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Category: Vegan

  • Why the Portugal Government Voted to Create A National Plant-Based Strategy

    plant based action plan
    6 Mins Read

    The Portuguese government has committed to developing a national plant-based action plan as part of its climate strategy. Here’s how it happened.

    Already considered one of the most vegan-friendly countries in the world, Portugal is taking a big step towards a low-carbon food system.

    In its National Climate and Energy Plan (NCEP), the government has earmarked the creation of a national strategy to reduce meat consumption in favour of plant-based proteins, both to reduce the country’s agricultural emissions, and promote healthier nutrition.

    The plan would involve “concrete measures” to boost the production and consumption of plant proteins, with an amplified focus on legumes. The idea is to use this integrated approach to ensure self-sufficiency and food security.

    There will be a focus on implementing training programmes and bolstering the supply of plant-based meals in public canteens, as well as reducing food waste. Moreover, the strategy will promote the implementation of short food chains, which would help reduce energy use and emissions thanks to lower packaging, transportation and cooling needs.

    The strategy is yet to be developed, but it’s a major win for years of activism from climate groups, and a laudable step by the Portuguese government amid calls for the EU to develop a similar strategy.

    So how did we get here?

    A concerted, long-term effort

    portugal vegan
    Courtesy: Associação Vegetariana Portuguesa

    Efforts to convince lawmakers to create a national plant-based protein plan have been ongoing since 2021, when the Portuguese Vegetarian Association (AVP) kickstarted the Proteína Verde project. Over the years, it teamed up with 17 organisations and produced comprehensive reports, a joint letter, and several other documents stressing the need for such a policy.

    The consortium made a concerted effort to work together with policymakers – three parties have previously presented proposals to the Portuguese parliament based on the project’s recommendations.

    The breakthrough came during the negotiations for the NECP. “We held a meeting with the Portuguese Secretary of State for the Environment and the Secretary of State for Energy at the Ministry of Environment and Energy, where we agreed to collaborate on drafting a document with proposals for changes to the NECP,” explains Joana Oliveria.

    She is the former co-director of the AVP, which evolved into ProVeg Portugal earlier this year, with Oliveria taking the helm in the merged organisation.

    “Among these recommendations was the proposal to create a strategy promoting plant-based protein consumption,” says the ProVeg Portugal director. “The General Secretariat for the Environment then sent us an official letter indicating that it would take our contributions into account.”

    She adds: “Following this, we mobilised citizens to advocate for the inclusion of the plant-based protein strategy by participating in the subsequent NECP public consultation. Their engagement further underscored the importance of this strategy, contributing to its incorporation into the final plan.

    “We have since had the privilege of commending the Ministry of Environment and Energy for thoughtfully considering all contributions and evidence.”

    Countries like Denmark and South Korea have led the way with government-backed protein transition strategies, and experts have been calling on other countries to follow. Portugal will hope to join that list once its strategy is finalised.

    Meat and seafood consumption trends ‘alarming’

    plant based meat portugal
    Courtesy: Plantz

    There were several reasons why Portugal decided to go ahead with a plant-based strategy – chief among them the energy ministry’s approach of engaging with civil society and considering statistical data, according to Oliveria.

    “It recognised the need to address the environmental impact of the agricultural sector, which has been diverging from its national greenhouse gas reduction targets,” she says.

    Agriculture accounts for 12% of Portugal’s emissions, 72% of which come from livestock in the form of enteric fermentation and manure management, linked with the release of methane and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. “Encouraging a shift toward plant-based diets was identified as a key measure to significantly reduce these emissions,” suggests Oliveria.

    “The Portuguese Environment Agency, a state body, has also consistently underscored the substantial role of animal farming in national agricultural emissions and has highlighted a troubling trend of rising emissions driven by increasing populations of cattle, sheep and chicken,” she adds.

    Portugal is one of Europe’s largest meat consumers, and its leading market for seafood. This presents both challenges and opportunities to “raise awareness about urgent dietary issues”. Apart from the climate footprint, poor dietary habits are among the top five contributors to the loss of healthy life years, and the third-highest risk factor for mortality in Portugal.

    “The overconsumption of animal-based products contributes to this situation,” says Oliveria. “These alarming trends and opportunities are beginning to capture the attention of political decision-makers.”

    She points out that the NECP doesn’t mention alternative proteins like cultivated meat, yet public acceptance of these foods is high. In fact, the Portuguese are the most welcoming of cultivated meat among EU countries, and also among the most opposed to banning it.

    Oliveria adds: “At the same time, Portugal highly values the Mediterranean diet, which prioritises plant-based foods. As Portuguese eating habits increasingly diverge from this diet, public health and environmental organisations are becoming more concerned.”

    The legume focus, and what the NECP means for dietary guidelines

    portugal plant based
    Courtesy: Plantz

    This is where legumes come in. Beans have become central to the food conversation this year – not just for their versatility and flavour, but also for their contribution to improving public and planetary health.

    “Legumes are quite typical of traditional Portuguese cuisine and stand out as a versatile, healthy and eco-friendly source of plant-based protein. Yet, Portugal produces only 14% of the legumes it consumes,” Oliveria says when asked why the government namechecked legumes in the NCEP.

    “The emphasis on legumes in Portugal’s strategy to promote plant-based protein consumption highlights not only their role as a traditional and widely accepted food in Portuguese cuisine, but also their potential for innovation and development,” she explains.

    Being a familiar and culturally significant source of plant-based protein, they can facilitate broader acceptance of plant-based diets among the population. But does this also indicate a lack of confidence in meat alternatives?

    “At the same time, legumes are the foundation for many meat analogue products, offering a versatile and sustainable solution for food innovation. One of our key objectives is to foster research and development (R&D) in food products, with a particular focus on legumes,” she says.

    “These ingredients are rich in protein and have significant potential for creating new, eco-friendly, healthy and innovative plant-based alternatives. By leveraging legumes, we aim to support the development of products that meet the growing demand for healthy, sustainable food options while respecting local culinary traditions.”

    This strategy of showcasing traditional plant proteins as key sustainability and innovation drivers encourages a “diverse range of solutions, from familiar legume-based dishes to cutting-edge meat alternatives”.

    This year, several European countries have updated their dietary guidelines to promote plant-based foods. Is Portugal’s move a sign of things to come? “Yes, perhaps,” Oliviera replies.

    “The Portuguese Directorate-General of Health recently shared a recommendation on its Instagram to include some meat- and fish-free meals during the week. At ProVeg Portugal, we are collaborating with the country’s main nutritionists’ association to present a proposal in January for updating the national dietary guidelines.”

    The post Why the Portugal Government Voted to Create A National Plant-Based Strategy appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Humane Scam! Why the ‘Better Chicken Commitment’ Is a Factory-Farm Promotion

    The only “better chicken” is one who gets to keep her wings! The Global Animal Partnership, a humane label marketing scheme backed by the Humane Society of the United States and two other “animal welfare” organizations, announced that it is phasing in the requirement that all producers follow the abysmally low standards of the “Better Chicken Commitment,” a humane-washing sham that allows chickens to continue to suffer mightily in vile, filthy, factory-farm conditions so the meat industry can profit. Join PETA in urging the Humane Society of the United States, the ASPCA, and CIWF to stop supporting factory farms and humane washing and start telling consumers the truth: No factory farming is humane. Go vegan—it’s easy.

    What Is the Better Chicken Commitment?
    The “Better Chicken Commitment” is a humane-washing ploy that lures kind consumers into buying chicken flesh claiming it is “humanely” produced, even though the chickens suffer their entire lives and travel in all weather extremes to a frightening death.

    “The chronic disease and deformities faced by virtually all chickens [is] because they have been genetically modified to grow fatter, faster than ever before.” – Andrew deCoriolis, Farm Forward Executive Director

    Chickens must reach “slaughter weight” quickly to remain profitable to the chicken industry. The meat industry forced decades of genetic modifications onto chickens, turning the once energetic and curious birds into beings bred to do nothing but suffer.

    “Better Chicken Commitment” birds are still:

    • factory-farmed in intolerably crowded conditions that cause great distress.
    • expected to reach slaughter weight only weeks after hatching.
    • Suffering from serious ailments that afflict “broiler” chickens, like breast blisters, hock burns, footpad dermatitis, and muscular myopathies.
    • forced to gain weight by the farming industry, which makes them morbidly obese, unhealthy birds who can barely walk more than a few steps at a time and often collapse.
    • in pain their entire lives.
    • violently killed when they are 6-7 weeks old.

    Factory-Farmed Chickens Are Suffering at GAP Farms  

    Chickens feel pain, grief, love, joy, anxiety, and a range of other emotions, just like humans. When chickens are permitted to engage in their natural behavior, they are social and like to spend their days together, scratching for food, taking dust baths, roosting in trees, and lying in the sun. Chickens are arguably the most abused animals on the planet—and the ones who end up on your plate don’t get to enjoy anything that’s natural or important to them.

    Over 8 billion chickens are killed for their flesh in the U.S. each year. Almost all of these chickens, called “broilers” by the speciesist chicken industry, spend their entire lives confined in filthy sheds with tens of thousands of other birds, even when their flesh is labeled “Animal Welfare Certified” or “organic,” in grocery stores like Whole Foods. The intense crowding and confinement by the meat, egg, and dairy industries often lead to outbreaks of disease, such as bird flu. When the birds are only 6 or 7 weeks old, workers cram them into overcrowded crates and truck them to slaughter.

    Workers shackle chickens who survive the grueling journey to the slaughterhouse and hang them upside down before sending them through an electrified water bath intended, but often failing, to stun them. Many are still conscious when the workers slit their throats and scald them to death in defeathering tanks.

    The Humane Society of the United States Is Humane-Washing: Don’t Trust the Label
    As part of its campaign against humane-washing ploys like the “Better Chicken Commitment,” PETA is campaigning against the Global Animal Partnership and urging the three animal “protection” organizations that have representatives sitting on its board of directors to step down: The Humane Society of the United States, the ASPCA, and Compassion in World Farming. Sign our petition and remind these organizations through polite social media comments that the Global Animal Partnership’s certification is a misleading sham.

    Help Chickens Now!

    The post Humane Scam! Why the ‘Better Chicken Commitment’ Is a Factory-Farm Promotion appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • Happy Hanukkah! Here Are 8 ‘Mitzvahs’ You Can Do to Help Animals

    On each day of Hanukkah, we eat latkes, play dreidel, exchange gifts, and light the menorah to remember the Jewish people’s struggle for religious freedom. Known as the “Festival of Lights,” Hanukkah celebrates an ancient miracle: For eight long nights, a candle burned bright with just a tiny bit of oil as the Jews cleansed and rededicated their holy temple long ago.

    lit hanukkah menorah in a dark room

    Hanukkah is a time to reflect on the plight of all sentient beings—and that includes the suffering of our fellow animals who are used in experiments, killed for their flesh and skin, exploited for entertainment, and abused in other horrific ways. That’s why we must mark this long-held tradition by doing mitzvahs—or good deeds for others.

    Here are eight actions you can take for animals on each day of Hanukkah.

    Night One: Object to Oreo Maker’s Experiments on Mice

    The maker of Oreo has paid experimenters to conduct pointless and cruel “nutritional science” tests in which they force mice to eat human feces before killing and slicing them open. Please urge the company to end its experiments on animals and join PETA’s revolutionary Eat Without Experiments program, which makes it easy for consumers to see which food and beverage companies do or do not test on animals:

    night one action

    Night Two: Tell the Thai Government to Terminate Forced Monkey Labor

    Multiple PETA Asia investigations have exposed that Thailand’s coconut industry relies on the forced labor of endangered monkeys. These highly social animals naturally live and thrive in large groups—but in the Thai coconut industry, they’re violently torn away from their families and chained in isolation at “training schools” without adequate food, water, or companionship. Handlers often whip or beat them to force them to obey.

    Baby monkeys huddled together

    Urge the Thai government to shut down all “monkey schools” and ban monkey labor immediately:

    night two action

    Night Three: Take PETA’s Three-Week Vegan Challenge

    Animals do not want to be violently slaughtered for their flesh, forcibly manually impregnated and separated from their precious babies for their milk, or crammed into filthy, windowless sheds on misleadingly labeled “cage-free” farms. On farms and in slaughterhouses, billions of sensitive, feeling individuals suffer in these conditions every day. YOU can spare nearly 200 animals annually, reduce your carbon footprint, and boost your health by going vegan. Get started by taking PETA’s three-week vegan challenge, and encourage your friends and family to do the same:

    night three action

    Night Four: Fight Off False ‘Humane Washing’ Labels

    PETA investigations have revealed filth, suffering, and abuse at all 12 “animal welfare certified” locations we’ve investigated—including Plainville Farms, where PETA’s investigators witnessed workers violently beating and sexually abusing birds. Still, representatives from self-proclaimed “animal protection” groups—including the Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Compassion in World Farming—sit on the board of directors for the Global Animal Partnership, the group behind misleading “animal welfare certified” labels. This humane-washing certification means nothing to the animals who suffer immensely on farms. Tell “animal welfare” organizations to stop propping up factory farming and to cut ties with the Global Animal Partnership:

    night four action

    Night Five: Free Corky

    Corky, the longest-held captive orca in the world, has been imprisoned at marine parks for 55 years. Today, she swims in endless circles in a tiny tank at SeaWorld San Diego, while her siblings and other members of her pod swim free in the ocean.

    PETA’s extensive campaign for Corky has included bold demonstrations, public service announcements with celebrities such as Pamela Anderson and Christopher von Uckermann, a constitutional lawsuit on Corky’s behalf, and even a 150-mile relay run from Los Angeles to San Diego. More than 200,000 of our supporters have joined PETA in urging SeaWorld to release Corky into a seaside sanctuary, where she could finally feel ocean currents, hear the songs and calls of other free orcas, and possibly communicate with her siblings. Learn more about Corky and speak up for her before it’s too late:

    night five action

    Night Six: Sponsor a Sturdy Doghouse

    As temperatures plummet, dogs who are left tethered or chained outside 24/7 struggle to survive without proper shelter to protect them from the elements. Unable to escape the freezing cold, these dogs are vulnerable to frostbite, hypothermia, and even death. Often, these lonely animals are deprived of even the basics—such as food, water, and veterinary care. All winter long, PETA’s fieldworkers deliver dry, fluffy straw bedding and sturdy wooden doghouses to dogs neglected outside.

    Jada After new doghouse

    Although a doghouse is no substitute for a real home in which dogs could be warm, comfortable, and surrounded by their human families, it can mean the difference between life and death to dogs who previously had no shelter. Help us continue this vital work by sponsoring a doghouse:

    night six action

    Night Seven: Speak Out Against Coach’s Use of Cows’ Skins

    Every year, more than a billion gentle cows and other animals are slaughtered so that their skins can be used to make handbags and other leather accessories. A PETA exposé of the world’s largest leather processor—which has been linked to Coach—showed that workers brand calves on the face, beat cows and bulls, and shock them with electric prods. The leather industry also contributes to the climate catastrophe, land devastation, deforestation, pollution, water contamination, and loss of biodiversity. Join PETA in urging Coach to stop using animal- and planet-killing leather:

    night seven action

    Night Eight: End the Abuse of Camels and Horses in Egypt

    In Egypt’s tourism industry, horses and camels are forced to carry tourists at the pyramids in the sweltering heat. PETA’s latest mini documentary revealed that workers forcefully beat the exhausted animals, who were denied adequate food, rest, shade, and proper veterinary care. Injured and malnourished horses were seen eating from garbage dumps, and the bodies of dead horses were found discarded every day at trash sites outside gates to the pyramids of Giza.

    men beating a camel with sticks as seen in peta expose of egypt tourism industry

    Following pressure from thousands of PETA supporters, Egyptian officials launched a program that aims to provide veterinary care for animals used at archaeological sites throughout the country. While this could mark some positive change, the only reliable way to ensure that horses and camels don’t suffer is to keep them away from the pyramids altogether. Please join PETA in urging Egyptian officials to ban the use of these animals in the tourism industry:

    night eight action

    Want to Do More Mitzvahs? Join PETA’s Action Team!

    With help from our dedicated supporters, PETA has secured numerous landmark victories for animals in laboratories, on farms, at marine parks, and in other dire circumstances. By joining PETA’s Action Team, you can stay up to date on our latest campaigns, join local protests, connect with other passionate animal rights advocates, and more. Get started today!

    Join PETA’s Action Team

    The post Happy Hanukkah! Here Are 8 ‘Mitzvahs’ You Can Do to Help Animals appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • Vegans More Likely to Face Contempt & Harm Than Meat-Eaters – How Should Brands Respond?

    vegan meat study
    5 Mins Read

    A new study shows that meat-eaters recognise that vegans are health- and environmentally conscious, but also view them with fear and contempt.

    There seems to be a sort of emotional rivalry between people who eat meat and those who choose to opt for plant-based alternatives, with the latter being viewed as “socially deviant” from the former – and this has hurt sales of vegan meat products.

    These are the findings of a study published by University of Vaasa researchers in the Food Quality and Preference journal, which adopted a bias-centred methodology to explore why people are “more inclined to consider harming” vegans than meat-eaters and flexitarians.

    The researchers asked 900 people each from the UK, Finland, Germany and Sweden to evaluate their beliefs about fictional consumers based on their shopping lists, each of which contained pasta, bread, apple juice, carrots and bananas.

    The differences were in the proteins: there were plant protein balls and vegetarian sausages on the vegan shopping list, chicken balls and plant-based sausages on the flexitarian list, and conventional meatballs and sausages on meat-eaters’ list.

    Vegans most admired, yet most envied

    vegans hate
    Courtesy: Food Quality and Preference

    For the analysis, the Finnish researchers used the BIAS Map framework, which is devised to assess what kind of social prejudices and perceptual biases exist towards a specific group – vegans, in this case. They then looked at whether observers’ need for status and affiliations lighten perceptions of meat-eaters.

    “Meat (alternative) consumption represents a social area where highly mixed and charged meanings are sent/signalled and received/interpreted,” the study reads.

    Vegans were seen as more climate-friendly and health-conscious with high moral standards, and also commanded the most amount of admiration among the shopper groups. But on the flip side, these eco-minded consumers elicited more fear, contempt, envy and anger than others too.

    Shoppers only buying meat were rated the lowest on the climate, health and admiration scale, but they were also the least likely to evoke the negative feelings vegans did. Flexitarians landed somewhere in between.

    The fictional vegan consumers were considered more competent but less warm, which the researchers said suggests “envious prejudice” towards “model minorities”. Flexitarians, on the other hand, weren’t envied, but considered more socially approachable. “This makes them an easier target to identify with, as they do not seem too extreme, and they also remind others of something familiar (e.g., meat-eating),” the study says.

    vegan prejudice
    Courtesy: Food Quality and Preference

    A concerning behavioural effect was the tendency for buyers of plant-based meat to induce both passive and active harm, which can range from social exclusion and ignorance to bullying and harassment.

    Meanwhile, the psychologists found that participants with a high need for belonging in a group appear to be most welcoming of flexitarians, and those who crave a higher status showcase stronger feelings of anger and envy towards vegans.

    This is because the latter group can be “painfully aware” that cutting back on meat is the “ideal and ‘right’” solution to fighting climate change. “This realisation could then explain their envious response toward meat alternative favorers, whose behaviours cannot be copied without some degree of self-sacrifice,” the study notes.

    What does this mean for the plant-based meat category?

    beyond meat sales
    Courtesy: Beyond Meat

    Scientific consensus states that reducing animal protein consumption is crucial if we want to ensure a liveable planet in the future. Meat and dairy production alone accounts for up to a fifth of total global emissions, and nearly 60% of the food system’s climate footprint.

    While many consumers recognise this, they’re not yet sold on vegan alternatives to meat. In the last two years, this sector has witnessed a dip in sales and investor support, with the ‘ultra-processed’ tag a particular thorn in its side.

    To turn their fortunes around, brands need to market these products more creatively, weakening the climate messaging (as some are doing), and applying social influences like the idea of envious prejudice.

    “It could be useful to experiment with highlighting the superiority of the meat alternative shopper in advertisements, as that would elicit both envy and admiration, depending on the observing individual, and might then motivate people to make better food choices,” the study suggests.

    Portraying consumers of vegan products in softer and warmer terms could help too, “humanising the cold picture of vegetarian consumers by increasing perceptions of authenticity”.

    Emphasising – rather than challenging – the stereotypes around vegans could reduce prejudice too. This could be in the form of humorous marketing, and utilising the concept of an “extended contract” by reeling in celebrity endorsements (as Veganuary has successfully done), which can persuade omnivores to give these products a go.

    “Communication emphasising how eating meat alternatives helps to assure the continuance of traditional ways of life, or how it helps to prevent major societal disruptions could reduce the perceived symbolic threat,” the researchers add, referring to how people seeking higher status find these products to be a threat.

    Finally, vegan producers would do well to shift their focus away from vegans towards flexitarians, embracing the idea of reduction over elimination. “The most promising avenue for transitioning from meat-intensive diets to more plant-based diets is through promoting a diet that does not entirely eliminate meat but replaces it with plant-based meat alternatives on a weekly basis,” write the authors.

    The post Vegans More Likely to Face Contempt & Harm Than Meat-Eaters – How Should Brands Respond? appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Grace Dent: ‘Part-Time’ Vegan Food Critic Replaces Gregg Wallace on Celebrity MasterChef

    grace dent masterchef
    6 Mins Read

    Grace Dent, the Guardian food critic who describes herself as mostly vegan, will replace Gregg Wallace on Celebrity MasterChef UK.

    MasterChef is getting its first vegan judge – almost.

    Food critic Grace Dent is replacing long-time presenter Gregg Wallace, who stepped away from the role after facing multiple allegations of misconduct, which he denies.

    Dent, who reviews restaurants for the Guardian and hosts its award-winning Comfort Eating podcast, has described herself as “mainly vegan” since the early 2010s (although has suggested that she doesn’t like to label herself as “flexitarian”). And last year, she appeared in a TV commercial for plant-based meat leader THIS.

    She is no stranger to the cooking show, having appeared on a range as a guest on MasterChef, and participating as a contestant in MasterChef: Battle Of The Critics 2023. Last year, she was also a participant in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.

    “I’m so excited that I can’t eat, which is severely detrimental to a restaurant critic. I feel very lucky to be stepping in for the next Celebrity MasterChef,” said Grace.

    The 51-year-old will join fellow judge John Torode, who has been hosting MasterChef’s flagship show and its Celebrity spinoff with Wallace for the best part of 20 years.

    “I have loved working with Grace on MasterChef over the years. She has been an excellent guest, an inspiring critic and also set some incredible challenges. Expertise is what MasterChef is all about, from the contestants to our wonderful production team, to us as judges,” Torode said.

    Grace Dent the ‘perfect choice’ for Celebrity MasterChef

    grace dent vegan
    Courtesy: BBC/Shine TV

    Dent wrote for the Evening Standard and the Independent before joining the Guardian in 2017, and is the bestselling author of over 20 books, including Hungry, Comfort Eating and the Diary Of series. She has presented a range of shows across TV and radio too, including the BBC Radio 4 series The Untold and BBC Four’s What We Were Watching.

    “I’ve been watching MasterChef since I was a girl sitting with my dad on the sofa. My whole family watches it. It’s all about uncovering and championing talent and to have ended up in this position, is more than a dream to me,” she said.

    Kalpna Patel-Knight, head of entertainment at the BBC, called Dent the “perfect choice” to judge Celebrity MasterChef: “Grace is not only an energetic and well-established member of the MasterChef team, but is also a world-renowned food critic, so she will certainly keep the next batch of celebrities on their toes.”

    The development follows Wallace’s departure from the show, after a BBC investigation aired sexual allegations from 13 women who worked with him. And last week, the model Penny Lancaster – who is married to singer Rod Stewart and appeared on the 2021 edition of Celebrity MasterChef – said she witnessed and was a victim of Wallace’s bullying and harassment.

    Kirsty Wark, former presenter of BBC Newsnight and a contestant in the show’s 2011 season, has alleged that Wallace used “sexualised language” during filming. Lawyers representing Wallace have denied any claims of sexual misconduct.

    Torode has called the situation “truly upsetting”, but did not mention the controversy in his comments about Dent’s arrival on the show. “The love of food, the love of MasterChef, and that unquestionable expertise, makes Grace the perfect person to step in alongside me as judge for the forthcoming Celebrity MasterChef series,” he said.

    ‘I eat like a wild animal’

    Signing Dent as a judge carries a level of intrigue for MasterChef. The food critic says she sticks to an “almost vegan” diet, explaining that plants and vegetables form the base of her diet, alongside nuts and seeds.

    “I say ‘mainly’ as there are caveats and slip-ups. ‘Plant-based’ is closer. ‘Flexitarian’ is a word people use for me (as well as much ruder things when I appear in their restaurant, I’m sure),” she wrote in a Guardian column in 2019. “But announcing you’re flexitarian is a bit like coming out as bisexual. You won’t get any prizes for picking your team and everyone on all sides will resent you for having your cake and eating it.”

    She had been a “militant vegetarian” in the 1980s, before chicken crept into her diet in the 90s. But she grew exasperated at the “cloud-cuckoo-land phrases of modern farming” – think “respectful” nose-to-tail eating or “happy” pigs – that chefs began using.

    “The truth is I love animals more than I love most humans,” she wrote. “I merely adore vegetarian food and have always preferred to eat things that didn’t ever have a face.”

    In a separate interview with the Guardian, she added: “I eat like a wild animal – apart from the meat. I drive my man mad. His idea of joy is cooking half a cow three different ways. I’m more of an ape; I love vegan food.

    And in yet another interview, she said: “In my own time, I eat vegan or vegetarian. I really abhor factory farming and its byproducts so I live a vegan lifestyle as much as I can. If you come to my house you are getting oat milk, vegan cheeses and things like that.

    “I am always walking into restaurants and making them paranoid that they are not catering to people of different appetites and I think that I am a force for good in that way.”

    Vegan chefs are ‘brave and exciting’

    grace dent
    Dent appeared in a TV commercial for plant-based meat brand THIS | Courtesy: THIS

    Dent has spoken about the pushback food critics can get for having dietary restrictions. “Whenever I talk about loving vegan food, it starts a backlash. The vegans aren’t happy with me because I’m not fully vegan, and the meat-eaters say I’m trying to destroy the farming industry. Any nuance seems to get lost, she told the Guardian. “It does seem to fascinate people, though, that I’m a food critic who doesn’t love foie gras. Stereotypically, those guys love a kidney, bone marrow, sweetbreads. Not me.”

    She had addressed this in her column too: “Eating plant-based makes really no impact on my career as a restaurant critic. I see this as my special skill as a critic, not a hindrance.”

    So what can MasterChef viewers expect from a plant-forward judge? Dent has already prophesied this. “When I sit on that table of gargoyles on MasterChef waiting to judge whoever comes through the door, I’m simply not that impressed by another plate of barely dead roe deer avec pommes noisettes all lying in a puddle of Bambi’s blood,” she wrote.

    “So when on a recent MasterChef: The Professionals Matt Campbell served Gregg Wallace a raw, vegan cacao delice encased in a Jerusalem artichoke rosti tuile, I knew this was a chef with a certain level of swagger.

    “Chefs such as Campbell are brave and exciting to me because to even pepper a menu with the term “vegan” is to bang up against decades of culinary prejudice. This is a word synonymous with worthy, difficult diners and glee-free abstinence.

    While it’s unclear if she will replace Wallace on other MasterChef series too, the signs are all there that Grace is about to make a Dent in the franchise.

    The post Grace Dent: ‘Part-Time’ Vegan Food Critic Replaces Gregg Wallace on Celebrity MasterChef appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Future Food Quick Bites: Beyond Smash, Santa Love Oatly & Vegfest Vietnam

    oatly christmas
    6 Mins Read

    In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers two Beyond Meat debuts in the UK, Oatly’s Christmas-themed ad campaign, and an alt-protein university course.

    New products and launches

    As Veganuary approaches, Beyond Meat is bringing its Beyond Smash burger to the UK. It will be available at Tesco from January 1, priced at £3.25 for a two-pack. Moreover, it’s also debuting its vegan steak in the Beyond Steak Chimichurri Burrito at fast-casual chain Tortilla, a promotion tat will run until February 6.

    beyond smash burger
    Courtesy: Beyond Meat

    Also coinciding with Veganuary, UK plant-based food brand This will launch This Isn’t Chicken Kyiv and This Isn’t Chicken Wings SKUs. The former will be available at Sainsury’s for £4.25 per 250g pack from January 1, while the latter will be stocked in the freezers of Asda and Morrisons on January 6 and 13, respectively, for for £3.75 per 110g pack.

    Spanish vegan fast-casual chain Plant Shack is eyeing a UK debut after signing an agreement with entrepreneur and investor Michael Vosc. The group is now on the hunt for a location in London.

    In the US, vegan sushi chain Planta Queen‘s Atlanta outpost in Buckhead Village has been put up for sale, at a starting price of $3.3M.

    lab grown meat eu
    Courtesy: Romain Buisson/Gourmey

    Texas-based vegan snacking brand All Y’Alls Foods has added a new product to its Tasty Toppers lineup called It’s Big Crunchy Cheezy Bits Y’All. The gluten- and dairy-free cheese-flavoured product has 33g of protein per 2.9oz pack, which is available on its website now, with a retail and Amazon rollout by the end of the year.

    Jumping on the Spotify Wrapped trend, UK hospitality tech partner Vita Mojo has produced its own foodservice industry version, revealing that orders for vegan food at chains like Leon, Gail’s, Wasabi, YO! and Subway rose by 56% this year.

    French alt-milk brand Bonneterre has launched a no-sugar peanut milk that can be used in both cold and hot drinks, in cooking applications, as well as in cocktails.

    Animal advocacy charity Viva! has launched a mythbusting guide to alternative proteins called Fake News About Fake Meat.

    Finance and company updates

    Luxembourg-based CSM Ingredients‘ innovation hub Generate has opened a global call for startups innovating with “breakthrough ideas” to reshape the ingredient sector and accelerate the food system transformation – think added-value plant proteins, for example.

    In the US, Oatly‘s annual Update Milk campaign for Christmas is proposing a new Welcome Santa ritual, asking consumers to switch from milk and cookies to oat milk and croquembouche. It includes taste tests with Santas, as well as digital and out-of-home posters.

    oatly update milk
    Courtesy: Oatly

    In the US, mycelium startup MycoTechnology has appointed Jordi Ferre as its new CEO, taking over from interim chief Ranjan Patnaik, who will continue in his role as CTO.

    Brightly, a startup converting methane emissions from food waste into high-quality carbon credits, has secured $2.5M in seed funding led by Schreiber Foods, with support from G-Force, Collaborative Fund, Clear Current Capital, and Windsail Capital.

    Cashew milk maker Nutcase is hoping to leverage its connections with poker professionals and streamers to attract investors in its bid to raise $2.5M in seed funding.

    nutcase milk
    Courtesy: Nutcase

    Israel’s ICL Food Specialties has announced a follow-on investment in Californian duckweed protein producer Plantible Foods, a year after introducing the Rovitaris Binding Solution using the latter’s Rubi Protein. It adds to Plantible’s $30M Series B round announced last month, following ICL’s participation in the Series A round in 2021.

    Ingredients giant Givaudan has partnered with Moonshot Pirates, a movement of young changemakers, for the Shape the Future Challenge, which challenges Gen Zers to imagine alternative protein solutions that don’t mimic meat or dairy, but instead address needs like affordability, nutrition and convenience.

    As it awaits regulatory approval in five markets, French cultivated foie gras maker Gourmey has welcomed Michelin-starred chefs Claude Le Tohic (US), Rasmus Munk (Denmark) and Daniel Calvert (Japan) to its advisory board.

    lab grown meat eu
    Courtesy: Romain Buisson/Gourmey

    Israeli molecular farming startup PoLoPo, which is biohacking potatoes to grow egg protein and higher amounts of native protein within the spuds, has begun planting the tubers in fields, moving beyond greenhouse scale. It is expected to yield three tonnes of potatoes when harvested in spring 2025.

    Cellular agriculture investor Cult Food Science has agreed to buy meat analogue players The Better Butchers, which is collaborating with fellow alternative protein companies to create hybrid meats, precision-fermented fats, and other ingredients.

    Policy, research and awards

    University College Dublin has become the latest institution to offer a course on future food, a micro-credential Level 8 programme titled Alternative Proteins for Sustainable Food Systems. It will focus on the technologies and materials used to make foods from plants, algae, fungi, precision fermentation, and cellular agriculture.

    Colorado startup Meati has settled the class-action lawsuit alleging it falsely marketed its mycelium-based steak and chicken analogues as ‘made from mushroom root’. The case has now been voluntarily dismissed.

    mycelium meat
    Courtesy: Meati

    Researchers from King’s College London have been awarded £1.5M as part of a research grant from the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to investigate the impact of plant-based food diversity on gut health.

    US cultivated fat startup Genuine Taste has received $100,000 after winning the Top Venture and People’s Choice Awards in the 2024 Invest Together in Climate Innovation programme.

    Vietnamese vegan charity Vive has welcomed over 30,000 attendees at two Vegfest events in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, delivering more than 15,000 plant-based starter kits.

    vegfest vietnam
    Courtesy: Vive

    Vegan seafood maker Bettaf!sh and upcycled apricot seed milk producer Kern Tec are among the winners of the Marketed Innovation Prize by EIT Food, the EU’s future food accelerator.

    Plant-based meat leader Impossible Foods has been named on Fast Company‘s list of 66 Brands That Matter in 2024, thanks in large part to its partnership with competitive eater Joey Chestnut.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: Beyond Smash, Santa Love Oatly & Vegfest Vietnam appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Redefine Meat Targets Schools & Meat-Eaters to Increase Plant-Based Uptake During Veganuary

    vegan school meals
    4 Mins Read

    Israeli plant-based meat pioneer Redefine Meat has struck over 30 partnerships with UK retailers, foodservice operators and schools for Veganuary.

    On the back of a record year for its UK operation, Redefine Meat is taking things up a notch for the world’s biggest plant-based campaign.

    For Veganuary, the month-long challenge where participants eat a vegan diet, the Israeli 3D-printed meat maker has signed deals with more than 30 companies to drive plant-based consumption in the UK.

    It includes a partnership with online grocer Ocado, where its year-on-year revenue has tripled. Redefine Meat is running a 50% discount for a range of its retail products, including its burger, pulled pork, pulled beef, bratwurst, lamb kofta, and mince.

    And through a Taste It to Believe It campaign, the plant-based meat pioneer is hoping to entice “the next generation of meat-eaters”, collaborating with schools in an effort to dispel qualms about the taste attributes of vegan analogues.

    Make a splash in schools, offices and restaurants

    redefine meat burger
    Courtesy: Redefine Meat

    Allmanhall, the food procurement group for the education sector, has teamed up with Redefine Meat to put its Brighter Burger on school menus across the UK. It comprised a Redefine Premium Burger patty encased in a bun made from regeneratively grown flour from Wildfarmed and ketchup from Rubies in the Rubble, and generates 94% fewer emissions than a conventional beef burger.

    Redefine Meat had worked with Allmanhall to pilot its Premium Burger at Epsom College last year, and 74% of participating students said they’d like to see it on the menu all year round. Now, the Brighter Burger has been made available for schools as a trial or permanent dish throughout Veganuary.

    The school focus is shrewd – 9% of Gen Zers in the UK say they’re vegan, and over a quarter (26%) don’t eat meat. With another 26% intending to follow either a plant-based, vegetarian or pescetarian diet, over half of Gen Z Brits could potentially stop eating meat.

    Meanwhile, the Israeli company has partnered with caterer ISS, which will serve dishes like smashed lamb burgers, cottage pie, and loaded hotdogs at nine of its contract partners across sectors including banking, government and industry. Employees will see the specific carbon emissions saved by each dish, calculated by Klimato, and be educated on the sustainability impact of eating Redefine Meat just once a week.

    In the restaurant space, London-based burger chain Patty & Bun will throw a Quitter’s Day Party on January 10 (when about 80% of people give up on their New Year’s resolutions). Here, it will serve three versions of its signature burgers with Redefine Meat’s patty and zero-ABV beer to help guests stick to Veganuary and Dry January.

    Redefine Meat will also appear as a gourmet option on the delivery menu of cloud kitchen operator Dirty Vegan, and feature in a variety of cuisines with over 20 restaurant partners, from traditional roast dinners to ramen.

    Overcoming the ‘two biggest barriers’

    redefine meat schools
    Courtesy: Redefine Meat

    Following a deal with pub chain Greene King, Redefine Meat’s 3D-printed products are now available at 1,000 restaurant locations in the UK, a market where its overall sales have doubled this year.

    The company markets its products as New Meat, which spans beef, pork and lamb in pulled, minced, sausage, burger and whole-cut formats. They’re made in a factory in the Netherlands, undergoing a tissue engineering process that disintegrates textured vegetable protein (TVP) into fibres and blends them with a dough made from soy or pea protein isolates. This gives them a meatier flavour and the fibrous texture key to animal protein.

    Its signature Beef Flank steak has been endorsed by leading chefs like Marco Pierre-White and Ron Blaauw, and is said to have won plaudits from consumers of all dietary preferences.

    “Having achieved the quality benchmark required by high-end and Michelin-star chefs who love their meat, and built that out with the most diverse product range in the industry, Redefine Meat has overcome the two biggest barriers that have stalled repeat-buying of plant-based meat in recent years: lack of product quality and product variety,” said Simon Owen, UK managing director of Redefine Meat.

    “This is exemplified by the diversity of our Veganuary collaborations, serving the needs of everyday diners through to fine-dining restaurants, hotels and catering, corporates, and mass retail. Following a record-breaking year in the UK of 97% sales growth, this Veganuary we’re expecting New Meat to reach more consumers than ever before.”

    The post Redefine Meat Targets Schools & Meat-Eaters to Increase Plant-Based Uptake During Veganuary appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • With Plant-Based Consumption on the Rise in Turkey, Are the New Labelling Laws A Blow?

    turkey plant based
    5 Mins Read

    Turkey has just published new labelling laws that bring certain wins and losses for plant-based products, which are becoming increasingly popular in the country.

    There were already 100,000 vegans in Turkey by 2022 – not a large number when you look at the share of the population – yet sizeable for a nation whose cuisine is built on meat and dairy.

    But both anecdotal and statistical evidence suggests that consumption of plant-based food is increasing in the country. Health is the biggest factor driving Turks towards vegan meat and dairy alternatives, with product safety a top concern.

    And when it comes to labels, local sourcing, halal/kosher, and traditional claims on meat analogues are most important to consumers, while low-fat, animal welfare, and functional ingredients are key for vegan cheese.

    The problem is, two years ago, the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry effectively banned the production of vegan cheese, citing consumer confusion and a supposed violation of cheese standards.

    Now, though, the government has updated the Turkish Food Codex Labeling and Consumer Information Guide, recognising plant-based cheese as separate, autonomous products from the conventional version. The overseeing commission cleared the way for companies to manufacture, import and export non-dairy cheese, a big win for the sector.

    But the catch is, these products – like other plant-based dairy offerings – can’t use terms like ‘milk’, cheese’, and more. Vegan meat alternatives, on the other hand, are allowed to feature words including ‘burger’, ‘salami’ and ‘meatballs’, but not descriptors such as ‘tastes like chicken/meat’ (although ‘cheese-flavoured vegan crackers’ is allowed).

    The simultaneous positives and negatives are symbolic of the divisive new law, which marks the first time the Food Codex has recognised and defined vegan products. Industry experts are praising the feat, but also cautioning that there’s a long way to go.

    Elif Güngör Reis, a food tech expert and IP board member at the Istanbul Arel University, called the legislation “a pivotal step forward” for the industry.

    “Previously, the absence of clear definitions often left room for manufacturers to label products freely, which sometimes led to consumer confusion. For example, products with animal-derived additives could still be marketed as ‘vegan,’ eroding trust,” she told Green Queen.

    “Overall, these new rules are a much-needed step to boost consumer trust and bring Turkiye closer to international standards,” she added. “However, their success will depend on how well producers adapt, particularly in balancing compliance costs with maintaining competitiveness in both local and export markets.”

    Cultural context, Big Dairy make things harder for plant-based milk

    plant based milk labeling
    Courtesy: Fomilk

    Güngör Reis believes the legislation creates a “double-edged” scenario for Turkish plant-based producers. “On the one hand, they provide clarity and build consumer trust, which is invaluable in a rapidly growing market. By setting clear definitions, these regulations offer producers a chance to differentiate their products and align with the increasing consumer demand for transparency and quality,” she said.

    But then there are the restrictions on dairy alternatives, which will force producers to rethink how they market their products. The Food Codex states that plant-based milk can’t even use the term “does not contain milk”.

    “Terms like ‘burger’ or ‘meatball’ are still allowed, providing some leeway, but the shift for other terms might affect consumer familiarity and acceptance,” she added.

    The difference between the two categories lies in Turkey’s cultural and economic context, as well as its regulatory framework and industry influence. Dairy is deep-rooted in the country’s culture – yoghurt, for example, originated in Anatolia, the peninsula comprising most of Turkey’s area. The industry argues that using these terms for vegan products “could mislead consumers into expecting nutritional equivalence”, a concern particularly relevant in the nation.

    The tougher stance on these alternatives also reflects Big Dairy’s strong lobbying influence, according to Güngör Reis. “The dairy sector represents a substantial share of the agricultural economy, and this cultural and economic weight has translated into strong protections for terms like ‘milk,’ ‘cheese,’ and ‘yoghurt’,” she explained.

    “Plant-based meat products, by contrast, are a newer addition to the market and carry less cultural baggage. Terms like ‘burger,’ ‘meatball,’ or ‘sausage’ are tied more to the product’s form and function than to specific ingredients,” she continued.

    “Allowing these terms helps consumers understand how to use and prepare the products without confusion, making them less controversial from a regulatory standpoint.

    “As consumer awareness grows, these regulations might evolve, but for now, the distinction underscores the unique role of dairy in Turkish culture.”

    New regulations boost transparency, but challenge SMEs

    turkey plant based diet
    Courtesy: Veggy

    The regulations prohibit the advertising of meat and dairy analogues in a way that makes people think they’re a substitute for animal-based foods, justifying it by stating that vegan diets are a matter adults can decide on with their own free will. Additionally, products can’t feature geographical indications or traditional names linked with animal ingredients.

    But foodservice operators are now required to clearly identify meat-free options with descriptors like “suitable for vegetarians/vegans” on menus, brochures, QR codes, digital displays, etc.

    One of the most significant changes with the new regulations is the introduction of mandatory certification and inspection processes to help enhance product quality and prevent misleading claims.

    “While this enhances transparency and consumer confidence, it also introduces challenges for smaller producers, who may face higher costs and logistical hurdles,” said Güngör Reis. She explained that this would likely drive up production costs, which would disproportionately hurt small- and medium-sized producers.

    “Innovation may also slow if these smaller players struggle to navigate the new requirements,” she explained. “Additionally, the lack of full alignment with EU standards poses challenges for producers targeting international markets, where compliance demands may differ.”

    She continued: “While the new rules aim to create a more transparent market, their success will depend on the industry’s ability to adapt. With the right support systems, these regulations could ultimately strengthen the plant-based sector in Türkiye.”

    The post With Plant-Based Consumption on the Rise in Turkey, Are the New Labelling Laws A Blow? appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Don’t Die: Netflix to Air Documentary on Plant-Based Millionaire Biohacker Bryan Johnson

    bryan johnson don't die
    4 Mins Read

    Bryan Johnson, the biohacking millionaire living on a plant-forward diet, will be the centre of a new Netflix documentary covering his attempts to live past 200.

    Netflix’s latest documentary chronicling the benefits of veganism dovetails with the life of one of the most divisive men on the planet.

    The streamer will release Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever on New Year’s Day 2025, featuring Bryan Johnson, the tech-mogul-turned-body-hacker on a quest against ageing.

    Johnson – who spends $2M a year on his longevity efforts – has spoken of his wish to live past 200, documenting his practices online and offering medical tests, supplements, workout guides, and recipe plans via his Blueprint brand.

    The documentary, directed by Fyre and Tiger King filmmaker Chris Smith, deep-dives into the controversial biohacker’s path to his ultimate goal: “Don’t die.”

    bryan johnson vegan
    Courtesy: Netflix

    Why Bryan Johnson went vegan

    A father of three, Johnson made his fortune with online payments platform Braintree, which had bought its competitor Venmo in 2012, before the whole entity was taken over by Paypal for $800M a year later.

    But he has described spending years overeating, drinking too much, and dealing with a deep depression, before embarking on his longevity quest. His much-tinkered routine now involves waking up at 4:30AM, eating all his meals by 11AM, and going to bed by 8:30PM.

    A key part of his efforts is his diet. The official Blueprint isn’t necessarily fully vegan, with small amounts of meat or animal-derived supplements included. It’s unclear whether Johnson himself takes collagen peptides – as some have suggested – but he revealed earlier this year that he adheres to a vegan diet.

    “I had become a vegan, but there was one moment in particular where I went elk hunting, and I shot an elk,” he said in an Instagram video. “I walked up on it after I’d shot it… I saw this majestic creature breathing, and I just fell apart. That I had been responsible for taking its life… I broke.”

    He added: “I became vegan because I do believe – I do hope – that as intelligence progresses in this part of the universe, that compassion will be a part of it. If you eat meat, that’s fine, do you. For me, it really hit home… I just want to note that I am trying to incorporate compassion into my life as best I can.”

    Two of Johnson’s three meals are whole-food plant-based: super greens that include boiled broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and garlic, and a nutty pudding featuring chia seeds, macadamia nuts and berries.

    He takes over 100 pills a day, undergoes skin treatments and red-light therapy, and has less than 7% body fat. Johnson has also stopped drinking alcohol, and doesn’t go out in the evening. Some of his abandoned efforts include taking human growth hormone and taking blood plasma from his 18-year-old son Talmage.

    All this has led to the 47-year-old to claim that he has reversed his biological age, with the heart of someone 10 years his junior and the lung capacity of someone aged 18.

    Netflix doc spotlights our ‘fear of mortality’

    bryan johnson netflix documentary
    Courtesy: Netflix

    Don’t Die pulls back the curtain to provide intimate access to Johnson’s “gruelling daily routine, home life, medical procedures, and friends and family”, according to Netflix’s Tudum website.

    The streamer says the documentary goes “deep into his psyche” and reveals the drastic shifts the millionaire took to overcome his personal struggles and dedicate his time, energy and fortune to living forever.

    “Last year, I saw a headline about a man spending $2M a year to become 18 again,” Smith told Tudum. “That initial curiosity led to a 12-month journey following Bryan Johnson’s quest and its effect on those closest to him, while interviewing experts from around the world to get a better understanding of the people trying to live healthier, longer. A year later, I drink less, go to bed earlier, and wear a ring that tells me how bad my sleep is.”

    According to Netflix, the documentary will also tackle the “larger issues it raises about our fear of mortality and long-held notions about growing older”.

    Longevity and ageing have been hot issues in recent years, and many studies have linked plant-based eating to lower mortality rates. Only last year, Netfiix aired the Live to 100 docuseries, which explored the Blue Zones, regions with some of the longest-living populations, owing to regular movement (like walking) and whole-food plant-based diets.

    In the documentary, Dan Buettner – who popularised (but didn’t invent) the Blue Zones – named Singapore as the sixth region on that list. He also announced the launch of his Blue Zones Kitchen consumer brand, which features fully plant-based ready meals.

    Other Netflix documentaries focused on the benefits of a vegan diet include The Game Changers (2019), and You Are What You Eat (2024).

    The post Don’t Die: Netflix to Air Documentary on Plant-Based Millionaire Biohacker Bryan Johnson appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Czech People Aren’t Confused by Meaty Terms on Plant-Based Products – So Why Is the Govt Banning Them?

    czechia plant based
    6 Mins Read

    Czechia is working on a law that would prohibit the use of meat-like labels on plant-based food packaging, despite public opposition to the move.

    The government of Czechia is drawing up an amendment that would penalise plant-based meat makers from using terms like ‘soy sausages’, ‘mushroom schnitzels’ and even ‘bean burgers’.

    The move, reminiscent of the ill-fated 2020 EU proposal to restrict such words on meat alternatives, is explained as a way to prevent misleading consumers – even though research shows that locals are far from confused.

    Eight out of 10 Czech residents understand that a soy sausage is a plant-based product that doesn’t contain meat, while 69% are in favour of the continued use of meat-like terminology on vegan packaging, according to a 1,000-person YouGov poll conducted for ProVeg Czech Republic.

    “The Czech Ministry of Agriculture presents the proposed decree as a means to protect consumers but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. Familiar names like ‘vegan schnitzel’ or ‘soy sausage’ help people intuitively understand how to use these products and what to expect in terms of taste,” Lucia Milec, public affairs specialist at ProVeg Czech Republic, told Green Queen.

    “The government is creating unnecessary obstacles for consumers and local producers, disregarding clear consumer preferences for clarity and practicality,” she added.

    Rafael Pinto, policy manager at the European Vegetarian Union, told Green Queen: “The consumer data is quite clear all over the EU: consumers are not confused and buy these products intentionally. According to EU law, as long it’s clearly stated that its a plant-based product, it can be on the market. A restriction like this could severely affect free trade in the EU.”

    Amendment ‘drastically interferes’ with plant-based market

    czech plant based meat
    Courtesy: Bezmasna

    The Ministry of Agriculture claimed that the changes won’t have any negative impacts on the business environment since they simplify labelling requirements and were proposed by food business operators in the first place.

    Czech law requires the preparation of a regulatory impact assessment (RIA) for any legislation that will have potentially significant impacts on industries. In its explanation, the agriculture ministry said an RIA wasn’t needed for the labelling regulation.

    But ProVeg argues that the decree changes the labelling requirements of an entire market segment, and so an RIA is a must. “The amendment to the decree, which the Ministry of Agriculture presents as protecting consumers and their information, in fact drastically and thoughtfully interferes with the market for plant-based products,” suggested Milec.

    The rules would also favour overseas companies, which will remain unaffected. “This will not only increase prices for consumers, but also threaten the competitiveness of Czech companies in the European market. The Ministry of Agriculture should focus on supporting all food sectors, not just protecting the meat industry,” remarked Romana Nýdrle, trade director of the Czech Trade and Tourism Association.

    She added that the regulation will disrupt the level playing field in the market and create unnecessary obstacles for local vegan companies, especially small- and medium-sized businesses.

    Moreover, the Czech Agricultural and Food Inspection Authority hasn’t registered any complaints from locals about plant-based labelling being misleading – and in any case, the EU’s Food Information to Consumers legislation provides the public with sufficient protection against deception from businesses.

    In the survey too, omnivores (making up 80% of respondents) were largely in favour of plant-based meat companies being allowed to use terms like ‘vegan burger’ and ‘tofu steak’, with 69% saying so.

    Czech government accused of favouring ‘only meat companies’

    manaburger
    Courtesy: Heaven Labs

    ProVeg is calling on the agriculture ministry to abandon the labelling amendment, which it claims would make it “impossible to use understandable names” for plant-based alternatives. For example, in the rejected EU proposal from a few years ago, proponents of a ban suggested vegan companies could use words like ‘discs’ to describe burgers and ‘tubes’ for sausages.

    Martin Ranninger, co-director of ProVeg Czech Republic, believes the ministry is “jumping on the animal lobby’s whistle” for a law that will harm local food companies. “This decree is in direct contradiction to the government’s programme statement, which promises to reduce the bureaucratic burden for companies and tradespeople,” he said.

    “We cannot tolerate the interests of the animal industry being prioritised at the expense of innovative and sustainable plant-based alternatives,” he added.

    Nýdrle echoes this sentiment, noting that the changes come from just one group of producers, and so were designed to benefit meat companies alone: “These proposals disproportionately favour one industry at the expense of plant-based products, which are growing in popularity.”

    The YouGov survey found that while just 1% of the Czech population is vegan, 3% is vegetarian and – notably – 13% flexitarian. Another poll by the Good Food Institute, meanwhile, suggested that less than three in 10 Czech consumers were in favour of a similar labelling ban for cultivated meat.

    Is the Czech ban even legal?

    vegan czech food prague
    Courtesy: Bezmasna

    The Czech government has invested in these proteins, awarding €200,000 in grants to local cultivated pork startup Mewery, and the parliament last year hosted a seminar for alternative protein. But then again, it was part of an EU coalition that presented a case for further regulations against cultivated meat in an Agrifish Council meeting in January.

    Speaking of which, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) rejected a similar proposed ban from France in October, deciding that no member state can prohibit companies from using these terms on vegan product packaging. The only way they can is by legally defining meat products and descriptive terms first, which is a lengthy and complex process.

    He added: “It’s important to state that creating definitions of meat products could also impact these products since different countries may have different definitions. It can be a lose-lose-lose situation for consumers, plant-based producers and meat producers.”

    If Czechia doesn’t protect these terms and still enforces the restrictions, it risks running foul of the ECJ. “If this non-sense proposal is approved in Czechia, it will then be submitted to a consultation procedure called TRIS, opened for at least three months, to all EU member states, institutions and stakeholders,” explained Pinto. “This process can then take several months or over a year of dialogues to ensure it doesn’t hinder the internal market.” If approved, the amendment is expected to take effect in July 2025.

    “The decree may be legal at the national level, but it raises significant concerns regarding the principle of proportionality,” said Milec. As mentioned above, the ban only covers domestic producers, who will be forced to bear substantial costs to rename their products, redesign labelling and marketing, and invest in rebranding to meet the new requirements.

    “Conversely, companies that relocate production to other EU countries without these restrictions can avoid these rules while continuing to sell their products in the Czech Republic,” she said.

    “This is likely why other EU member states are not adopting similar legislation. Belgium, for instance, rejected a proposed guide in January 2024 that would have banned the use of ‘meaty’ names for plant-based products, as it ignored consumer needs and jeopardised the availability and promotion of such products.”

    The post Czech People Aren’t Confused by Meaty Terms on Plant-Based Products – So Why Is the Govt Banning Them? appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Harvard Study Says Plant Proteins Better For Heart Health Than Meat & Dairy

    plant based diet heart health
    5 Mins Read

    A new study shows that a higher ratio of plant proteins compared to animal-based foods can improve heart health, just as the US mulls dietary guidelines calling for a shift away from meat.

    For months, plant-based meat makers like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have banged on about the health benefits of their products, with a deep focus on heart health, the leading cause of mortality in the US, causing a death every 33 seconds.

    These claims have been backed up by nutritionists and medical experts, and new research by scientists at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health gives them further weight. While several studies have explored the link between plant-based food and heart wellness, this paper specifically investigated the ratio of plant-to-animal protein, and how that impacts cardiovascular health.

    This is because while many dietary guidelines recommend a greater portion of plant-based foods, most don’t set an exact proportion. The average American, for example, eats a 1:3 plant-to-animal protein ratio.

    “Our findings suggest a ratio of at least 1:2 is much more effective in preventing cardiovascular disease,” said lead author Andrea Glenn. “For coronary heart disease prevention, a ratio of 1:1.3 or higher should come from plants.”

    The findings come around the same time as scientific experts responsible for the US national dietary guidelines have submitted a recommendation to cut red meat in favour of a shift towards more plant-forward eating.

    More plants = better heart health

    harvard plant based diet
    Courtesy: Recep-BG/Getty Images

    The Harvard researchers assessed 30 years of data on the diets, lifestyle and heart health of over 200,000 Americans enrolled in various health studies. Participants reported their dietary intake every four years, which included specific intakes of animal and plant protein. Over the period of the study, the researchers documented over 16,000 cases of cardiovascular disease.

    Americans who consume the highest amount of plants (a ratio of 1:3 in favour of animal proteins) were found to have a 19% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and 27% lower risk of coronary heart disease, compared to those with the lowest plant-to-animal intake (1:4.2).

    These risk reductions were higher among participants who ate more protein, contributing to 21% of their overall energy intake. When these people adhered to a higher plant-to-animal ratio, the chances of cardiovascular and coronary heart disease were reduced by 28% and 36%, respectively, when compared to diets where protein made up 16% of the energy consumption.

    And in a substitution analysis, the Harvard researchers found that replacing 3% of energy from meat and dairy with plant-based proteins lowered the likelihood of cardiovascular disease and coronary artery disease by 18% and 24%, respectively.

    Plus, while stroke risk wasn’t strongly linked with the ratios above, it was associated with a lower risk when red and processed meat were replaced with refined grains and potatoes, whole grains, and nuts.

    The researchers further discovered that at a 1:2 ratio, plant protein stopped having added benefits for cardiovascular disease – but the risk for coronary heart disease continued to decrease at higher plant-to-animal ratios.

    They ascribed these benefits to the fact that plant proteins are lower in saturated fat and higher in unsaturated fat, carbohydrates, and fibre than meat and dairy. They also have advantageous amino acid profiles, including higher arginine levels (which helps blood pressure), lower branched-chain amino acids (linked with cardiovascular disease risks), and higher bioactive and polyphenol content.

    Harvard study proves that US needs to recommend meat reduction

    harvard plant based diet study
    Courtesy: Vanessa Loring/Pexels

    Replacing red and processed meat with plant protein sources – particularly nuts and legumes – was found to improve cardiometabolic risk factors, including blood lipids and blood pressure as well as inflammatory biomarkers.

    “Most of us need to begin shifting our diets toward plant-based proteins,” said senior author Frank Hu. “We can do so by cutting down on meat, especially red and processed meats, and eating more legumes and nuts. Such a dietary pattern is beneficial not just for human health, but also the health of our planet.”

    Dietary ratios have been under the spotlight in Europe, with retailers upping their plant-based offerings to meet climate goals. But even national dietary guidelines have focused on this – Germany’s revised recommendations call for a 75% plant-based diet.

    And now, the US is getting in on the act. For the forthcoming update, covering the 2025-30 period, scientists have recommended the government advise Americans to cut back on red and processed meats, and shift their focus to plant-based foods, including vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, and nuts.

    The advisory committee has also proposed a change to the protein food group in an effort to deprioritise meat. This would see peas, beans and lentils move from the vegetable to the protein category, and – alongside soy products, nuts and seeds – be listed above meat, poultry, eggs and seafood. It further suggests that fortified soy milk and yoghurt shouldn’t be referred to as “alternatives” because they’re part of the dairy group.

    It’s a big shift from the status quo, and even if the guidelines don’t heavily influence how individual Americans eat, they do have important implications for school lunches, the food companies manufacture, and public health efforts.

    Now that the report is with the US Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services, the public has 60 days to submit comments, and the agencies will take everything into consideration and release the official guidelines by the end of 2025.

    There’s no guarantee that these proposals will be taken up by the government, especially under a steak-loving president in Donald Trump. But this Harvard study is further proof that they should.

    The post Harvard Study Says Plant Proteins Better For Heart Health Than Meat & Dairy appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Here’s How YOU Helped Make PETA’s 2024 Victories Possible

    PETA’s action alerts are an easy way to help animals and have a huge impact. This year, we’ve achieved some major victories because of people like you who have taken action using our innovative systems.

    chimpanzee mascots at PETA Hallmark protest, with "VICTORY!" in yellow text

    2024’s Top PETA Action Alert Victories: Cheers to Our Supporters

    1.After a massive four-year campaign, including more than 160,000 actions from PETA supporters—Starbucks announced that it would stop charging extra for vegan milks in its stores in the U.S. and Canada.

    The campaign also included protests at Starbucks locations around the U.S.; help from actor James Cromwell, who glued his hand to a café counter in protest and starred in a satirical video calling out the upcharge; and an appeal from Sir Paul McCartney. The change will make it easier for compassionate customers to choose oat, soy, almond, or coconut milk instead of supporting the cruel dairy industry.

    James Cromwell PETA victory starbucks

    2. In August, the National Mango Board confirmed that it would no longer support starving, killing, and slicing open animals in cruel, pointless experiments. This decision followed a high-pressure campaign from PETA, which included more than 400,000 e-mails from our supporters.

          The lifesaving change ended the mutilation of mice to promote dubious human health claims about mangoes, a fruit that humans have safely eaten for thousands of years.

          mangoes and mice with victory text

          3. After receiving 270,000 letters from tens of thousands of PETA supporters, BluePearl Pet Hospital and VCA Animal Hospitals confirmed that they’re no longer purchasing blood products from The Veterinarian’s Blood Bank (TVBB).

          An undercover PETA investigation found that animals kept captive at TVBB were elderly, emaciated, sick, and being denied adequate veterinary care while being used as living blood bags.

          Victory image for VCA dropping the Veterinarians' blood bank showing two animal mascots in front of building

          4. Following a bold PETA campaign, Hallmark, the world’s largest greeting card company, stopped producing and selling cards featuring harmful and degrading images of chimpanzee infants who were torn away from their mothers.

          Our conscientious supporters sent more than 200,000 e-mails to the card company, resulting in a massive victory for chimpanzees.

          Chimpanzee in a tree

          5. H&M—the second-largest clothing retailer in the world—committed to no longer sourcing any new down feathers for any of its brands worldwide, following a PETA campaign that included more than 250,000 e-mails sent to H&M targets.

          It’s a move that will spare ducks and geese a miserable life and a terrifying death. The brand is moving toward using only synthetic or post-consumer recycled down for its jackets and bedding by the end of 2025 or sooner.

          a group of white geese near the edge of a lake

          6. After hearing from PETA and thousands of supporters like you, a pointless sleep experiment on marmoset monkeys at the University of Wisconsin–Madison was cut short.

          In the nightmarish test coordinated by University of Massachusetts–Amherst experimenter Agnès Lacreuse, UW-Madison experimenters planned to repeatedly blast up to two dozen monkeys with sounds as loud as a lawn mower to prevent them from sleeping for up to 24 nights—a procedure so cruel it earned the highest pain classification possible. Records obtained by PETA show that ultimately, six monkeys were used in the test, which ceased after one night of torment.

          A marmoset in a tree looks at the camera

          7. Travel company Jet2holidays stopped selling tickets to marine abusement parks after supporters took more than 270,000 actions.

          Now, we’re asking TUI to do the same, because orcas and other dolphins and whales belong in their ocean home, where they can swim long distances and exist in harmonious pods.

          Whales swimming in Arctic Norway

          8. American Airlines—the world’s largest airline by daily flights—launched a vegan creamer option on its in-flight menus after receiving nearly 150,000 e-mails from our dedicated supporters.

          It became the fifth major U.S. airline to start serving vegan creamer, and you can help us make Southwest the sixth:

          Ask Southwest to Offer Vegan Creamer
          A calf and cow next to a cup of coffee with heart-shaped steam

          9. After a yearslong PETA campaign that included more than 150,000 actions by our supporters, Miami-Dade County announced its move to revoke the Miami Seaquarium’s lease, marking the beginning of the end for this animal prison.

          More than 100 dolphins and two orcas, Lolita and Hugo, lived and died at the Miami Seaquarium in misery. Now, we’re looking to Miami-Dade County authorities to keep up the good work by ensuring that the remaining animals held there are sent to reputable facilities, where they’ll get the care they so desperately need.

          Make an Impact: Join PETA’s Action Team

          10. More than 180,000 e-mails were sent to Palace Tours—a premier leisure travel company—to urge it to stop selling tickets to the Running of the Bulls.

            During the barbaric festival, animals are chased down local streets and later stabbed to death in the bullring. The ritualized killing of bulls doesn’t belong on anyone’s travel itinerary, which is why we’re continuing to push other companies to follow suit.

            How to Quickly Take Action Online for Animals

            PETA achieves many victories via our action alerts—simple and effective ways for people to get active online for animals. Urging companies, universities, legislators, government agencies, and others to stop exploiting animals is a key part of PETA’s most pressing campaigns, and completing action alerts is the quickest and easiest way for our supporters to contribute to this work.

            Each year, hundreds of thousands of people target abusers and help animals who are suffering when used for experiments, food, fashion, or entertainment. Many of our supporters who complete our action alerts go on to share them with their friends, family members, and social media followers.

            Take Action via Text Message: PETA’s Cutting-Edge Mobile ‘Reply Y’ Feature

            We send texts to more than 50,000 supporters each week, asking them to take action by replying “Y.” After they do, an e-mail is sent from them to an animal abuser. This innovative tactic only requires participants’ phone numbers and e-mail addresses, and it’s easily one of the fastest ways to help animals.

            JOIN PETA’s TEXT LIST to help animals

            Here are some other ways we advocate for animals:

            1. Sending out e-mails reaching an audience of over 1 million people
            2. Asking supporters to make phone calls
            3. Posting compelling viral content on popular social media sites to raise awareness of our campaigns
            4. Posting action alerts on our iPhone and iPad app

            Let’s keep it going in 2025 by working together to achieve more victories than ever before.

            We encourage you to take action on our website and share action alert pages with others so that we can continue to grow our supporter base.

            Take Action Here—and Keep Taking Action All Year

            The post Here’s How YOU Helped Make PETA’s 2024 Victories Possible appeared first on PETA.

            This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

          • Future Food Quick Bites: Cultivated Meat Tasting, THIS Is New & Sweet Proteins

            lab grown meat tasting
            5 Mins Read

            In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Upside Foods’s latest cultivated meat tasting, a new vegan restaurant in New York City, and THIS’s brand refresh.

            New products and launches

            South Korean vegan maker Unlimeat has expanded its presence across the US with a listing at 130 Raley’s stores, where consumers can buy its BBQ sliced beef in original and bulgogi flavours, and its pulled pork.

            upside foods chicken
            Courtesy: Upside Foods

            In its latest tasting event, Upside Foods partnered with New York City restaurant Wildair to showcase its cultivated chicken as part of a menu including crispy chicken, skewers, and a pithivier.

            Speaking of New York City restaurants, vegan chain Le Botaniste has opened its sixth location in the Big Apple at Penn 11 in the Penn District.

            le botaniste
            Courtesy: Le Botaniste

            In more restaurant news, San Diego vegan eateries Evolution Fast Food and Donna Jean have moved into a shared space in North Park to bring stability and fresh opportunities for both businesses.

            Seattle-based vegan chicken startup Rebellyous Foods has teamed up with distributor Dot Foods, to expand its footprint to schools, restaurants, event venues, and institutions nationwide.

            Back on the east coast, New Jersey-based Nature’s Bounty has introduced a Plant-Based Omega-3 dietary supplement. It features 1,000 mg of vegetarian algae oil to support heart, joint, and skin health, and is available at CVS, Walgreens, Publix, Kroger, and Amazon.

            blended meat
            Courtesy: 50/50 Foods

            50/50 Foods has secured a listing for its Both Burger, which blends meat with vegetables, at natural foods retailer Thrive Market.

            Across the Atlantic, London-based Multus has introduced Proliferum B, a four-strong line of affordable, animal-free alternatives to fetal bovine serum for cultivated meat production.

            Fellow British startup ReRooted, which sells plant-based milk in glass bottles and collects them for reuse, has partnered with Panasonic to install a cold chain unit that lowers its carbon footprint while expanding its capacity.

            rerooted
            Courtesy: ReRooted

            And Andy Shovel, co-founder of plant-based meat brand THIS, has started an animal welfare charity called A Bit Weird, initially launching with three initiatives around chick culling, lamb castration, and “happy-clappy animal branding“.

            Company and finance updates

            Speaking of which, THIS has introduced a brand refresh, partnering with London agency Kuba & Friends to update its packaging, logo, typeface, and background.

            this isn't chicken
            Courtesy: THIS

            Canada’s investment in legumes continues, with national cluster Protein Industries Canada investing in a project to develop high-protein ingredients using local fava beans. The collaboration involves Griffith Foods, BFY Proteins, Botaniline and Faba Canada, which will create a neutral-tasting faba protein, as well as processed ingredients for consumer goods.

            US biotech company Sunflower Therapeutics, an alternative protein manufacturing specialist, has closed an oversubscribed $3M funding round by Clear Current Capital to launch its Daisy Petal and Dahlia Petal perfusion fermentation systems.

            microbial fermentation
            Courtesy: Farmless

            Dutch fermentation startup Farmless has secured €1M as part of a European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) grant, a year after it raised €4.8M for its ‘brewed’ microbial protein.

            Speaking of grants, Chilean alternative protein player Luyef Biotechnologies has bagged $1M from the Chilean Economic Development Agency to scale up cultivated meat production, and another $500,000 from the Good Food Institute to develop a cost-effective fungi-derived culture medium. It’s now looking to close a $4M seed funding round.

            paleo myoglobin
            Courtesy: Paleo

            Belgian startup Paleo, which makes precision-fermented myoglobin, has welcomed AB InBev alum Ben Souffriau as its new chief innovation officer.

            Israel’s Steakholder Foods has made a major step towards its Asia expansion, agreeing to sell its MX200 3D printer and plant-based premixes to Taiwanese food company Vegefarm, which will commercialise plant protein products in the local market with support from the Industrial Technology Research Institute.

            Policy and research developments

            Sweet protein innovator Oobli has received a ‘no questions’ letter from the US Food and Drug Administration for its precision-fermented monellin sweetener, which can now be used in food and beverages. It is the startup’s second ingredient approved for sale, after its Oubli Sweet Protein in March.

            university of alberta
            Courtesy: University of Alberta

            Researchers at the University of Alberta have developed a way to help pea protein hold its shape better after 3D printing: by activating water with cold plasma.

            At Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute IVV, scientists have created an egg white foam alternative from pea flour under the LeguFoam project, which is backed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

            peta lab grown meat
            Courtesy: Peta

            Finally, University of Cambridge postgraduate student Callan MacDonald is the inaugural winner of PETA‘s $2,500 Future Without Speciesism contest. He has created AgriCell, a first-of-its-kind cell bank to archive and preserve the most advanced primary cells for cultivated meat production.

            Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

            The post Future Food Quick Bites: Cultivated Meat Tasting, THIS Is New & Sweet Proteins appeared first on Green Queen.

            This post was originally published on Green Queen.

          • AgriCell: The Future of Cultivated Meat Wins PETA’s Cash Award

            PETA is ecstatic to announce our first-ever Future Without Speciesism Cash Award winner for an idea that could very well revolutionize the budding cultivated meat industry, saving billions of animals.

            Certificate for the Future without Speciesism Award

            Cultivated meat is real animal flesh produced without breeding and slaughtering billions of animals. While it’s still a developing science, several companies have already successfully made cultivated meat in the laboratory by growing cells from animals. However, it won’t be “developing” for long—market researchers predict that the global cultivated meat industry could be worth nearly $14 billion by 2043.

            But this still relatively new industry suffers from a lack of standardization. Primary cells—the ones used to start the growing process—can vary widely. How efficient the cells reproduce, as well as taste, flavor, and texture, are all influenced by where researchers source these primary cells. While companies have figured out how to “grow” meat from primary cells, keeping trade secrets about which cells work best doom more animals to suffer while entrepreneurs discover and re-discover the most useful types of cells.

            To push back against this concerning trend, Callan MacDonald, a graduate student at the University of Cambridge, has taken the initiative to assemble a “cell bank” named AgriCell—receiving a $2,500 award from PETA to support his work. This first-of-its-kind cell bank will archive and preserve the most advanced primary cells for meat cultivation. Standardizing primary cells in this bank will give producers access to a wider genetic pool shown to work best for cultivated meat production and eliminate the need for cultivated meat developers to kill animals in a search for valuable primary cells.

            Callan MacDonald holding framed award

            Working as a non-profit, Callan’s organization intends to acquire, and then supply relevant primary cells to academic and private labs. Cell samples would be genetically identical and capable of infinite replication.  

            PETA has long been an advocate of cultivated meat, because we believe it’s the first important step toward realizing the dream of one day putting environmentally sound, humanely produced real meat into the hands and mouths of the people who insist on eating animal flesh. Exciting developments like this one from Callan remind everyone of an inevitable global shift in conscientious eating.

            A Future without Speciesism is Inevitable

            Today’s compassionate, young bright minds continue to save living, feeling individuals from being treated as property, objects, or even ingredients. Our Future Without Speciesism award is open to any student with a fully-developed, game-changing idea that can replace animal exploitation in our world. .

            Do you or someone you know have the vision and expertise to take an incredible animal-friendly project to the next level? Find out more about our on-going award below!

            Help Build a Future without Speciesism
            two brown piglets in grass

            The post AgriCell: The Future of Cultivated Meat Wins PETA’s Cash Award appeared first on PETA.

            This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

          • Going Vegan Can Progressively Lift Us Into Heightened Consciousness – Exclusive Book Extract from Hungry Beautiful Animals

            hungry beautiful animals
            5 Mins Read

            In this excerpt taken from Chapter 5 of the new book Hungry Beautiful Animals, author and philosopher Matthew Halteman argues that choosing not to eat animals can usher us into a higher state of consciousness.

            On the day that a crestfallen bulldog and a carrot-desecrated yard conspired with the universe to convince me of the moral equivalence of dogs and pigs, I would still have been deeply skeptical of the idea that orcas enjoy personal experiences in complex family cultures within a shared dolphin world.

            As impressive as dolphins are, I might have argued back then, their accomplishments are still modest compared to skyscrapers and symphony orchestras. And when you’re out there trying to be taken seriously as a vegan, you’re not going to lead with animal biographies, especially those of apex predators allegedly so brutal in their ascendance that they deserve the epithet “killer.”

            The only quicker way to achieve Annoying Vegan status is to mount a campaign for termite liberation at a pest control trade show. A better strategy, or so it seemed to me in the early years of going vegan, was to keep the focus tight on shame-inducing comparisons between the two classes of animals that most depend on our mercy: the companions whose bodies we hug, and the “food animals” whose bodies we eat.

            As my inner ecology has become more unified and my vegan practice has gained confidence, it’s slowly dawned on me that the stories of free-living creatures striving to flourish in a wider world that provokes their desires and challenges their efforts can powerfully unveil the beauty of a new vegan normal in ways that appealing to the suffering of domesticated animals often cannot. This is certainly not to say that free-living animals are more beautiful or morally important than their domesticated fellow creatures. To render any such comparative judgment absurd, simply feast your eyes on the beauty and dignity radiating from every page of Isa Leshko’s magnificent Allowed to Grow Old: Portraits of Elderly Animals from Farm Sanctuaries. The point is to interrupt our regularly scheduled program of seeing animals primarily in contrast to assumed human ascendence as dependent, oppressed, and suffering, so that exposure to their flourishing might invite us to imagine who they are beyond the human/animal binary that renders them lesser-than before we even know the first thing about them.

            animal rights book
            Courtesy: Basic Books

            By retraining our consciousness of the lives of animals on narratives of free-living creatures doing well, we can transform our default vision of them as underlings, even and especially the domesticated animals we thought we already knew. By these lights, astonishing capabilities for living well on their own terms come brilliantly into focus that must hide in plain sight when we experience animals primarily within the overwhelmingly negative valences of our most common inherited conceptions of them. Instead of seeing animals merely as docile pets, expendable tools, brutal predators, cringing prey, or destructive pests—beings who, in all cases, are either servile underlings we feel entitled to dominate or encroaching aggressors we feel entitled to destroy—we can envision them as potentially flourishing creatures free to pursue ends uniquely their own.

            We must achieve heightened awareness of the complex worlds and awe-inspiring capabilities that dignify other creatures and explode our comparative, inaccurate, and ultimately oppressive conceptions of them as subhuman. Because of our collective history of oppressing animals—and indeed, weaponizing the very idea of “the animal” to facilitate the oppression of fellow human beings—it is unsurprising and even fitting that our aspirations to go vegan often begin in lament over the cruel treatment of victims of this oppression. But going vegan can progressively lift us into heightened consciousness of members of other species as creatures whose lives are their own to cherish, beautiful in themselves and alive to possibilities we can never experience even as they provoke our deepest awe and respect.

            “Animal consciousness” may sound a little spooky, but I think most of us have ample experience with what I have in mind. Just think of it as the felt human awareness that other animals have personal lives— that they are creatures who, like us, must make their own way in a world that pushes back. To have animal consciousness is to understand at some level, even if only occasionally in inklings, that other animals have lives that matter to them, lives that could be better or could be worse from their own perspective. Such creatures have experiences, desires, abilities to seek things they want and avoid things they dislike, and their desires are often personally inflected. Some dogs eat six pounds of carrots a week while others never touch the stuff.

            hungry beautiful animals
            Courtesy: Basic Books/Green Queen

            But all dogs are cognitively, emotionally, socially, and physically invested in doing well for themselves, as their gorgeously shameless trash-rummaging, pre-vacation pouting, backyard showboating, and massage-begging ways attest. Animal consciousness comes in degrees and waxes and wanes situationally in keeping with how presently threatening or invigorating one finds the prospect that human beings are not the only creatures on the planet who cherish doing well. As children, many of us enjoy such high levels of animal consciousness that our fierce caring for the feathered and furry extends even to our stuffed animals (as any unlucky parent who accidentally smothers a plush sloth at bedtime is abruptly reminded). As we age, sustaining such high levels of animal consciousness becomes increasingly inconvenient, as our perceived interests in doing well come increasingly into conflict with those of other animals.

            To the extent that our well-being seems to depend on steaks, chops, milk, and eggs, our animal consciousness contracts to the point of seeing animals, if we see them at all, as instinct-driven ambulatory objects ready to serve as tools for human use. But when a squirrel darts in front of the car or a tufted titmouse careens into the house, our consciousness intuitively if temporarily expands to receive these creatures as having interests in striving and surviving that soccer balls and paper planes clearly lack. And every now and then, when a mother mallard emerges from the brush with ducklings in tow, or a family of raccoons crests the garage roof on a moonlit quest for ripening grapes, our animal consciousness can instantaneously dilate into capacious curiosity, wonder, or even awe at their strivings. Most of us have it in us to be dazzled by other animals, at least when their flourishing demands nothing of us. In thrall to this bedazzlement, we can’t help but wish our fellow creatures well.

            Excerpted from Hungry Beautiful Animals: The Joyful Case for Going Vegan by Matthew Halteman. Copyright © 2024. Available from Basic Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

            The post Going Vegan Can Progressively Lift Us Into Heightened Consciousness – Exclusive Book Extract from Hungry Beautiful Animals appeared first on Green Queen.

            This post was originally published on Green Queen.

          • Vegan Fat Startup & Disney Team Up to Serve ‘Piggy Baos’ at Moana 2 World Premiere

            moana 2 world premiere
            4 Mins Read

            Californian food tech startup Lypid has debuted its consumer brand via a partnership with Disney, serving vegan pork baos at the Moana 2 premiere in Hawai’i.

            At the world premiere of Disney’s latest record-breaking film, Moana 2, Pua wasn’t the only pig that stole the show.

            Stars, filmmakers, and attendees were among the first groups to taste the BBQ Pork Piggy Bao, a new retail product by Californian brand Lypid Kitchen, which centres around an innovative vegan pork fat.

            It’s the retail-focused arm of food tech startup Lypid, which is known for its plant-based animal-like fats. The baos – the brand’s first product line – were on the menu at the Lanikuhonua Cultural Institute in Kapolei (situated on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu), where people gathered to celebrate the sequel to Walt Disney Animation Studio’s 2016 hit, Moana.

            moana 2 premiere
            Courtesy: Lypid

            Since the premiere in late November, Moana 2 has turned out to be a Thanksgiving record-breaker at the box office, and banked $389M globally in its first weekend – behind only fellow Disney megahit Deadpool & Wolverine.

            “We are thrilled to collaborate with Disney for the Moana 2 World Premiere, a celebration of connection and harmony that aligns perfectly with our mission,” said Lypid co-founder Jen-Yu Huang.

            Lypid Kitchen celebrates Asian classics

            Lypid’s produces hard fats that have the taste and texture of animal fats and coconut oil, but without the environmental or health detriments. It is low in saturated fat, and contains zero trans fats or hydrogenation.

            Its patented microencapsulation technology incorporates and extends flavour delivery into vegan fats, and can retain them even through the cooking process. PhytoFat is a structured fat that is low in saturated fat and has a very high melting point, making it suitable for a range of applications, including plant-based meat, dairy and baked goods.

            disney vegan
            Courtesy: Lypid

            With Lypid Kitchen, the startup is focusing on Asian comfort foods with a better-for-you, plant-based approach. The BBQ Pork Piggy Bao is intended as a twist on the sweet and savoury char siu bao, a dim sum classic.

            “At Lypid Kitchen, we’re reimagining favourite Asian comfort foods to offer authentic flavours that everyone can enjoy, while also caring for the planet,” said Huang.

            The bao is now available for pre-order on Lypid Kitchen’s website, priced at $14.99 for a four-pack. Moreover, the brand will introduce the saturated-fat-free product on retail shelves in February 2025.

            Alternative fats solve major pain points

            Lypid, which has raised over $4M from investors, has several other products, which are all geared towards foodservice. These include pork belly slices in original and smoky flavours, which it debuted in March last year, braised pork belly, thick-cut bacon, and smoky BBQ crumbles.

            And earlier this year, it rolled out plant-based meatballs, which it said can be used in various cuisines, including American, Italian, and Asian fusion.

            lypid fat
            Courtesy: Lypid

            These products are available at over 500 locations globally. Burger patties made from PhytoFat have been served as part of several menu items at Louisa Coffee outlets in Taiwan since 2022. Its pork belly was part of a pasta dish at Ikea Taiwan for a limited time this year, and its offerings can also be found at Taiwanese airline company EVA Air.

            Fats are becoming increasingly important in the alternative protein space, as consumers clamour for more realistic taste and texture attributes in meat and dairy analogues, while improving health outcomes.

            lypid kitchen
            Courtesy: Lypid

            Edinburgh’s Palm-Alt is emulsifying non-tropical oils with proteins and water to give them more ‘saturated’ properties, while London-based vegan meat maker THIS has come up with an olive-oil-based emulsion to reduce the level of saturated fat in its chicken, beef and pork analogues.

            Several others are working on planet- and health-friendly hard fat alternatives, whether via a combination of plants, or through fermentation. These include NoPalm Ingredients, C16 Biosciences, PALM-ALT, Äio, and Melt&Marble, among others.

            The post Vegan Fat Startup & Disney Team Up to Serve ‘Piggy Baos’ at Moana 2 World Premiere appeared first on Green Queen.

            This post was originally published on Green Queen.

          • Figs in Blankets: Oat Milk Chocolate Wins Festive Competition by Amazon & The King’s Trust

            hip figs in blanket
            4 Mins Read

            British brand H!P has designed an oat milk chocolate based on the winning submission in a festive competition run by Amazon and The King’s Trust. The kicker is a surprise ingredient.

            Chocolate-covered bacon may be a modern American speciality, but it’s not often that you hear of bacon-infused chocolate.

            What’s even rarer is that it’s all vegan.

            But that’s just what Brazilian illustrator Louise Coutinho came up with, winning the Raising The (Chocolate) Bar competition organised by Amazon and The King’s Trust.

            Her idea was brought to life by London-based oat milk chocolate maker H!P, which developed the bar labelled Figs in Blankets. It combines a 41% cocoa base, complemented with chopped dates and figs and a salty, smoky vegan bacon flavouring – and went on sale on Amazon yesterday for £3.50 per 80g bar.

            “While the prospect of mixing figs with plant-based bacon flavouring raised a few eyebrows initially, it was clear after the first taste test that we’d hit the sweet spot. I can’t wait to hear people’s reactions to the flavour combo,” said H!P owner James Cadbury, a descendent of the famous chocolate family, who was on the contest’s judging panel.

            Inspired by a British Christmas classic

            hip oat milk chocolate
            Courtesy: James McCauley/PinPep

            The King’s Trust (formerly The Prince’s Trust), supports people aged 11 to 30 with finding employment and setting up a business. Young people were invited by the charity to invent unique flavour combinations for the festive season, with entries judged by experts including Cadbury and Levi Roots, the celebrity chef behind Reggae Reggae Sauce.

            “I wanted to come up with a Christmassy flavour, something fun and creative, the crazier the better,” explained Coutinho, who spent two years on the Trust’s enterprise programme. She drew inspiration from pigs in blankets, a British Christmas classic entailing cocktail sausages wrapped in bacon.

            “I thought about Christmas in the UK and pigs in blankets came to mind – I was drawn to it because it has a little character. I love characters and could see the opportunity for the visual element of packaging the products,” she said.

            “I am a visual artist and I am not in the food industry, so a chocolate competition was out of my comfort zone,” she continued. “I was very surprised when they went for my idea which was kind of out of the box – but they embraced it. Then they had to figure out how to bring it to reality.”

            Since H!P is a plant-based brand, Coutinho wanted to challenge its team to create a savoury element with the vegan bacon flavouring. “There’s something intriguing about it,” she remarked.

            Roots agreed: “As a lover of bold flavours, I was really impressed by the unique pairing of the salty bacon style flavouring with sweet, fragrant figs.”

            Amazon to donate part of proceeds from vegan chocolate

            vegan christmas chocolate
            Courtesy: H!P/Amazon

            Coutinho said winning the competition was a “dream come true”: “Not only was my chocolate bar creation selected by the judges as the winner, but I also got to attend a design tutorial with the H!P team, who decided to include my signature smiley face design on the packaging.”

            The whimsical illustration puts a smile on the figs and bacon appearing on the front of the wrapper. “My style is to create upbeat themes and visuals about the things that make us happy and bring joy, best friends, pets, little characters,” she said.

            There are a total of 7,500 limited-edition bars available, with Amazon donating at least 15% of proceeds from each chocolate sold in December to The King’s Trust.

            H!P (which stands for Happiness in Plants) is one of the UK’s leading vegan chocolate brands, founded in 2021 and now available at Sainsbury’s, Whole Foods Market, Ocado, and Holland & Barrett, as well as Tesco Ireland. It has a six-strong lineup of bars, but also sells buttons, truffles (à la Lindor), and dragées.

            Its chocolates have a 50% lower carbon footprint, and are encased in plastic-free recyclable packaging with an inner film made from compostable wood pulp.

            The chocolate industry itself has been under the microscope this year, with cocoa prices reaching all-time highs amid supply strains induced by the climate crisis, which itself is exacerbated by chocolate production. Many food tech startups have been developing cocoa-free chocolate alternatives using more planet-friendly ingredients, while some are recreating bioidentical versions using cocoa cells.

            The post Figs in Blankets: Oat Milk Chocolate Wins Festive Competition by Amazon & The King’s Trust appeared first on Green Queen.

            This post was originally published on Green Queen.

          • Actor James Cromwell Trashed a Lifetime Achievement Award From the Humane Society—Read His Powerful Op-Ed to Find Out Why

            Succession’s James Cromwell put his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Humane Society of the United States exactly where it belongs—in the trash. Why? To condemn the organization’s role in propping up factory farms by sitting on the board of directors for the Global Animal Partnership—the group behind misleading “animal welfare certified” labels at Whole Foods Markets.

            Read Cromwell’s powerful op-ed below—then, find out how YOU can take action.

            My Humane Society Award Is Trash—Literally and Figuratively

            Written by James Cromwell

            In 2014, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) awarded me a Lifetime Achievement Award during its 60th Anniversary Gala. I was honored to receive it, and until recently, I was very proud of it.

            My perspective changed after I discovered that the HSUS is still “proudly supporting” the Global Animal Partnership (G.A.P.) as a member of its board. G.A.P. allows animal-exploiting companies to place grossly misleading “animal welfare certified” labels on meat, eggs, and dairy. This highly deceptive humane-washing scheme tricks consumers into believing that animals on factory farms are well cared for. Terms like “animal welfare certified,” along with images of happy animals in grassy pastures, create an illusion to mask abuse and suffering.

            After learning about the HSUS’ involvement with G.A.P., I wrote to HSUS President and CEO Kitty Block, urging the organization to resign from G.A.P.’s board of directors. She defended the HSUS’ position, but I’m not buying it, and neither should anybody who considers themselves an animal advocate. An award from an organization that is supposed to protect animals means nothing if that organization betrays them. We need to demand what animals deserve, and settling for slightly less terrible cruelty is being complicit in their abuse—period. I threw my award in the trash, where it belongs.

            The HSUS’ affiliation with G.A.P. provides cover for one of the cruelest industries and gives the public the green light to buy the flesh of animals who were abused in extremely violent ways before workers slaughtered them.

            PETA found rampant abuse at all 12 G.A.P.-certified sites that it investigated. The group has shown the HSUS the evidence of workers kicking, stomping on, throwing, punching, and beating turkeys. One worker held a turkey up by her injured neck, mimicked masturbation, and then dropped her on the floor and left her to die. When they’re not confined and abused on filthy factory farms, these emotionally complex birds enjoy having their feathers stroked, gobbling along to music, and playing together.

            I love all animals, but it was a pig who got me to think deeply about factory farming. Pigs are sensitive, intelligent animals who find joy in the simple pleasures of life, but on G.A.P.-certified farms, they can be kept indoors without sunlight or fresh air for their entire lives. They’re mutilated without any pain relief, forcibly artificially inseminated, kept in severely crowded conditions, robbed of their beloved piglets, and transported in all weather extremes to slaughterhouses, where they’re killed in front of other terrified animals.

            My friends at PETA say, “Every animal is someone.” All animals can feel terror, pain, loneliness, and love, and we must push to prevent needless suffering. Going vegan is the one sure way to protect turkeys, pigs, and other animals factory-farmed for their flesh, and that’s what the HSUS should promote. And it’s why I’ve been vegan for decades.

            I will continue to put pressure on the HSUS until it does the right thing by animals and those who trust it to do so. Please join me at PETA.org/GAP.

            I won’t be associated with the HSUS as long as it’s affiliated with G.A.P.

            James Cromwell is an Oscar-nominated actor, a star of Succession and the Fox crime drama Murder in a Small Town, and an honorary director of PETA.

            Join James Cromwell—Help End the ‘Humane’ Lies

            Kind consumers can take action by going vegan and by urging organizations to stop propping up the cruel animal agriculture industry. Please sign PETA’s petition telling “animal protection” groups to resign from the Global Animal Partnership’s board of directors immediately:

            take action!

            The post Actor James Cromwell Trashed a Lifetime Achievement Award From the Humane Society—Read His Powerful Op-Ed to Find Out Why appeared first on PETA.

            This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

          • Future Food Quick Bites: Indian Vegan Nuggets, Airline Sushi & Non-Dairy Grilled Cheese

            virat kohli vegan chicken
            5 Mins Read

            In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers a vegan nugget campaign with Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli, Japan Airlines’s plant-based sushi offering, and a precision fermentation communication guide.

            New products and launches

            Indian plant-based meat brand Blue Tribe Foods has revamped its vegan chicken nuggets, accompanied by a new ad campaign featuring its celebrity ambassador couple, actress Anushka Sharma and cricketer Virat Kohli.

            Canadian startup Milk Depot Inc. is the latest brand in the at-home plant-based milk category, launching a non-dairy Milk Maker for $279.95 (currently on offer for $149) on its website.

            Belgian precision fermentation startup Paleo has teamed up with Austria’s Revo Foods on a trial to infuse the latter’s 3D-printed salmon with animal-free myoglobin.

            mr charlie's frowny meal
            Courtesy: Mr Charlie’s

            Vegan fast-food chain Mr Charlie’s has opened a pop-up in Melbourne’s CoConspirators Brewpub, which will run for two months.

            Korean startup Pensées has begun selling its first food-grade culture medium for cultivated meat producers, which has a similar cost to the industry standard when used on a development scale.

            lab grown meat culture media
            Courtesy: Pensées

            And Japan Airlines is serving up vegan sushi in the air, thanks to a partnership with local food manufacturer Azuma Foods.

            Company and finance updates

            Singapore-based precision fermentation player TurtleTree is raising a $15M round for its animal-free lactoferrin.

            Dutch vegan ingredient company GNT has set up a VC arm called GNT Ventures, which will focus on colouring solutions across the raw material and fermentation, processing, food ingredient, and upcycling verticals.

            A month after opening its Armored Grilled Cheese foodservice venture in Brooklyn’s Dekalb Market Hall, South Korean dairy-free cheese startup Armored Fresh has announced that 70% of visitors have been non-vegan. It also recorded a repeat customer rate of 24% in this period.

            armored fresh cheese review
            Courtesy: Armored Fresh

            Bangkok-based agrifood giant Thai Wah Public Company has teamed up with Japan’s Fuji Nihon Corporation to advance the manufacturing, sales and distribution of tapioca-based foods.

            Two months after entering voluntary administration, New Zealand hemp meat maker Sustainable Foods has been placed in liquidation.

            Denver-based vegan restaurant Meta Burger – once named the world’s best burger by HappyCow – has closed its two remaining locations, leaving the city with no fully plant-based eateries.

            meta burger closed
            Courtesy: Meta Burger

            Speaking of the world’s best, Qatar Airways has partnered with food waste digester company Power Knot to install a biodigester on its planes, which can process and convert up to 1,500kg of food waste into greywater.

            There’s change at the top at Israeli cultivated seafood startup Wanda Fish, where James Amihood is taking over as CEO from Dafna Heffetz, who will stay as a board vice-chairman.

            US cell-based collagen maker Jellatech has welcomed biotech experts Matthew Kane and Dr. Bill Polacheck to its advisory board.

            Research, policy and awards

            A judge in Los Angeles has ruled in favour of the USDA on a 2022 case brought by a vegan student who argued that her school was violating the First Amendment rights by blocking her ability to raise awareness about plant-based milk. The courts decided that the student lacked standing to sue because she has already graduated.

            In Sweden, the Chalmers University of Technology has established a four-year future food consortium with agrifood giants Lantmännen and Arla to advance fermentation research and develop hybrid foods.

            future food quick bites
            Courtesy: University of Waterloo

            At the University of Waterloo in Canada, scientists are feeding bacteria on food scraps to produce fully biodegradable bioplastics that break down in garden composts, agricultural fields, and both fresh and seawater, while causing no harmful plastic pollution or leaving any chemical residues behind.

            Spanish plant-based meat leader Heura has called on the national government to take a more urgent approach to climate action and “prioritise sustainability and global health over political interests” in a new awareness campaign.

            Students at the University of Reading have won the second prize in EIT Food‘s ‘Pea-Licious’ programme for their pea-based drink PeaChata and yoghurt YogiPot.

            all g foods
            Courtesy: All G

            Alternative protein think tanks the Good Food Institute APAC and Cellular Agriculture Australia have worked with several Asia-Pacific stakeholders to produce an in-depth communication guide for precision fermentation.

            Also in Asia, non-profit Charity Doings Foundation is hosting the first-ever Pakistan International Animal and Environmental Rights Conference in 2025 at the Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore (January 18-19).

            Finally, the state-owned Emirates Foundation has published a food waste guide for event organisers and food businesses, which can help them lower waste by up to 60%.

            Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

            The post Future Food Quick Bites: Indian Vegan Nuggets, Airline Sushi & Non-Dairy Grilled Cheese appeared first on Green Queen.

            This post was originally published on Green Queen.

          • Is Cultivated Meat Vegan? Not According to The Vegan Society

            is lab grown meat vegan
            4 Mins Read

            Cultivated meat is real meat “developed without slaughter”, but it isn’t vegan, according to the organisation that coined the term.

            As cultivated meat continues its journey of consumer and regulatory acceptance, one question looms large for the industry: is it vegan?

            Vegan food and cultivated meat are both subsets of the alternative protein space, working to address the same issues – climate change, intensive animal agriculture, and human health, among others – but with vastly different approaches.

            The former involves using plants or microbes to make food as close to animal-derived meat as possible, while the latter makes use of real animal cells to produce meat identical to the conventional thing, just without all the emissions and the killing that comes with it.

            Since veganism means no animal inputs whatsoever, by definition, cultivated meat doesn’t fall under this umbrella. But it has been subject to discussion, with many vegans expressing interest in trying the products just as others denounce the use of animal cells to create these products.

            To settle that debate, The Vegan Society – the charity that coined the term ‘vegan’ – has published a research briefing that states in no uncertain terms: “Cultured meat is not vegan. Furthermore, it may never be considered vegan.”

            Why The Vegan Society opposes cultivated meat

            lab grown beef
            Courtesy: Mosa Meat

            The Vegan Society’s position centres around speciesism. It is “woven into the fabric of our society” and involves the systemic oppression and ill-treatment of animals based upon the perception of human superiority, and it’s a belief the charity seeks to challenge.

            The research paper suggests that in the current discussion around cultivated meat, there’s a “near total absence” of the animal that had its cells extracted. Most existing literature – from academic publications to company websites – only mention the animal briefly. “What happens to the animal after their biopsy is left unclear. Presumably, they meet the same fate as most other farmed animals,” states The Vegan Society.

            To think that cultivated meat companies and investors are driven mostly by ethical and environmental concerns is perhaps “naive”, according to the charity, which outlined the industry’s massive growth potential and profit-making opportunities.

            It takes issue with the involvement of conventional meat giants like Cargill and Tyson, who “arguably stand to make a lot of money from its success”. While it’s true that these companies have invested in several startups in the space, proponents argue that this presents a pathway for these meat producers to drive greater consumer adoption of alternative proteins while possibly lowering their own climate footprint.

            “It’s understandable that some vegans may be drawn to the possibilities of this technology. However, as our policy position makes clear, cultured meat is not vegan or a panacea for the horrors of animal use and exploitation,” the organisation notes.

            It further nods to advancements in cell line development, which could potentially eliminate the need for any animal inputs whatsoever. But this, for now, remains “only theory”.

            “As it currently stands, the process of cultivated meat is not enough for us to support it. There is already a myriad of vegan meat alternatives that don’t derive from cultivated or lab-grown meats – essentially there are kinder alternatives out there. Whilst these products include starter cells derived from animals, they aren’t vegan,” says The Vegan Society. “We understand that this is a fast-moving sector, and we will keep this under review.”

            Advisors advocate for nuance

            lab grown meat ban
            Courtesy: Good Meat

            The policy paper featured two competing opinion pieces by members of its Research Advisory Committee. Corey Lee Wrenn, a sociology lecturer at the University of Kent, echoes the organisation’s position by saying it’s important to recognise “the symbolic violence that cultured meat sustains”, arguing that these proteins are “deeply problematic” and “reinforce speciesism”.

            Chris Bryant, a social scientist and director of Bryan Research, offers a more nuanced take. “Cultivated meat is likely to decrease speciesism, not increase it, and cultivated meat companies care about animal suffering,” he notes, suggesting that some versions of these proteins are “absolutely not vegan”, but others are, even if they “may not be perfectly vegan”.

            He concludes that refusing to support cultivated meat – especially on the basis of speciesism or capitalism – is “misguided” and likely to increase animal suffering.

            The Vegan Society, for its part, recognises the health and environmental benefits of cultivated meat, stating that it requires far less land and water to produce, produces much fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and lowers the risks of zoonotic disease and antibiotic resistance.

            It also highlights how regulators are increasingly embracing cultivated meat. This year alone, four separate products have received approval in various parts of the world, from Israel and the UK to Singapore and Hong Kong – and this is only set to accelerate next year.

            To that end, the organisation recommends clear labelling for vegan products to avoid consumer confusion, notes that efforts should be taken to centre animals in the discourse around cultivated meat, advocates for further research to better understand the opinions of vegans, and urges vegan campaigners to emphasise that tech advancements alone can’t save us from the climate crisis.

            “We acknowledge that lab-grown meat has the potential to reduce animal suffering and we understand that it has benefits to animal welfare, but we fight for an end to all exploitation,” it says.

            The post Is Cultivated Meat Vegan? Not According to The Vegan Society appeared first on Green Queen.

            This post was originally published on Green Queen.

          • Is Unilever’s Sale of The Vegetarian Butcher A Turning Point for Plant-Based Meat?

            the vegetarian butcher uni
            6 Mins Read

            Unilever is planning an auction to sell The Vegetarian Butcher, its flagship plant-based meat brand. This news has sent ripples through the industry, prompting many to ask: What does this mean for the future of plant-based meat, and how did we get here?

            Back in 2018, Unilever made a daring move. Recognising the surging interest in plant-based diets, the global conglomerate acquired The Vegetarian Butcher, aiming to lead in a sector that was one of the fastest-growing in the food industry. Their ambitions were grand, with goals reportedly set to reach €1.5 billion in sales by 2025.

            Leveraging its extensive retail networks and relationships, Unilever propelled The Vegetarian Butcher to impressive heights in Europe, with significant achievements that included:

            • Major partnerships: Striking what could be the world’s largest plant-based meat deal with Restaurant Brands International (RBI) in Europe (the result of which was the brand’s patties in Burger Kings across Europe).
            • Retail expansion: Establishing a strong presence across European supermarkets, thanks to Unilever’s clout.

            Early on, The Vegetarian Butcher seemed poised for success. Yet, despite these strides, the brand has struggled to replicate this performance outside Europe. In the US, The Vegetarian Butcher couldn’t quite take off; in other global markets, it remained largely under the radar. It became clear that its focus was heavily European-centric, offering solutions for food services chains and a generic wide portfolio of products aiming to address the perceived opportunity for plant-based meat to simply mimic top-selling meat items. The company’s plans – like most other plant-based meat companies – rested on the premise that PTC (Price Taste Convenience) primarily drove food choice.

            The reality check

            the vegetarian butcher sale
            Courtesy: The Vegetarian Butcher

            So, what went wrong? To understand, we need to look at the broader market trends. Since 2021, the plant-based meat market has shown signs of stagnation and even contraction, especially in the US. This slowdown caught many by surprise, given the earlier optimism.

            Comparisons with plant-based milk offer some insights. Plant-based milk has captured nearly 15% of retail milk sales. Walk into any urban coffee shop in a developed country, and you’ll notice that plant-based milk options might account for about half of all milk used—far surpassing the adoption rates of plant-based meat alternatives in similar settings.

            Why the difference? It boils down to consumer perceptions and emotional connections.

            Emotional drivers and consumer behaviour

            For many, milk is a staple, but it is not necessarily an aspirational product. Additionally, lactose intolerance and milk allergies affect a significant portion of the population, making alternatives more appealing. Plant-based milks have successfully positioned themselves as not just substitutes but as trendy and varied options that cater to health, environmental concerns, and taste preferences.

            Meat, on the other hand, holds a different place in people’s hearts and on their plates. It’s often the star of the meal, rich in cultural significance and positive emotional associations. Unlike milk, few people have physical adverse reactions to meat, and vegetarians and vegans still represent a tiny minority in most societies. 

            When asked what it would take to choose plant-based meat, consumers often mention “price, taste, and convenience.” However, these factors, while important, may not override the deep-rooted preferences and emotional connections people have with meat. Simply put, many consumers don’t feel a compelling need to replace something they enjoy and have no issues with. This is a conclusion I first had sometime around late 2022 while experiencing first-hand the challenges beyond Price, Taste and convenience. While it is a topic I have written about a few times, this article from Jacob R. Peacock dives into it with more depth.

            Industry challenges and the path forward

            unilever plant based
            Courtesy: The Vegetarian Butcher

            The challenges faced by The Vegetarian Butcher aren’t unique. Many companies in the plant-based meat sector are grappling with similar issues:

            • Financial strains: With venture capital funding drying up since 2021, especially for early-stage and loss-making companies, many startups have shut down or are struggling to stay afloat.
            • Market saturation and consolidation: After seeing smaller companies closing down, we are entering a phase where companies with substantial revenues are becoming targets for consolidation. The Vegetarian Butcher, with estimated revenues between €50 million and €150 million, exemplifies this trend. On the bright side, this is probably where the winning companies will enter their phase of best returns on investment.

            Technological innovation, once seen as the key to unlocking mass adoption, hasn’t provided the silver bullet many hoped for. While advancements have improved the taste and texture of plant-based meats—particularly in products like burgers and nuggets—they haven’t significantly shifted consumer behaviour. At the same time, negative consumer campaigns have driven negative sentiment to a very high level against plant-based meat, boosted by narratives that the products are not healthy. Price reductions, another strategy employed by well-funded players, haven’t yielded the expected boost in adoption either.

            If technology and pricing strategies aren’t moving the needle, perhaps it’s time to reassess our understanding of the problem.

            Rethinking the approach

            The consistent hurdles suggest that the industry may have misread the consumer adoption curve. It’s not just about making plant-based meat as tasty or as affordable as animal meat. It’s about addressing the emotional and cultural significance of meat in people’s lives.

            We need to ask deeper questions:

            • What truly motivates consumers to change long-standing dietary habits?
            • How can plant-based brands create products that don’t just mimic meat but offer new, exciting culinary experiences?
            • In what ways can the industry engage with consumers on an emotional level, beyond the usual talking points of health and sustainability?
            • Realistically, how long will this really take? Are the companies and shareholders prepared for a much longer journey than initially anticipated?

            Unilever’s strategic considerations

            burger king vegan
            The Vegetarian Butcher has been supplying its meat analogues to Burger King since 2019 | Courtesy: Burger King Germany | Composite by Green Queen

            For a corporate giant like Unilever, the decision to potentially sell The Vegetarian Butcher likely comes down to strategic priorities. Managing a brand in a slow-growth, high-burn sector with an uncertain future may not align with its goals. The company’s resources invested could perhaps yield better returns elsewhere.

            However, this doesn’t spell doom for The Vegetarian Butcher. On the contrary, stepping out from under Unilever’s vast umbrella might offer the brand a chance to be more agile and focused. A smaller, dedicated team could steer the company with the nimbleness required in such a dynamic market.

            Looking ahead with optimism

            Despite the challenges, there are reasons to be hopeful:

            • Significant achievements: The Vegetarian Butcher’s success in securing major contracts, like with RBI in Europe, is no small feat. It demonstrates the brand’s potential to compete on a big stage.
            • Solid foundation: With an impressive distribution network and a diverse product portfolio, the brand has a strong platform to build upon.

            The plant-based meat industry is at a crossroads. While initial expectations may not have been met, this moment offers an opportunity to recalibrate and innovate.

            The potential sale of The Vegetarian Butcher is more than just a corporate transaction; it’s a reflection of the evolving landscape of plant-based meats. It challenges industry players to look beyond conventional strategies and delve deeper into understanding the consumer psyche.

            For the industry to thrive, it must embrace a more nuanced approach—one that recognizes the complex relationship people have with food. By creating products that resonate on an emotional level and by crafting narratives that align with consumers’ values and desires, plant-based brands can forge a path forward.

            Change is rarely linear, and the adoption of new food paradigms takes time. The journey of The Vegetarian Butcher offers valuable lessons for future innovators. As the brand potentially moves into a new chapter, there’s hope that it will continue to push boundaries and inspire others in the quest for a more sustainable and diverse food landscape.

            The post Is Unilever’s Sale of The Vegetarian Butcher A Turning Point for Plant-Based Meat? appeared first on Green Queen.

            This post was originally published on Green Queen.

          • It’s Not Just Butterball: Find Out Where Else PETA Caught Workers Sexually Abusing Animals

            It’s not just Butterball: Sexual abuse of animals is widespread in the farming industry. Turkeys and pigs raised for their flesh and cows used for their milk are all sexually abused by workers. See what our undercover investigators have documented and how you can make a difference for animals.

            Turkeys Sexually Abused at Butterball and Plainville Farms

            When PETA’s undercover footage of workers mimicking sex acts and beating turkeys at Butterball resurfaced, the company claimed that the footage was no longer relevant since it had become accredited by American Humane—but accreditations like this are just humane-washing schemes. The true purpose of these bogus certifications is to hoodwink the public into paying more for the same cruelty. Accreditations mean nothing to the animals who still face extreme suffering.

            Does this seem humane?

            Plainville Farms was certified by the Global Animal Partnership when PETA’s investigator documented the following:

            • Workers attacked birds to instill fear, vent their frustration, or relieve their boredom.
            • A worker picked up a turkey with a neck injury and put her between his legs. Holding her by her injured neck, he mimicked masturbation, then dropped her on the floor, kicked her, and left her to die. A few nights later, the same worker put another hen between his legs and thrust his pelvis back and forth.

            Even after PETA investigations revealed abuse on 12 “animal welfare certified” farms—leading to 141 charges of criminal cruelty to animals being filed against a dozen now-former Plainville Farms workers and numerous convictions—representatives of the Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), and Compassion in World Farming still sit on Global Animal Partnership’s board of directors.

            Take Action

            Workers Sexually Assaulted and Beat Pigs at a Hormel Supplier

            For more than three months, PETA went undercover on an Iowa pig factory farm, which supplied piglets who were raised and killed for Hormel products. Our investigators found rampant cruelty to animals committed by workers and supervisors.

            The following are just some of the abuses that were documented:

            • A supervisor shoved a cane into a sow’s vagina, struck her on the back about 17 times, and then struck another sow.
            • A supervisor kicked a young pig in the face, abdomen, and genitals to make her move and told one of PETA’s investigators, “You gotta beat on the bitch. Make her cry.”
            • A worker hit a young pig in the face four times with the edge of a herding board, and investigators witnessed dozens of similar incidents involving this worker and 11 other ones.
            • Two men, including a supervisor, were witnessed jabbing clothespins into pigs’ faces. A supervisor also poked two animals in the eyes with his fingers.

            “When I get pissed or get hurt or the fucking bitch won’t move, I grab one of those rods and I jam it in her asshole.”

            All Cow’s Milk Is a Product of Sexual Assault

            Female cows produce milk only when they’re pregnant or nursing. They make milk for the same reason humans do—to feed their babies. In the dairy industry, workers forcibly restrain and artificially inseminate female cows by thrusting their hands inside them so that they can create milk, cheese, and other dairy products—no matter if they’re labeled “organic,” “raw,” “antibiotic-free,” “humane,” or anything else. Cows often bellow and try to escape, but they’re held fast, sometimes with a “twitch,” a cruel means of causing pain to their nostrils in order to make them afraid to move.

            The bond between mother cow and calf is strong, but baby cows are often separated from their mothers just hours after birth on dairy farms. Mother cows have been known to try hiding their babies and often frantically chase after and call for them after they’ve been taken.

            Every Animal Is Someone: Go Vegan for Them

            The meat, egg, and dairy industries are built on the subjugation and exploitation of female animals. Every animal is someone. We can all feel pain and fear and experience love and joy. We’re all the same in the ways that matter most.

            All of us can help end abuse like what was shown in the Butterball footage by going vegan and taking action against humane-washing schemes.

            Urge Humane Orgs to Drop G.A.P.

            Take PETA’s 3-Week Vegan Challenge

            The post It’s Not Just Butterball: Find Out Where Else PETA Caught Workers Sexually Abusing Animals appeared first on PETA.

            This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

          • Tesco Goes Big on Whole Foods As Veg-Led Meals Make Up 40% of Plant-Based Sales

            tesco christmas vegan
            4 Mins Read

            At Tesco, vegetable-centric dishes take precedence over those featuring vegan meat alternatives, with the former accounting for 40% of the supermarket’s plant-based sales.

            On Whole Foods Market’s annual trends report for 2024, the retailer had identified “Putting the ‘plant’ back in ‘plant-based’” as a key direction for the vegan industry.

            A year on, the prophecy seems to have materialised across both brands and supermarkets, with the number of whole-food plant-based options hiking as consumers look to incorporate more fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and the like in their diets.

            But this trend isn’t just constrained to the US – it has decidedly gone international. Take the UK’s largest retailer, Tesco, which has noticed a significant increase in shoppers’ appetite for plant-rich options that spotlight pulses, nuts, seeds and vegetable-based ingredients.

            Vegetables dominate Tesco’s vegan Christmas meals

            tesco christmas vegan food
            Courtesy: Tesco

            Vegetable-led foods now make up 40% of all plant-based sales at Tesco now, according to data from IRI/Circana. In the 41 weeks to October 12, the supermarket sold almost an extra 600,000 veg-forward dishes, compared to the same period last year.

            Building on this, Tesco commissioned a survey of over 6,300 Brits, which found that over 27% of respondents will serve or consider prioritising meat-free meals as part of their Christmas menu this year.

            “There is a growing appetite from plant-based shoppers to try products that are plant-rich as well as from flexitarians now wanting to take more control over what they eat, whilst continuing to reduce their meat intake,” said Fay Hasnip, plant-based product development manager at Tesco.

            “With that in mind, we’ve crafted our finest ever plant-based offering this festive season that we believe will surprise and delight all at the Christmas dinner table,” she added.

            The vegan Christmas menu is heavy on the vegetables, including a vegetable and cranberry star, featuring roasted butternut squash and parsnip with cranberry and chestnuts wrapped in puff pastry, as well as a butternut squash wellington with roasted shallot and mushroom duxelles.

            There’s also a roast made from a blend of chestnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, alongside kale, mushroom and a port gravy; a mushroom, butternut squash and chestnut wreath with lentils, red onion and brown rice; as well as vegan No-Prawn Tempura made with king oyster mushrooms and jackfruit.

            In addition, Tesco’s vegetarian Christmas offering includes a spanakopita with hot honey, and a winter vegetable and three-cheese pithivier.

            Whole food focus complements ‘phase two’ of plant-based movement

            tesco vegan wellington
            Courtesy: Tesco

            The whole-food-forward Christmas focus follows the launch of Tesco’s Root & Soul ready meal range in May, which is all about the veg. The labelling of the products showcases this intent, with the retailer listing out the vegetables, grains and pulses on the packaging, instead of traditional dish names.

            “Everyone knows they need to eat more vegetables, and, while there’s a place for ‘meat mimics’, Root & Soul is all about delicious vegetable centrepieces,” Tesco executive chef Jamie Robinson told the Guardian in April. “We absolutely want to drive the agenda on making veg super tasty.”

            The produce-centric meals also play into Tesco’s plans to increase sales of healthy products to 65% of its total by 2025 (by the end of 2023, it got to 60%). A 2,000-person survey by the retailer in December 2023 found that 46% of Brits were eating more vegetables than they did five years ago, with 47% doing so deliberately. By far, the major driving factor was health (81%).

            These results were complemented by a growth in Tesco’s plant-based sales in the first three months of the year, driven in large part by whole foods. “We are seeing flexitarians now wanting to take more control over what they eat, whilst continuing to reduce their meat intake,” Tesco’s plant-based food buyer, Cate May, said in March.

            “Awareness is also starting to increase around the health benefits of making some simple swaps in their diet, for example, to reduce saturated fat whilst maintaining strong levels of protein by increasing the amount of plants and plant-based foods in their diets and then supplementing with more fresh veg.”

            The success of vegan food earlier this year led the retailer to dub the period as phase two of the “biggest food trend this century”. Echoing that theme, Hasnip said: “The plant-based revolution is so far the biggest food trend to have taken place this century and right now with chefs in this space creating and celebrating the diversity and deliciousness of plants, it is piquing the interest of plant-curious consumers.”

            The post Tesco Goes Big on Whole Foods As Veg-Led Meals Make Up 40% of Plant-Based Sales appeared first on Green Queen.

            This post was originally published on Green Queen.

          • Replacing Meat & Dairy with A Low-Fat Vegan Diet Can Reduce Postmenopausal Hot Flashes by 92%

            plant based diet and hot flashes
            4 Mins Read

            A plant-based diet low in fat can reduce hot flashes and weight in postmenopausal women much more effectively than animal proteins.

            Replacing meat, dairy and eggs with plant-based foods – regardless of whether they’re classed as healthy or unhealthy – leads to better health outcomes for postmenopausal women.

            Hot flashes and weight gain are among the most common symptoms of the postmenopause period, but following a vegan diet can drastically reduce these impacts, leading to greater overall health in women, according to a new study by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).

            “Simply replacing meat and dairy products with plant-based foods can lead to weight loss and a reduction in hot flashes in postmenopausal women,” said Hana Kahleova, co-author of the study and director of clinical research at PCRM.

            Over 80% of people at menopause experience vasomotor symptoms. These include hot flashes, which studies have shown to increase the risk of diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, and cardiovascular diseases. They can also disrupt sleep, negatively affecting women’s overall wellbeing.

            Both ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ vegan diets reduce hot flashes

            vegan hot flashes
            Courtesy: Beats3/Getty Images

            The research – published in the BMC Women’s Health journal – is a secondary analysis of data from a 2023 PCRM study, where 84 postmenopausal women reporting at least two moderate to severe hot flashes dairy were either asked to follow a low-fat vegan diet featuring soybeans, or continue their usual diet for 12 weeks.

            That initial research revealed that low-fat vegan diets reduced the incidence of moderate to severe hot flashes by 88%. This latest paper builds on that to explore the association of plant-based diet index (PDI) scores with changes in hot flashes.

            Characterised by positive marks for plant-based foods and negative scores for animal-derived foods, PDI differentiates between the healthfulness of different approaches to plant-based eating, and has been used in many studies.

            PDI measures adherence to a vegan diet in general. Meanwhile, healthful PDI (hPDI) comprises the consumption of ‘healthy’ plant-based foods, such as more vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, oils, coffee and tea. On the contrary, unhealthful PDI (uPDI) includes more foods like fruit juice, sugar-sweetened beverages, refined grains, potatoes, and sweets.

            The researchers found that participants eating vegan diets saw severe hot flashes reduce by 92%, while those in the control group experienced no significant changes. Similarly, plant-based eaters also lost an average of 3.6kg in body weight, compared to just 0.2kg for those who ate meat, dairy and eggs.

            Crucially, all three PDI cores increased in the vegan participants, with both hPDI and uPDI associated with weight loss and a reduction in hot flashes. And these effects remained significant even after accounting for changes in body mass index.

            “The main mechanisms responsible for the reduction in hot flashes in our study may include a high fibre and a low fat content of the vegan diet, weight loss, a reduction in markers of inflammation, and an increased consumption of soy isoflavones,” the authors wrote.

            Important findings among the ultra-processed discourse

            menopause vegan diet
            Courtesy: Africa Images

            “The good news is that our new analysis helps clarify that even plant-based foods that are defined as ‘unhealthy’ by the plant-based index are better than animal products in terms of weight loss and reduction in hot flashes,” said Kahleova.

            The research comes at a time when plant-based meat and dairy products are being bundled with items that happen to be vegan – such as breads, biscuits and cakes – to be falsely discredited as unhealthy ultra-processed foods (UPFs). In reality, the term is used to describe the level of processing, and not a food’s healthfulness.

            Nevertheless, the UPF tag has hurt sales and spurred even giants like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods to rethink their product formulations and marketing strategies.

            The PCRM research notes that fruit juices, sweetened beverages, potatoes and refined grains all have higher carbohydrate and lower fat content than meat, dairy and eggs, and so are naturally lower in energy density.

            Even though potatoes are viewed as ‘unhealthy’ here, the evidence between these tubers and type 2 diabetes risk is “weak and inconsistent”, and subject to variables like the use of fat during preparation and combination with meat in meals. In fact, potatoes have been found to be comparable to beans in weight loss and improvements in insulin resistance.

            “If you want to lose weight, fight hot flashes, or improve other diet-related conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, it’s always best to choose the plant-based option over animal products,” said Kahleova.

            The findings echo the results from a 2012 clinical trial of over 17,000 women, which found that increasing whole grains, fruits, and vegetables and reducing dietary fat boosted the chances of becoming free of hot flashes at one year by 14%, regardless of weight changes.

            The post Replacing Meat & Dairy with A Low-Fat Vegan Diet Can Reduce Postmenopausal Hot Flashes by 92% appeared first on Green Queen.

            This post was originally published on Green Queen.

          • How PETA Revealed What’s Wrong with Butterball Turkey

            Footage that details how workers abused turkeys in perverse ways captured in an undercover PETA investigation of a Butterball slaughterhouse in Ozark, Arkansas, is going viral —and people are shocked that Butterball workers punched and stomped on live turkeys, slammed them against walls, and sexually abused a bird. Find out what the footage shows and how you can help turkeys.

            What Did The Butterball Turkey Investigation Reveal?

            According to one investigator, a Butterball employee stomped on a bird’s head until her skull exploded, another swung a turkey against a metal handrail so hard that her backbone popped out, and one inserted his finger into a turkey’s vagina.

            PETA’s Plainville Farms Investigation Revealed More Turkey Torment

            In 2021, a PETA investigator worked for Plainville Farms, a New Oxford, Pennsylvania-based company that claims to produce “humane” turkey in a “stress-free environment.”

            PETA’s investigator saw workers attack birds to instill fear, to vent their frustration, or to relieve their boredom. One worker picked up a turkey with a neck injury and put her between his legs. Holding her by her injured neck, he mimicked masturbation, then dropped her on the floor, kicked her, and left her to die. A few nights later, the same worker put another hen between his legs and thrust his pelvis back and forth.

            Former workers were charged with more than 140 counts of cruelty to animals, including six felonies, following the investigation. The case involves the most charges and defendants in any case of cruelty to factory-farmed animals in U.S. history, and 10 men have been convicted so far.

            Be Thankful: There Are Lots of Vegan Options to Pair with Stuffing, Not Suffering

            Turkeys used for food suffer just by being bred: They are kept in dark, crowded sheds, are stressed, and are weak because they were selectively bred to gain too much weight too quickly. No matter if the birds are sold by Butterball, Plainville Farms, or elsewhere, if you see their bodies for sale in a grocery store, know that they suffered.

            The best way to help turkeys, the environment, and your health is to go vegan—and thankfully, there are loads of Turkey-free Thanksgiving meals to try.

            Join the many people who took to social media after viewing the Butterball footage to share they were going vegan and stop supporting turkey torment today:

            Help Turkeys: Go Vegan

            The post How PETA Revealed What’s Wrong with Butterball Turkey appeared first on PETA.

            This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

          • Future Food Quick Bites: Coconut Latte Pods, Vegan Lakers & Iowa SNAP Decision

            vegan cloud latte
            5 Mins Read

            In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Coconut Cloud’s coffee pods, Better Balance’s Crypto.com Arena link-up, and the USDA’s rejection of Iowa’s plant-based purchase restrictions.

            New products and launches

            US coffee chain Peet’s Coffee has introduced the Everything Plant-Based Sandwich, which features Impossible Foods‘s vegan sausage, Eat Just‘s Just Egg, and dairy-free cheese.

            peet's everything plant based sandwich
            Courtesy: Impossible Foods/LinkedIn

            Oyamel, the Washington, DC restaurant owned by José Andrés, held a cultivated meat tasting featuring Eat Just‘s Good Meat chicken and Wildtype‘s salmon in several dishes, organised by non-profit Food Solutions Action.

            Foodservice distributor Performance Food Group has ventured into the blended meat space, launching a Beef & Jackfruit Burger under its FarmSmart brand in partnership with meat analogue maker The Jackfruit Company.

            Californian startup Renegade Foods has added three French-Hungarian vegan salami SKUs to its lineup. Available in Salami Lorraine, Salami Provence, and Salami Budapesti flavours, they can be found on its website for $42.75 per three-pack.

            coconut cloud latte pods
            Courtesy: Coconut Cloud

            Also in the US, dairy-free brand Coconut Cloud has launched single-serve coffee pods made with instant coffee, coconut cream powder, coconut sugar and MCT oil powder. The Coconut Cream Latte capsules are available on its website and Amazon for $24.99 for an 18-pack.

            Expanding its presence in the US market, plant-based food brand Better Balance has become an official partner with Los Angeles’s Crypto.com Arena, home to the Lakers; collaborated with PLNT Burger, owned by former Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn, to put its vegan hot dog on the menu; and expanded its retail footprint to select Giant and Martin’s on the East Coast.

            South Korea’s Unlimeat has launched two new vegan kimbap products in sausage and buldak variants in the US, which are available on its website for $8.99 per pack.

            unlimeat kimbap
            Courtesy: Unlimeat

            British plant-based meat maker Shicken has launched its Tikka Masala, Butter Curry, and Korma Curry SKUs at Albert Heijn stores in the Netherlands.

            In Canada, plant protein company Burcon NutraScience has partnered with Belgian bakery and chocolate giant Puratos to develop products using the former’s Puratein canola protein as an egg replacer.

            Chilean food tech unicorn NotCo has rolled out a line of functional chocolate snacks called NotSquares, as part of its $30M investment in the snack category over the next three years. The products contain a slow-releasing carbohydrate called Palatinose.

            Company and finance updates

            NotCo is also facing some controversy, though. Its NotMayo, marketed as vegan, has been found to contain the amino acid L-cysteine, which a company representative reportedly confirmed was sourced from bird feathers.

            lab grown meat tasting
            Courtesy: Meatable

            Ahead of its Series C round, Dutch cultivated meat startup Meatable has secured a strategic investment from Betagro Ventures, the VC arm of one of Thailand’s largest food companies. It comes weeks after the company told Green Queen about its plans to gain regulatory approval across Asia next year.

            Germany’s €34M Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant is now operational, demonstrating DSM-Fonterra-owned Vivici’s precision fermentation technology for beta-lactoglobulin (a whey protein) at an industrial scale.

            In the UK, the demand for vegan options at public events has grown by 280% over the last five years, according to research by Togather.

            alternative protein center
            Courtesy: Pureture

            New York startup Pureture, which has developed a vegan casein protein, has teamed up with South Korea’s Kangwon National University to set up an Alternative Protein Research Center.

            In California, seaweed bacon producer Umaro Foods has received a $1.5M grant from the US Department of Energy to enhance the performance, production costs, and sustainability of bioplastics in collaboration with seaweed packaging startup Sway.

            After appointing insolvency advisors in an attempt to rescue the business, UK vegan ready meal startup Allplants has entered administration, making 65 employees redundant.

            Policy, research and awards

            The US Department of Agriculture has turned down a request by the state of Iowa that sought to block residents from accessing meat and egg alternatives via federal food assistance initiatives like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),

            The UK’s Food Standards Agency has put out a call for companies to join its cultivated meat sandbox programme. The deadline is Thursday, November 28, with five to eight companies set to be chosen.

            fsa lab grown meat
            Courtesy: Food Standards Agency

            Similarly, the Singapore Food Agency has issued a call for applicants to its Second Future FoodsMain Grant on Nutrition and Functionality, which is open until February 2025.

            Meanwhile, the Japan Association for Cellular Agriculture has submitted a request to the country’s Consumer Affairs Agency and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, calling on the government to develop a clearer regulatory framework for cultivated meat.

            Plant-based meat has a climate impact 91% lower than beef, 88% lower than pork, and 71% lower than chicken, regardless of how these proteins are produced, according to a comprehensive life-cycle assessment published by the Good Food Institute.

            lab grown burger
            Courtesy: Bene Meat Technologies

            Czech cultivated meat startup Bene Meat Technologies, which is developing both pet and human food, has received the Industrie Award at the Czech Head Awards, which is accorded annually for significant contributions in the field of innovative research technology.

            In Australia, the University of Queensland‘s Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) has released a white paper exploring the potential of precision fermentation, with recommendations for boosting the industry’s future.

            Finally, Peta India has named Ahmedabad, the capital of the state of Gujarat, as the country’s most vegan-friendly city.

            Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

            The post Future Food Quick Bites: Coconut Latte Pods, Vegan Lakers & Iowa SNAP Decision appeared first on Green Queen.

            This post was originally published on Green Queen.

          • Unilever to Offload Plant-Based Meat Brand The Vegetarian Butcher: Report

            the vegetarian butcher
            4 Mins Read

            Unilever is in talks with investment bank Piper Sandler to host an auction of The Vegetarian Butcher, the vegan business it bought six years ago.

            As it continues to shake up its global food portfolio, Unilever has reportedly put its plant-based meat brand The Vegetarian Butcher up for sale.

            The consumer goods giant has hired Piper Sandler to run an auction for the sale of the Dutch vegan business, Sky News reported last night. Industry sources speaking to the outlet suggested that “a number of potential buyers” had already been approached for the deal.

            It comes just six years after Unilever first bought the vegan brand, and is the latest move in Unilever’s bid to streamline its focus on its international megabrands.

            The Vegetarian Butcher records sales growth amid industry struggles

            de vegetarische slager
            Courtesy: The Vegetarian Butcher

            The Vegetarian Butcher is one of the leading plant-based businesses globally. It was established in 2007 by Jaap Korteweg – a ninth-generation livestock farmer – and politician Niko Koffeman, selling meat alternatives out of a butcher shop in The Hague.

            Unilever had worked with The Vegetarian Butcher in 2016 to produce a line of vegetarian meatballs under the Unox soup brand, before purchasing the business two years later in December 2019, looking to capitalise on the boom in plant-based eating and consumers’ growing intent to cut back on meat. The terms of the deal remain undisclosed.

            Today, its products are available in 55 countries and over 40,000 retail locations, alongside a host of foodservice doors, most notably at Burger King in Europe and Asia. The brand has been recording strong growth in sales volume, according to insiders cited by Sky News, but its likely valuation in a sale is so far unclear.

            The development comes during a challenging period for meat alternatives in the Netherlands, whose sales shrunk by 2.5% last year, with volumes down by 7.3%. That said, the market has been showing signs of recovery this year, with data from the early part of 2024 suggesting that weekly average sales volume was 2.4% higher than in 2023.

            Even across Europe’s six largest markets, retail sales of vegan meat grew by 4% from 2022-23. But the global headwinds of the last couple of years, combined with a dip in investment, have led to several businesses in the space shutting down, or coming close to it. Just last week, the UK’s largest vegan ready meal brand, Allplants, entered administration after failing to find a buyer following mounting losses.

            Unilever’s move surprising, but not shocking

            hellmann's vegan mayo
            Courtesy: Hellmann’s/Green Queen

            The decision to put The Vegetarian Butcher up for sale follows comments from Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher to the Financial Times last week, when he said he wanted to “prune” the company’s vast food portfolio, identifying businesses that generate around £1B in annual sales.

            This is part of the Growth Action Plan 2030 he introduced when taking over as CEO in July 2023, described as a focus on “doing fewer things, better and with greater impact”. Schumacher wants to focus on the company’s “power brands”, which collectively represent over three-quarters of its turnover, and registered a 5.4% sales growth in the previous quarter (versus 4.5% overall).

            Unilever’s food business, meanwhile, is second only to its personal care segment, and has racked up €9.9B in turnover in the first nine months of the year. The two largest brands, Knorr and Hellmann’s, account for 60% of this total.

            The Vegetarian Butcher isn’t the only brand on the chopping block. Reuters reported earlier this month that Unilever was looking to sell a number of its Dutch food brands, including Unox and Conimex. The CPG behemoth has also begun demerging its ice cream units in India and Indonesia, and has been mulling a spinoff of its global ice cream division (which includes Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum) – though the latter could now be publicly listed instead of being old privately.

            But it is surprising that Unilever is choosing to do away with The Vegetarian Butcher when you consider its goal to reach €1.5B in annual sales from “plant-based products in categories that would have traditionally used animal-derived ingredients” by 2025.

            Then again, Unilever has scaled back a number of its key climate goals, so perhaps it isn’t altogether shocking that it’s looking to sell a plant-based company after all.

            The post Unilever to Offload Plant-Based Meat Brand The Vegetarian Butcher: Report appeared first on Green Queen.

            This post was originally published on Green Queen.

          • Go Green! How ‘Wicked’ Is About Animal Rights

            When Wicked begins, animals in Oz can speak freely and they work alongside humans, but it’s soon found that Something Bad is happening to animals. Find out three ways Wicked promotes animal rights.

            1. Elphaba’s First Friend at Shiz Is Dr. Dillamond

                When Elphaba starts studying at Shiz University, history professor Dr. Dillamondthe goat, is one of the few people to treat her kindly. Goats like Dr. Dillamond are herd animals, so they are happiest in the company of others and can become depressed if they’re separated or isolated from their companions. Her friendship with Dr. Dillamond sparks Elphaba’s passion for animal rights.

                Unfortunately, goats’ rights are in peril in Oz and our world. A PETA Investigation found that goats scream in pain and fear as workers tear their hair out for cashmere. Later, their throats are slit in slaughterhouses, and they’re left to die in agony. Never buy clothing with cashmere, mohair, wool, or anything stolen from an animal.

                2. Cubs are Exploited in Oz—and at Roadside Zoos

                  When a lion cub (CGI, of course!) is forced into a cage and brought to one of Elphaba’s classes at Shiz University, the not-so-Wicked witch flies to action.

                   

                  Although we can’t use magic to help animals like Elphaba does, we can all make a difference. Never visit a roadside zoo, where animals are kept in barren enclosures and are deprived of everything important to them, and tell your friends and family members to avoid them, too.

                  3. ‘Popular’ Wicked Stars Are Vegan

                    The stars of Wicked, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, are both vegan. You can go Dancing Through Life with the many delicious vegan ice creams, cheeses, and milks to try if you go vegan, too.

                    Go Green and Help Animals

                    Wicked makes it clear that everyone deserves to live freely, no matter the color of their skin or their species. Make a change For Good: Go vegan today.

                    Go Green! Take the 3-Week Vegan Challenge

                    The post Go Green! How ‘Wicked’ Is About Animal Rights appeared first on PETA.

                    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

                  • Plant-Based Meat & Dairy On Par or Better for Health Than Animal Protein, Finds Analysis

                    plant based meat nutrition
                    7 Mins Read

                    When it comes to health, plant-based analogues to meat and dairy have similar or better nutritional profiles, an 11-country study reveals.

                    Vegan burgers, sausages and bacon are better for health than conventional meat, while dairy alternatives offer similar nutritional profiles to cow’s milk, according to an analysis of over 670 plant-based products.

                    Conducted by food awareness organisation ProVeg International, the research evaluated products available in local supermarkets in 11 countries – Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain, the UK, and the US – and used a scoring system based on internationally recognised nutrition guidelines from the WHO, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, and the European Food Safety Authority.

                    “The report really highlights how much potential plant-based alternatives have to bring more diversity to people’s plates and replace vast quantities of animal-based products currently dominating the supermarket shelves,” said co-author Anna-Lena Klapp, who is ProVeg’s head of research.

                    “Plant-based alternatives can build bridges between people’s current eating habits and a healthy, climate-friendly eating habit. Each stakeholder can play an important role in enabling the establishment of healthy and sustainable diets,” she added.

                    Plant-based meat nutritionally superior

                    plant based meat nutrition
                    Courtesy: ProVeg International

                    The report found that the average nutritional quality of all plant-based meat products analysed was slightly better, with a mean score of 5.32 versus 4.50 for animal-derived meat (the maximum score being 8.0).

                    While the nutritional value varied by country, the average score for vegan products in each nation was still similar to or higher than conventional meat. The Netherlands has the highest score (6.67), with 22 of the 82 products achieving the maximum score. But on the flip side, in Malaysia, a lack of fortification (especially vitamin B12), high salt content, and inadequate protein and fibre levels took the average score down to 4.12.

                    Vegan burgers and chicken breasts scored similarly to the comparative animal proteins, while plant-based bacon, chicken nuggets, and sausages performed particularly better. Only schnitzels performed worse in almost all countries.

                    The analysis suggested that plant-based meats have between 11.2 and 19.6 of protein per 100g, compared to 15-19.5g for conventional products. To be classified as a protein source, at least 20% of a product’s calories should come from protein – in each country, more than 60% of vegan offerings fall under this category.

                    vegan meat nutrition
                    Courtesy: ProVeg International

                    Similarly, in all countries bar the US, over 60% of plant-based meat products had 3g or more of fibre per 100g, the threshold to be considered as a source of fibre. Only 29% of American meat analogues contain as much fibre, but even so, the average content (about 2.5g per 100g) is much higher than conventional meat (less than 0.5g).

                    Meanwhile, Malaysia’s use of coconut oil as a primary ingredient makes it the only country in the research where meat alternatives have an average saturated fat amount higher than the recommended level of 2.5g.

                    ProVeg found that depending on the market, plant-based meats are generally fortified with iron and vitamin B12, but fortification still does not appear to be a common practice. “The three main barriers for plant-based manufacturers who wish to fortify their products were identified: regulatory restrictions, consumer acceptance, and technical challenges,” the authors wrote.

                    But while the sugar content of 98% of the analysed vegan meat products was below the set maximum of 5%, the salt content exceeds the 1.1g per 100g limit in most countries. “Salt can be replaced with spices, herbs, and high-quality ingredients that are tasty in their own right,” the report stated. “Potassium salt (KCl) can also replace some of the added salt without altering the sensory characteristics of the product.”

                    Milk alternatives on par with dairy

                    plant based milk nutrition
                    Courtesy: ProVeg International

                    When it comes to non-dairy milk, their average score was 6.5 (out of a maximum of 9.0), higher than the 6.0 achieved by cow’s milk in the UK, but lower than the 7.0 score for dairy in the US (where these products tend to be fortified). In countries like the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, the UK, and Czechia, though, plant-based milk scored between 7.0 and 7.7.

                    Cow’s milk also typically has a significantly higher amount of protein on average (3.5%), compared to 1-2% for vegan alternatives (although soy milk’s protein content is much closer to dairy). But, the research points out, milk is not categorised as part of the protein group, but as a source of calcium in most dietary guidelines worldwide. “Therefore, it is not necessarily a disadvantage if some plant milks contain only small amounts of protein as long as they are fortified with calcium.”

                    plant based milk fortified
                    Courtesy: ProVeg International

                    To that end, the most common level of calcium fortification in dairy-free milks is 120mg per 100ml, which is comparable to conventional milk. Plant-based products in all countries also outscore cow’s milk on the average amount of vitamin D. The same goes for vitamin B2, except for the US, where the fortification levels are on par with dairy.

                    Cow’s milk also contains a much higher level of saturated fat (1.5g per 100ml) than plant-based alternatives (which range from 0.2-0.8g per 100ml). In each country, at least 89% of vegan milk products have less than 1.1g of saturated fat.

                    Crucially, plant-based milk is often criticised for its sugar content, but the analysis revealed that all the products examined had lower amounts of sugar (2%) than cow’s milk (4.8%). The majority of non-dairy alternatives fall within the maximum level of 2.5g of sugar per 100ml in every country except the UK. But the salt concentration was below the recommended limit in over 90% of products across all 11 nations.

                    Recommendations for different stakeholders

                    is plant based meat healthy
                    Courtesy: Kroger/PBFI/84.51°

                    “The report really highlights how much potential plant-based alternatives have to bring more diversity to people’s plates and replace vast quantities of animal-based products currently dominating the supermarket shelves,” report co-author Anna-Lena Klapp, who is the head of research at ProVeg.

                    “Plant-based alternatives can build bridges between people’s current eating habits and a healthy, climate-friendly eating habit,” she added.

                    Health has increasingly become the most prominent driver of plant-based food consumption. In the US, 60% of consumers are influenced by this, while 45% are cutting back on meat and dairy because of personal health concerns. Across the Atlantic, too, nearly four in 10 Brits eat plant-based meat for its health benefits. In the EU, too, half of consumers are reducing their annual meat intake, with health being the primary reason (47%).

                    “It is essential for nations to shift to more plant-based diets as quickly as possible. Our report highlights the current strengths and limitations of plant-based products, allowing stakeholders like industry and Governments to further improve plant-based offerings on offer in their nations’ supermarkets,” said Valentina Gallani, health and nutrition manager at ProVeg and lead author of the study.

                    The report calls on food producers to formulate healthier plant-based products by fortifying them where feasible and limiting saturated fat, salt and sugar. Providing transparency to consumers is crucial, as are collaborations between startups and conventional meat and dairy companies to develop higher-quality products.

                    italy plant based
                    Courtesy: Anay Mridul/Green Queen

                    Retailers should increase the visibility of vegan products by placing them in the meat and dairy aisles, ensure price parity, make their promotions more plant-focused, and commit to a protein split ratio of 60% plant-based sales by 2030 (as Lidl has done).

                    In terms of policy interventions, governments should include vegan alternatives in national dietary guidelines, develop regulations and plans for fortification and salt reformulation, reduce the VAT on plant-based products, and remove restrictions on the use of meat- and dairy-related terms on product labels.

                    ProVeg suggested that scientists and researchers should investigate the long-term health effects of plant-based meat and dairy, facilitate population-wide dietary shifts, assess the bioavailability of micronutrients and the role of fortification, as well as explore salt reduction techniques.

                    And for their part, consumers should prioritise a whole-food plant-based diet, reduce animal proteins to lower their climate footprint, recognise both the strengths and limitations of vegan alternatives, choose products with lower added sugars, saturated fat and salt, but not demonise ultra-processed foods.

                    The post Plant-Based Meat & Dairy On Par or Better for Health Than Animal Protein, Finds Analysis appeared first on Green Queen.

                    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

                  • Good & Humble: New Zealand Oat Milk Startups Otis & All Good Merge

                    all good oat milk
                    4 Mins Read

                    New Zealand-based oat milk makers Otis and All Good have joined forces to form a new entity to champion local growers and expand globally.

                    Otis and All Good, two of New Zealand’s best-known oat milk producers, have merged under a new business called Good & Humble.

                    The entity, which will see the two brands continue to operate separately, aims to leverage each company’s strengths to scale up production, ramp up innovation, and support local oat growers.

                    “By uniting our brands, we’re building a stronger foundation to deliver on these promises, advancing our shared mission of sustainability and local impact. This union strengthens our ability to deliver on those promises,” said All Good general manager Faye MacGregor.

                    “We are very excited to grow Good & Humble for many years to come and see what plant-powered adventures we can have along the way.”

                    Otis and All Good to target the globe

                    good and humble
                    Courtesy: Otis/All Good

                    Otis was founded in 2018 by Tim Ryan and Chris Wilkie, and sells three flavours of its oat milk: Everyday, Chocolate and Barista. While it faced several manufacturing challenges at the beginning, pushing it to produce its oat milk in Sweden (with New Zealand-grown oats).

                    But in June this year, the company partnered with Free Flow Manufacturing to establish the nation’s first state-of-the-art oat milk factory in East Auckland, with a capacity of producing 50 million litres of its products every year.

                    All Good, meanwhile, has been around since 2008, established by brothers Chris and Matt Morrison and Simon Coley (who are also the founders of Karma Drinks). The company began as a Fairtrade banana business, before pivoting into plant-based milk in 2020. Its current lineup, sold under the Good Oat brand, includes Barista and Original oat milks, as well as a Barista coconut milk.

                    Like Otis, All Good initially produced its milks in Sweden, but brought its operations to New Zealand earlier this year. Its sales have grown by 71% annually since 2021, and totalled NZ$8M ($4.7M) in the 12 months to November 2023.

                    The merger will also pair Otis’s on-farm provenance and enzyme technology with All Good’s established export sales and distribution. One of Good & Humble’s key goals is to capitalise on both brands’ networks to expand internationally, particularly in Southeast Asia.

                    Otis’s oat milks are available in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, and Malaysia, while All Good’s products can be found in cafés in South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

                    Addressing NZ dairy’s giant footprint

                    otis oat milk
                    Courtesy: Otis/All Good

                    The merger will help All Good develop a wider range of plant-based products and grow its customer value, with Otis’s premium offering continuing to focus on oat milk that promotes South Island-grown oats.

                    “As we come together under Good & Humble, we create a future where our shared values and capabilities work together, enabling us to set a new benchmark in oat milk quality, sustainability, and innovation and export that to the world,” said Wilkie.

                    “We are playing against billion-dollar multinational brands; uniting with All Good means we can play smarter and harder. Our NPD engine will be market-leading,” he added.

                    Aside from provenance, the two companies are tackling a significant environmental issue in New Zealand. At 102kg per year, the country has one of the highest per capita dairy consumption rates in the world. The country is also the world’s largest exporter of dairy, with the industry responsible for one in every four export dollars the nation earns, contributing $11.3B to the economy in 2022-23.

                    But half of New Zealand’s emissions come from agriculture, three-quarters of which are a direct result of methane from livestock. In a 2022 survey, 51% of locals agreed that plant-based alternatives are better for the environment than dairy. However, 66% of consumers find dairy to be higher in nutritional value, with 78% calling it better value for money and 70% labelling it to be better for the national economy.

                    That said, according to Otis, oat milk is by far the most popular plant-based milk in New Zealand, making up 41% of the local market. It’s followed by almond milk (27%), soy milk (23%) and coconut milk (5%). Other brands in the oat milk space include Boring, Vitasoy, No Ordinary Oat, and Oatly, among others.

                    “We are very excited to grow Good & Humble for many years to come and see what plant-powered adventures we can have along the way,” said Wilkie.

                    The post Good & Humble: New Zealand Oat Milk Startups Otis & All Good Merge appeared first on Green Queen.

                    This post was originally published on Green Queen.