering, just as we do—off their plates for the fast and beyond.
Pope Francis has publicly encouraged people to treat animals as kindred beings. In his encyclical on caring for creation, he wrote, “[W]e must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.”
Keep Up to Date: Follow PETA on Social Media
If you don’t want to miss the next action we take to prevent marine animals from being killed for their flesh, follow PETA on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. You’ll also see inspiring celebrity appearances, learn how you can protect animals, and much more!
As much as we love vegan documentaries, we also love films that portray being vegan in a comedic way. The film Coffee Wars does just that!
Coffee connoisseur Jo (Kate Nash) is trying hard to keep her independent, plant-based coffee shop afloat with the help of her motley crew of workers. In a last-ditch attempt to rescue their business, she and her team compete as the underdogs in the World Barista Championship to get a chance to prove themselves in the dairy-dominated world of coffee and win the prize money to keep their shop open.
The producer, Veg Good Films, has announced that 100% of all proceeds will be donated to environmental and animal welfare charities. In addition, all the products used in the film were ethically sourced and vegan, including all “milk” and all wardrobe, hair, and makeup items and products. All animals featured in the film were rescued by the production team and are enjoying happy lives at animal sanctuaries.
Coffee Wars will be available on Prime Video, iTunes, and Google Play today, Tuesday, March 21. This movie is the perfect excuse to throw a coffee watch party. Have everyone bring their favorite vegan coffee concoctions, or set up a coffee bar with vegan milks, creamers, and syrups and see what everyone creates.
Is there anything better than slurping a bowl of classic Sichuan dan dan noodles (also known as Bang Bang Noodles, or Dan Dan Meen)? Piling thin noodles on top a spicy chili oil, nutty peanut sauce, mouth numbing peppercorn, and a sprinkling of sesame…. ooh! Traditionally including minced pork and scallions, it used to be so hard to find a restaurant that served a meatless version. However, times have changed and so have the ingredients in our favorite fiery snack. The golden age of veganism has spawned master chefs to craft delicious plant-based options. Bring a little heat to your life with the best vegetarian dan dan noodles in Hong Kong!
1. Pure Veggie House – Vegan-Friendly
A Buddhist vegetarian restaurant located up in Mid-Levels, in addition to serving one of the best meatless dim sum, Pure Veggie House is a great spot to grab a bowl of those Sichuan style noods. Served all day long with tantalizing peanuts and sesame sauce, if you have time after your meal, head out for a walk at the Botanical Gardens right next door.
Taiwan’s accidental dumpling empire is a great place to get your dan dan mien fill at one of their many outlets. We love how their chewy, handmade noodles are cooked to order every single time, perfectly doused in spicy sesame (which isn’t that spicy, in our humble opinion) and vegan peanut sauce.
For a full list of Din Tai Fung locations in Hong Kong, see here.
3. Crystal Jade – Vegetarian
One of our favourite traditional omni Chinese restaurants, we love the extensive vegetarian menu at Crystal Jade. Their Green Selection Series features their signature Sichuan Dan Dan La Mian complete with nutty richness and mild spiciness. Please note: the noodles do contain eggs, making this dish a no-no for vegans.
For a full list of Crystal Jade locations in Hong Kong, see here.
4. Chili Fagara – Vegan-Friendly
For something more complex and compelling, look no further than the dan dan noodles at Chili Fagara. While the components of sesame, scallions and chili may appear familiar, it’s their homemade peanut sauce that makes this spicy and savory combo memorable. Be sure to let your server know you’re here for the veggie version upon ordering!
G/F, 7 Old Bailey Street, Soho, Central, +852 2796 6866
Images courtesy of Crystal Jade (lead), Confusion Kitchen, Macau Lifestyle, and Chili Fagara.
Mung beans are a versatile and nutritious legume staple and a new GFI APAC report highlights their value in an evolving food industry.
Mung beans have been consumed by many cultures around the world for thousands of years. They are now gaining popularity as an alternative protein source vital to the future of the food industry, due to their high protein content, versatility, and sustainability.
A recent report by the Good Food Institute Asia Pacific (GFI APAC) highlights the untapped potential of mung beans as a sustainable and nutritious alternative to animal-based proteins in the growing Asian market.
Mung beans are a rich source of protein, containing about 24 percent protein by weight, which is comparable to other legumes such as lentils and chickpeas. Mung beans are the base of Eat Just’s vegan egg product, and the high protein content makes them an ideal ingredient for other plant-based products, the report notes.
‘A portfolio of solutions’
“There is no silver-bullet ingredient that fits every system, so we need a portfolio of solutions that slot into various regional and product contexts,” reads the report. “Mung beans are a mighty plant protein with a functional fit for many plant-based applications, which can bring a business case across the value chain.”
According to the report, mung beans hold potential across dairy, meat, and egg successor categories.
“Mung bean proteins cater to lactose-intolerant consumers without triggering other common allergens like soy and wheat proteins,” the report notes. Lactose intolerance is extremely prevalent across Asia —affecting nearly 100 percent of East Asia — and affects 68 percent of the global population.
Mung beans are a versatile protein source | Photo Courtesy David Gabrielyan on Unsplash
“While the nascency of mung bean product development means it is too early to tell what the best applications are, first-mover companies claim the excellent dairy-like functionality of mung bean proteins and their status as low-allergen and non-GMO can bring unique consumer benefits, including superior taste and appealing clean labels,” the report notes.
GFI APAC also points to the potential to supplant eggs, particularly amid the avian flu disruption of the supply chain.
“Shocks to the conventional egg market in 2022 illuminated the supply-side risks facing animal proteins, the impact on price parity, and the value of plant-based eggs as volatility-proof substitutes,” reads the report. Skyrocketing egg prices driven by the outbreak saw sales of Just Egg, the leading mung bean-based egg alternative jump 17 percent in Q4 2022.
“Plant-based eggs are not only a market opportunity in Asia, which is the world’s biggest egg-consuming region, but an imperative to future-proof the egg supply,” the report reads.
Mung beans hold potential in the alternative meat category as well, the report notes. “In order for alternative meats to take off in Asia, they must demonstrate key functionalities such as the formation of an emulsion—a heat-stable gel with a desired mouthfeel—which can be found in mung bean proteins,” GFI APAC notes.
Beyond Meat and PepsiCo’s recent joint venture tapped mung beans for plant-based jerky. “The snack segment represents 12 percent of the global meat market and its growth trends are strong with the rise in snacking behaviour since COVID-19, increased desire for healthy, protein-rich snack options, and the extremely high demand for convenience food in Southeast Asia,” reads the report.
Mung beans also show potential applications for cultivated meat and fermentation. “The protein residue and peptides left in the water after washing and concentration processes can be extracted and potentially used as plant-based culture media components for the cultivated meat industry,” says GFI APAC. “For fermentation, mung bean hulls have been proven as a good feedstock for the production of xylitol, which is an ingredient used in obesity intervention. Mung bean components may have additional untapped potential in other microbial fermentation processes.”
Mung bean sustainability
Beyond their versatility, one of the key benefits of mung beans is their sustainability. Mung beans require considerably less water and land compared to animal-based proteins, making them an eco-friendly protein source. They are also less resource-intensive than other plant-based protein sources such as soybeans and peas. Moreover, mung beans can be grown in a variety of climatic conditions and are relatively easy to cultivate, making them a versatile crop for farmers.
Courtesy Just Egg
The GFI APAC report also highlights the potential of mung beans in addressing food insecurity in Asia. As a staple food in many Asian countries, the mung bean’s high protein and nutrient content make them an ideal food source for populations that are struggling to meet the protein demands of rising populations.
“Crop diversification offers huge potential to increase mainstream acceptance of alternative proteins across Asia and build back the health of our global food system,” reads the report. “Alternative proteins are a dramatically more efficient way of producing protein to meet the soaring consumer demand; however, we need to urgently accelerate product development to drive consumer uptake. Developing alternative proteins using diversified and localised plant protein sources will bring relevant product benefits, and lay the foundations for a sustainable and secure food system that can cope with the vulnerable and volatile climates we face now and in the future.”
Ahead of the White House Easter Egg Roll on April 10, PETA has asked First Lady Dr. Jill Biden to choose festive and bird-friendly items—such as reusable plastic eggs, painted rocks, or wooden eggs, like those already sold by the White House—for the occasion. If she agrees, Dr. Biden would make the event eggstra special for chickens, reduce waste, and accommodate all the children who avoid eggs for ethical, environmental, religious, or health reasons.
Many families are shelling out nearly 70% more for eggs amid the deadliest avian flu outbreak on record, so now is a hopping good time to hatch a kind Easter tradition that doesn’t prop up the cruel egg industry.
As an educator, the first lady could encourage Americans of all ages to consider who animals are, understand that animal-based agriculture is ruining the planet, and guard their health by avoiding high-cholesterol foods.
Children, whose empathy for animals is innate, would be devastated to learn that eggs come from cruel farms.
Every year in the U.S., about 300 million hens’ beaks are mutilated, then they’re forced to spend their entire lives pressed against other birds in severely crowded cages that reek of feces and ammonia. These chickens suffer just as any other animals would, including Commander and Willow, the Bidens’ beloved dog and cat.
Chickens are smart, sensitive animals who feel pain and empathy, have distinct personalities, and, at just a few days old, can count and perform basic addition and subtraction. Yet they’re factory-farmed in hen prisons, and their eggs are stolen for humans to eat.
Take Action for Chickens This Easter—Go Vegan Now
Did you know that you could save nearly 200 animals (including chickens) per year just by going vegan? That’s right—going vegan saves lives.
Ahead of St. Patrick’s Day, a sky-high green cow from PETA has just gone up across the street from the T-Mobile Center—above McFadden’s Sports Saloon, Shark Bar, and KC Live! (all of which are hosting St. Patrick’s Day events)—suggesting that cows should be kissed, not killed, to help avert the worst effects of the climate catastrophe.
“Cows are gentle animals who would much prefer a kiss over the terror of the slaughterhouse,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges everyone to go green this St. Patrick’s Day by going vegan, sparing animals tremendous suffering and slashing the carbon emissions produced by animal agriculture.”
Most cows used by the meat industry are often confined to cramped, filthy feedlots, where they’re forced to live mired in their own waste. They’re commonly dosed with antibiotics, branded, and castrated, and their horn buds are gouged or burned out of their skulls without any pain relief. On dairy farms, cows are repeatedly forcibly impregnated and then traumatically separated from their newborn calves until their bodies finally wear out and they’re sent to slaughter.
According to the United Nations, about a third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food production and the largest percentage of these emissions come from the meat and dairy industries. Vegan foods—such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, peas, nuts, and lentils—require less energy, land, and water to produce, and switching to plant-based foods would help drastically reduce human impact on the environment.
PETA’s cow is located at 1370 Grand Blvd.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
MeliBio, one of the more recent hyped-up food tech companies to come out of the Bay Area, has released its first product: bee-free honey.
MeliBio has been promoting its bee-free tech for several years, keeping ingredients and technology under wraps. At last week’s Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, Calif., MeliBio debuted Mellody, its first product, to a crowd of more than 65,000 attendees.
Mellody honey
While other companies have launched bee-free honey products made from ingredients like apples and lemons, Mellody claims to mimic the signature taste and performance of honey from bees while offering consumers a more sustainable and ethical product.
Mellody bee-free honey is launching in food service
The ingredients label on the new product shows fructose, glucose, and a range of plant extracts including sumac, fava d’anta, Indian trumpet flower, green coffee bean, chamomile, and seaberry, among other ingredients.
Mellody is launching first in food service accounts, MeliBio says. The product is already available at Baia in San Francisco, Little Choc Apothecary in New York City, and Motel Fried Chicken in Philadelphia.
“By providing restaurants and consumers with a delicious and sustainable alternative, we hope to help restore ecological harmony and make room for native pollinators,” Darko Mandich, CEO and co-founder of MeliBio, said in a statement.
Honeybees
According to Nielsen data, 2022 saw honey sales reach $920 million with double-digit dollar growth in the latest year. But commercial honey production faces a number of threats.
“Many people are unaware of the issues surrounding commercial honey production and its impact on the 4,000 [species of] native bees in the U.S.,” Mandich said.
Last year, the USDA reported that honey production declined by more than 125 million pounds — a 14 percent decline per colony. Issues affecting colony health, including the mysterious colony collapse disorder (CCD), have continued to increase in recent years. From spring 2020 to 2021 colony losses were the second highest on record since first tracked in 2006.
Melibio honey | Courtesy
Experts link bee decline to a number of issues, namely agricultural pesticides and herbicides. In 2018, the European Union banned the most popular class of insecticides, neonicotinoids, because of their link to CCD.
The ban followed a report from the E.U. scientific risk assessors, which concluded that the pesticides posed a risk to honeybees and wild bee populations. A recent study that looked at honey samples from around the world found widespread contamination with neonicotinoids.
Bees play a vital role in the food system, pollinating more than 130 fruits and vegetables; they also pollinate 75 percent of the world’s flowering plants.
If you see “gelatina nigra” on a food or medicine label, stay away. This cruelly obtained ingredient is made from donkey skin. And now, a new lawsuit against Amazon alleges that the online retailer’s distribution and sale of products containing gelatina nigra—more commonly known as ejiao or “donkey-hide gelatin”—violates California law.
Donkeys are killed and skinned for ejiao—a gelatin made by boiling donkeys’ skin
The U.S. is the world's third-largest importer, help us shut down this violent trade! https://t.co/SpiXi0hiRh
The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Contemporary Equine Studies, points out that California’s Prohibition of Horse Slaughter and Sale of Horsemeat for Human Consumption Act of 1998 prohibits the sale of “horsemeat”—which the lawsuit asserts includes any part of any equine, including donkeys—for human consumption. The complaint demands that Amazon stop selling ejiao immediately.
The demand for ejiao is decimating global donkey populations.
Every year, millions of donkeys are slaughtered so that their skins can be boiled down to make gelatin for ejiao.
A PETA Asia investigation into China’s ejiao industry blew the lid off the violent abuse of donkeys on farms there, where workers were seen hitting donkeys as young as 5 years old with sledgehammers and beating terrified donkeys with sticks.
Other workers slaughtered donkeys by bludgeoning them in the head before slitting their throats.
Donkeys are imported into China from countries all over the world just to be slaughtered to meet the demand for ejiao products. While Walmart and other retailers have committed to stop selling ejiao after hearing from PETA, Amazon still sells items containing this cruelly obtained ingredient.
Here’s How YOU Can Help Spare Donkeys
Stay posted for more updates on this groundbreaking lawsuit on PETA.org, and click the button below to help stop the slaughter of donkeys for medicine in China:
Aaaaaand liftoff:peta2’s brand-new website has launched! As an animal rights group for young people, peta2 shows Gen Zers how helping animals is something we can all do at least three times a day, every day. With opportunities to help people choose to live compassionately and a one-stop shop for all things animal rights, the site offers new merchandise, including a tee featuring peta2’s adorable mascot, “Not a Nugget.” You can also spot him on the new sticker sheet below:
Why a New peta2 Is Launching Now
Gen Z and Gen Alpha have serious concerns about the current climate. Overwhelmingly, young humans care about our fellow animals and animal rights, but they’re living in a world filled with uncertainty, which can leave them feeling powerless or exhausted. But peta2 is here to help!
Eating vegan meals and making sure our choices align with our beliefs are empowering, positive ways to make a difference. The new peta2 website and social media channels are filled with positive content that helps young people achieve these goals, such as information about cruelty-free skincare routines and cosmetics plus shopping guides for prom that don’t harm animals. You’ll also find contests involving favorite compassionate brands and content from bands and other celebs and influencers who care about animals, along with many meaningful ways to take action for our fellow Earthlings.
A Deeper Dive Into peta2
All animals, including humans, are individuals who want to feel safe, loved, and comforted. peta2 highlights this reality in an upbeat way for young audiences, helping them understand that we’re all the same in the ways that matter most. peta2 believes that it’s speciesist and wrong to hurt animals, who aren’t test tubes, dinner, clothing, entertainment, or anything else for humans to use. The group helps people go vegan and empowers today’s younger generations to live kindly.
The campaign goals of PETA and peta2 are the same, but the latter exists to reach young people by focusing on empowering, positive content about animal rights and following a vegan lifestyle, which affords students a break from the anxiety-inducing news they are often inundated with during daily life.
Helping students learn more about animal rights issues and teaching them how to take action for animals at home and in school, peta2 is honoring today’s students and the culture of self-care.
Staffers and young people, including PETA’s student interns, are writing and curating content in a “big sibling” voice, encouraging young people to be part of the vegan movement. peta2’s social media pages and website feature individuals who help connect with young people on a more personal level.
How peta2 Inspires Students in Troubled Times
Many people in peta2’s demographic are just starting out in animal rights or are curious about making changes to help animals. That’s why peta2 provides compelling, nongraphic, relatable content using emotional images of animals to instill empathy. peta2’s Students Opposing Speciesism (or “SOS”) program remains the primary home for students who are more established in their activism and ready to plan protests and demonstrations, start animal rights clubs at their schools, and take other actions for animals.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, young people are struggling with higher rates of depression from lockdowns. They also live in fear of school shootings and the climate catastrophe. Students can connect with peta2 and take part in simple online actions to see that they are important and can have a positive impact on the world. For young people who want to hit the streets for animal rights, peta2 also offers paid internships, paid campus rep opportunities, and more.
Take the First Step: How to Get Involved With peta2
Making a difference and taking action for animals start with that first step of getting involved.
Order some new FREE stickers below, sign up for e-mails, and follow peta2 on Instagram and TikTok for exclusive content, contests featuring giveaways of products from your favorite brands, news about animal-loving bands and other celebs, and plenty of ways to help animals!
During quarantine in the NBA “bubble” in 2020, Kanter Freedom began reading about the meat, egg, and dairy industries, learning that animals’ throats are cut while they’re still conscious, millions of hens are confined to cramped cages mired in their own filth, and mother cows are separated from their beloved babies shortly after birth.
“The more I read and the more I watched and learned and educated myself, my heart was just shattering,” says Kanter Freedom. “That was the first time I decided we need change, and change cannot wait.”
Each person who goes vegan saves nearly 200 animals every year; reduces their own risk of suffering from heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer; and shrinks their carbon footprint.
“As an athlete, if I can do this, you can do this, too,” promises Kanter Freedom, who belongs to a growing list of athletes and other celebrities—including Cam Newton, Tyrann Mathieu, Le’Veon Bell, Devin Funchess, Lonnie Walker, Alex Morgan, and Elena Delle Donne—who’ve teamed up with PETA to promote kindness to animals.
Official tournament programs are also available for $10 at major newsstands, college bookstores, supermarkets, pharmacies, and airports in the home cities of competing teams.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Today, ahead of the ticket lottery for the White House Easter Egg Roll, PETA has asked Dr. Jill Biden to choose festive and bird-friendly wooden eggs for the occasion, such as those already sold by the White House. If she agrees, PETA says in its letter to the first lady, she would make the event “eggstra special for chickens,” reduce waste, and accommodate all the children who avoid eggs for ethical, environmental, religious, or health reasons.
“As an educator, we hope you’ll join us in encouraging Americans of all ages to consider who animals are, understand that animal-based agriculture is ruining the planet, and guard our health against high-cholesterol foods,” writes PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Chickens are smart, sensitive animals who feel pain and empathy; have distinct personalities; and, at just a few days old, can count and perform basic addition and subtraction, yet they are factory-farmed in hen prisons and the eggs they produce are stolen for humans to eat.”
The group explains that children, whose empathy for animals is innate, would be devastated to learn that eggs come from cruel farms. Every year in the U.S., about 300 million hens’ beaks are mutilated, then they’re forced to spend their entire lives pressed against other birds in severely crowded cages that reek of feces and ammonia. These chickens suffer just as any other animals would, including Commander and Willow, the Bidens’ beloved dog and cat.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
PETA’s letter to Dr. Biden follows.
March 13, 2023
Dear Dr. Biden:
I’m writing on behalf of PETA, the world’s largest animal rights organization, with more than 5 million members and supporters in the U.S., to respectfully urge you not to allow the use of real chicken eggs for the White House Easter Egg Roll but to choose instead reusable plastic or wooden eggs—or even lovely painted rocks or egg-shaped balls—all of which would last for years to come. This update would make the event eggstra special for chickens and inclusive of all children who attend, including those who don’t consume eggs for ethical, environmental, or health reasons.
As an educator, you understand that we want Americans of all ages to consider who animals are, what makes them tick, and how they feel. Chickens are smart, sensitive animals who feel pain and empathy; have distinct personalities; and at just a few days old, can count and perform basic addition and subtraction. Mother hens communicate with their chicks while they’re still inside the shell so that they recognize her call when they hatch. Children, who have natural empathy for animals, would be saddened to learn that the eggs at this family event came from mothers who spent their entire lives in cages smaller than a letter-sized sheet of paper, unable to lift a single wing, and were taken from her as soon as they were laid. It’s a most fowl irony.
We hope you’ll agree that while families are shelling out nearly 70% more for eggs amid the deadliest avian flu outbreak on record, now is a hopping good time to hatch an Easter tradition that is kind and doesn’t prop up the cruel egg industry. We wish you and your family a very happy Easter and look forward to hearing from you.
When you google “chicken,” what do you find? PETA reveals the most common outcome by sharing this brief video:
Made by The Juju, a creative agency started in Argentina, the video shows that most search results for “chicken” display speciesism and are about how humans use the bird for food, not the living animal.
Why Disturbing Results Appear When You Google ‘Chicken’
Worldwide, humans breed, confine, abuse, and kill chickens for meat and eggs every day, every hour, every minute—every second. In 2020, Americans ate more flesh from chickens than from cows, averaging 96.4 pounds of broiler chickens per person. The U.S. repeated that pattern in 2021, but the amount dropped to an average of 68.1 pounds per person.
What chickens endure to end up on a plate is horrifying. Humans breed and drug them to grow so large so quickly that their legs and organs can’t keep up, making heart attacks, organ failure, and crippling leg deformities common. Many chickens become crippled under their own weight and eventually die because they can’t reach water nozzles. When they’re only 6 or 7 weeks old, they’re crammed into cages and trucked to slaughter.
In the time it takes to look up “chicken” online, factory workers kill and cut up countless chickens for food. The search results will remain the same until we take a closer look.
Don’t Google ‘Chicken’—Instead, Search Your Heart for Compassion
Chickens are fascinating individuals who are intelligent and inquisitive. Like all animals, they value their lives. They are highly social and caring birds, looking out for their families and for other chickens in their group. They like to spend their days together, scratching for food, taking dust baths, roosting in trees, and lying in the sun.
Chickens also have highly developed communication skills. They use dozens of types of vocalizations to distinguish between threats approaching by land as opposed to those approaching by water. A mother hen begins to teach these calls to her chicks before they hatch. She clucks softly to them while sitting on the eggs, and they chirp back to her and to each other from inside their shells.
Choose to Be Kind to Chickens by Going Vegan
Perhaps someday, smart devices will reveal the full horror of what happens to animals used for food. Until then, have compassion for chickens—and all animals—as individuals, and never view them as a meal.
The video concludes by asking viewers to “see the individual” and “go vegan.” For chickens, the environment, and your health, learn how simple going vegan is and choose kindness:
Patagonia Provisions, the food and beverage arm of outdoor giant Patagonia, has announced the acquisition of Moonshot, a snack brand that is known for its environmentally-friendly and sustainable practices.
The acquisition, which marks Patagonia’s first in over two decades, is part of the company’s continued efforts to invest in businesses and products that support its mission to save the planet.
Last year, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, now 84, transferred ownership of the company to the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit that’s dedicated to preserving the planet.
“Instead of ‘going public,’ you could say we’re ‘going purpose.’ Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth for investors, we’ll use the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source of all wealth,” Chouinard wrote on the company’s website in September.
Julia Collins, Moonshot founder | Courtesy
That commitment is echoed in Moonshot’s mission.
“I founded Moonshot with the vision of using the power of food to help tackle climate change,” Julia Collins, founder of Moonshot, said in a statement. “By joining Patagonia Provisions, who recently made Earth their only shareholder, Moonshot now belongs to the planet. I cannot imagine a more spectacular path forward for our mission, our team and our Climatarian community.”
Collins founded Moonshot with a vision to help consumers tackle climate change by offering sustainable food. The company sources wheat that’s grown using regenerative and organic practices. As the main ingredient in its crackers, the wheat is fully traceable to the farm and field. Moonshot’s crackers are also produced sustainably, using renewable energy in a LEED-certified facility, and the boxes are made from 100 percent recycled materials.
Patagonia Founder Yvon Chouinard | Courtesy
“To us, it’s not one action, but taking a full inventory of your company’s impact on the planet so you can holistically evaluate where you can make adjustments and drive change. It all starts with measuring your baseline carbon footprint so you can create an action plan from there and track progress year over year,” Collins said in an interview last year.
According to Paul Lightfoot, general manager of Patagonia Provisions, Moonshot’s impressive growth can be attributed to its focus on producing and selling nutritious and delicious crackers with a significantly improved carbon footprint compared to industry standard practices — values that align with those of Patagonia Provisions, which made the acquisition a natural fit.
Patagonia Provisions launched more than a decade ago. Its first product was wild-caught salmon. The label now produces more than 30 products, which are distributed through other outdoor retailers as well as natural grocers.
Moonshot’s commitment to its climate mission and its great-tasting product earned it the Expo West Virtual 2021 NEXTY Award for Best New Savory or Salty Snack.
On Friday, three nearly nude PETA supporters covered in “blood” and lying on giant meat trays wrapped in cellophane—complete with the meat industry’s typical and misleading “free-range” and “certified humane” labels—will challenge spring break crowds flocking to Las Olas Beach and nearby restaurants to think about who meat really is. Taking a stand behind the display, additional supporters will brandish signs that read, “We Are All the Same. Go Vegan.”
When: Friday, March 10, 12 noon
Where: 299 S. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
“Just like humans, other animals feel joy, pain, and fear and don’t want to be slaughtered for a fleeting taste of their flesh,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA encourages everyone to think of the once-living individual behind every neatly wrapped corpse sold at the supermarket.”
PETA points out that “organic,” “free-range,” and other deceptive labels are a marketing scheme, as the animals are still mutilated without painkillers, jabbed with electric prods, and sent to the very same slaughterhouses used by the worst suppliers, where they suffer and endure terrifying deaths.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.
With everyone abuzz about the season finale of post-apocalyptic show The Last of Us, a new PETA TV spot airing this week during similarly grim movies The Day After Tomorrow and Zombieland is pointing to animal agriculture as a leading cause of the climate catastrophe and asking viewers, “Are you a bad parent?” while urging them to safeguard their children’s future by banning environmentally devastating meat and dairy from their homes.
Much like The Last of Us’ Ellie (played by vegan Bella Ramsey), PETA’s protagonist is a young orphan trying to navigate a post-apocalyptic world. In the video, she lists the rules her mom enforced—such as not touching the stove or talking to strangers online—to keep her safe: “You said it was your job to protect me. You were always telling me what not to do. … But you never said, ‘Don’t eat meat or dairy.’ Now look what you’ve done,” the girl says before disappearing.
“The horrors portrayed in The Last of Us are imaginary, but as Greta Thunberg has made clear, kids will face a truly dire future if we continue pumping greenhouse gases from meat and dairy production into the atmosphere,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “No parent wants to doom their children to an inhospitable planet, which is why PETA is urging them to feed them vegan before it’s too late.”
According to the United Nations, about a third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions is linked to food production, and the largest percentage of these gases come from the meat and dairy industries. Vegan foods—such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, peas, nuts, and lentils—require less energy, land, and water, and switching to plant-powered eating can help the world avoid the worst effects of the climate catastrophe.
PETA’s video will air on the following channels and dates—as well as during the season 8 premiere of Fear the Walking Dead:
SYFY, Saturday, March 11, during The Day After Tomorrow (9:25 p.m. ET/6:25 p.m. PT) and Zombieland (11:58 p.m ET/8:58 p.m. PT)
SYFY, Sunday, March 12, during Zombieland (1:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT) and The Day After Tomorrow (3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT)
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Today, PETA sent a letter to San Antonio Police Chief William McManus and Deputy City Attorney Jose Niño in the Prosecution Division, demanding that they withdraw an unlawful citation that an officer issued last month to Gabriel Ochoa, the manager of PETA Latino, PETA’s outreach division that serves as a resource for Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S. and Latin America. Ochoa passed out a single leaflet encouraging a passerby to go vegan during Lent to “honor God” outside the Alamo Plaza before law enforcement swooped in, told him to leave the public sidewalk—which he began to do—and then doubled down by citing him, in violation of the First Amendment.
“Law enforcement appears to have retaliated against Mr. Ochoa for simply sharing information about saving animals’ lives by going vegan,” says PETA Foundation General Counsel for Animal Law Jared Goodman. “The city ordinance explicitly exempts leaflets that are religious and charitable in nature, and Mr. Ochoa will pursue legal action unless this unlawful citation is withdrawn.”
Every person who goes vegan, as Mr. Ochoa’s leaflet encouraged, spares nearly 200 animals a year from miserable lives and terrifying, violent deaths in blood-soaked slaughterhouses; dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint, as animal agriculture is a leading cause of the climate catastrophe; and reduces their own risk of suffering from health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, strokes, obesity, and cancer.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Legendary music producer and longtime PETA palJermaine Dupri rushed a letter today to Chick-fil-A congratulating the fast-food chain, based in his hometown of Atlanta, on its new Cauliflower Sandwich and requesting that the company go a step further by making it vegan. Dupri, owner of vegan ice cream company JD’s Vegan, says that if Chick-fil-A makes its meat-free option free of eggs and dairy, too, he will consider being the new sandwich’s spokesperson.
“As a 20-year vegan, and a plant-based business owner, I can tell you that demand for vegan food options is skyrocketing,” writes Dupri. “And as a voice of the Black community (the fastest growing vegan demographic in the US) I’d like to encourage you to make Chick-fil-A’s Cauliflower Sandwich 100% vegan, to provide an accessible option for people who are choosing to eat plant-based for their health, the environment, and the animals.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Dupri’s letter to Chick-fil-A follows.
Andrew T. Cathy
Chief Executive Officer
Chick-fil-A, Inc.
Dear Andrew,
I am writing on behalf of my friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and my fans around the world, including those in my hometown of Atlanta. Congratulations on taking a step into the “plant-forward” space with Chick-fil-A’s new Cauliflower Sandwich! As 20-year vegan, and a plant-based business owner I can tell you that demand for vegan food options is skyrocketing. And as a voice of the Black community (the fastest growing vegan demographic in the US) I’d like to encourage you to make Chick-fil-A’s Cauliflower Sandwich 100% vegan, to provide an accessible option for people who are choosing to eat plant-based for their health, the environment, and the animals.
Chick-fil-A has a unique opportunity to act as an industry leader by boldly responding to the evolving tastes of its diverse consumers. If you’d like to discuss how we can work together to promote a vegan option, please contact me.
(@thenotco)
(@joyburgers.ar)
(@mundo.vegetal)
