JUSTINE BUTLER: Cows are sometimes portrayed as lacking intelligence but studies show that they play games, recognise different humans and have a variety of calls to communicate with one another. They have different personalities, hold grudges, bicker, bond and form long-term friendships. In the wild, mothers and daughters stay together for life. They can also feel anxious and depressed and their natural lives are very different to those they are forced to lead on a dairy farm... Shortly after her first birthday, a modern dairy cow will be confined and forcibly impregnated using restraining…

CARYN GINSBERG: “How to Make and Keep a Veg*n” – illustrated by Faunalytics board president Caryn Ginsberg – walks through a series of evidence-based methods to help encourage people to consider, try, and then (importantly) maintain a plant-based diet. Please share the full graphic with your fellow advocates and use the suggestions in your advocacy! Here are just a few ideas to help you get started: Think about how you talk to people about plant-based eating. What are you doing well? What might you want to change? Review your website, social media, and/or print materials to see how well…

JO-ANNE MCARTHUR: Hidden: Animals in the Anthropocene is a collection of work by 40 photojournalists from around the world, documenting the lives of animals used for research, entertainment and food. “The animals we use most in our daily lives are hidden. They’re hidden away in factory farms, fur farms, and in labs that use them in research and testing,” says photographer Jo-Anne McArthur, who co-edited the collection. “They are also hidden euphemistically; we don’t say we’re eating a calf, for example. We say we’re eating veal.” “As animal rights activists, our battle is against the…

TOM BAWDEN: More than half a million Brits may have signed up for Veganuary this year but the vast majority are likely to go back to animal-based food at the end of the month if not before, a new survey suggests. A nationally-representative poll of 2,000 people from across the UK found that nearly a quarter of people have tried a vegan diet – but less than half lasted a fortnight with just one in a hundred still going a year later. The poll suggested that 2.5 per cent of people in the UK are now vegan. But while many more would like to be, few can manage it. Of those that have tried a vegan…

EMILY BAKER: The US Dietary Guidelines for 2020-2025 have finally been published – and reception has been mixed. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) are updated and published every five years in a joint effort in what government services describe as an effort ‘between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’. This year, the guidelines encouraged people to ensure their cholesterol consumption is as low as possible. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) made its position on cholesterol clear as far as mid-2020,…

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Founders of the online vegan platform vKind announced that the site has seen fast growth over the past few months as more consumers opt for a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. vKind is free for everyone to access online or through the vKind mobile app (iOS and Android), with or without setting up a free account. There are now more than 2,000 vegan product brands, businesses and professionals listed on vKind. “Our mission is to make it easier than ever to be vegan,” said Michon Javelosa, co-founder of vKind. “The plant-based products and services featured on vKind are…

STEVE RICHMOND: The average adult would only make it to 8 January before succumbing to their old favourites if they were to attempt Veganuary, according to a survey. Much of the British public admitted they would struggle with the switch – because they would struggle to live without cheese, eggs and pancakes. Classics such as roast chicken, fish and chips, and bacon sandwiches would also prove too much to resist, according to research of 2,000 people. Cheese topped the list of the top 40 items individual’s couldn’t go without, with 56 per cent admitting they would struggle to stick to a…

DIEGO TORRES: The green wave sweeping parts of Europe could take on a more radical form in Spain. Green parties have been gaining ground in countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, but Spain’s environmentalists have struggled to attract voters. That’s changing, thanks to a radical animal rights party. Pacma — which promotes veganism to fight global warming and wants to ban zoos, circuses, bullfighting, fishing and hunting — is predicted to send one or two MEPs to the European Parliament in May, joining a small club of animal rights parties with a representative in the European…

JOHN R. PLATT: A few months ago a group of scientists warned about the rise of “extinction denial,” an effort much like climate denial to mischaracterize the extinction crisis and suggest that human activity isn’t really having a damaging effect on ecosystems and the whole planet. That damaging effect is, in reality, impossible to deny. This past year scientists and conservation organizations declared that a long list of species may have gone extinct, including dozens of frogs, orchids and fish. Most of these species haven’t been seen in decades, despite frequent and regular expeditions to…

JANE DALTON: Gene-editing will be bad for animal welfare and bad for efforts to curb greenhouse gases, organic farmers and environmental experts claim. Allowing the genes in crops and farm animals to be altered would lead to greater farm animal suffering and would not address food waste, they argue. UK Ministers have announced they will consider the use of the cutting-edge biotechnology in England for the first time, saying crops and livestock could be made to be more productive, so reducing costs to farmers and effects on the environment. Launching a consultation on the move, George…