HEALTH

BBC: Could going vegan help feed the world and save the planet? While industry and energy production are often singled out as the main drivers of climate change, the global meat production industry is a bigger polluter. Veganism advocate Gary Francione and nutritionist Dr Ron Weiss join Nuala McGovern to discuss the pros and cons of veganism. While it might make sense from an ethical and climate change perspective, it is a massive cultural leap for many. We ask whether veganism could really be useful in places where food might not be readily available. And answer concerns over whether a…

MEAGHAN CAMERON: The connection between relative high meat consumption and certain types of cancer has been well established. The World Health Organization classifies processed meat — like bacon, sausage, and other cured meats — alongside smoking and asbestos as a “Group 1” carcinogen (but notes that processed meat consumption should be limited, unlike smoking and asbestos exposure, which both should be avoided completely). Most organizations concerned with cancer prevention agree that people should limit processed meat, as it is linked with cancers of the colon, stomach, and other sites of…

COREY WATERS: The potential of an individual to participate in a particular movement increases if identifications of that individual are recognized as congruent with the collective identifications of that movement. For example, it has been shown through interviews with vegans that there is congruence with those who had identified as “animal people,” meaning advocates for nonhuman animals, prior to becoming vegan. Because these people wanted to be authentic “animal people,” and because they recognized being vegan as congruent with being authentic “animal people,” they became vegan... This…

3BEE: Food for Profit is the first documentary to show the thread that binds the meat industry, the lobbies and political power. At the centre are the billions of euros - exactly 397 - that Europe allocates to intensive livestock farms, which mistreat animals, pollute the environment and pose a danger to future pandemics. Food for Profit is the result of a investigation conducted over five years by journalist Giulia Innocenzi, who wrote and directed the docufilm together with Pablo D'Ambrosi. Food For Profit premiered on Thursday 22 February at the European Parliament in Brussels... The…

ANASTASIA SLOAN: Even in cities that accommodate allergens and veganism, an extra $0.50 to $1 is almost always tacked on to coffee for nondairy milk. ​This additional fee, according to a recent class action lawsuit against Dunkin’, is discriminatory. The lawsuit — filed in late December in Northern California’s federal district court on behalf of all U.S. consumers who have paid more at Dunkin’ for nondairy milk alternatives within the last four years — seeks no less than $5 million for class members. The named ​plaintiffs “all suffer from lactose intolerance and milk allergies,” making it…

NEWS MEDICAL: A low-fat vegan diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans reduces insulin needs and improves insulin sensitivity and glycemic control in people with type 1 diabetes, according to a first-of-its-kind study by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine published in Clinical Diabetes. The study also found that a vegan diet led to improvements in cholesterol levels, kidney function, and weight... In the 12-week study, which is the first randomized clinical trial to look at a vegan diet in people with type 1 diabetes, 58 adults with type 1 diabetes were randomly…

SUPREME MASTER TELEVISION: The Essenes were one of the main religious sects in first century Palestine. Members wore white and followed a vegetarian diet. According to the 4th century church historian, Epiphanius, and Jewish philosopher Philo, the Essenes were Jews who kept all the Jewish observances, but were nonviolent toward all living creatures and considered it unlawful to eat meat or make sacrifices with animals. As a member of this group, Jesus would have to have been a vegetarian, as was His brother James (Jacob) and all His disciples. The main Essene scripture is the Gospel of the…

CHARLOTTE POINTING: Centralization is king in the meat industry. The days of most people eating meat from small local farms are long gone. And now, a very small number of large corporations produce the majority of meat that arrives in grocery store aisles. In the US, meat giants like Cargill, Tyson Foods, JBS, and Marfrig, each of which is worth billions, control most of the market. Every year, the meat industry raises and slaughters billions of animals, including cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, and turkeys. All of this comes with a major environmental impact; livestock emits 14.5 percent of…

THE HUMANE LEAGUE: Over the last few decades, residents of Oklahoma have watched their state transform before their eyes. The Illinois River—which supplies drinking water for communities of thousands—has changed from sparkling blue to a murky shade of green. Families who have farmed land for generations are being forced off of it. Since 1990, over three-quarters of agricultural jobs in the state have vanished. The reason? Factory farms. Over 220 million animals are raised and slaughtered in Oklahoma each year. Nearly all come from “concentrated animal feeding operations,” or CAFOs. Big Meat…

NOAH J. WESCOMBE: Veganism, as both a philosophy and social movement, faces numerous challenges to the communication of its ideas across society. As a unique modern counterculture, it stands in contravention of prevailing anthropological discourses that dominate conceptual frameworks. This has led to difficulty in constructing updated virtue epistemologies that result in veganism as a logical moral conclusion. It is clear that new social discourses need developing, and that this is a primary concern for affirming moral agency... An optimal, up-to-date approach to communicating veganism is…