SOPHIE AUBREY: A new report has found that plant-based alternatives are on average nutritionally better or similar to their real meat equivalents. Non-profit alternative meat think tank Food Frontier analysed the nutrition information and health rating of almost 100 plant-based meat products in Australia and New Zealand and compared them to their animal meat counterparts across six categories, including sausages, burgers, bacon, mince and schnitzels. The report finds that plant-based versions have, on average, much less saturated fat, more or comparable protein and lower or similar…

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: Acid rain gained attention in the 1960s and 1970s when scientists linked degradation of forest and aquatic ecosystems across the northeastern US and Europe to fossil fuel emissions from industrial centers often hundreds of kilometers away... Coal-fired power plants were the largest source of reactive sulfur, a component of acid rain, to the biosphere... This prompted the Clean Air Act and its Amendments, which regulated air pollution, driving sulfur levels in atmospheric deposition down to low levels today... A new study recently published in the journal Nature…

BONNIE FLAWS: Lobsters experience significant pain and distress when chilled and boiled alive, according to research presented as part of a complaint about commercial slaughter practices... Lobsters that have been frozen then boiled will recover consciousness and experience pain during the boiling process, and evidence shows they also remain conscious for longer as a result of the freezing... The body of evidence has been gathered by the New Zealand Animal Law Society, which has complained about commercial slaughter practices to regulators. The association lodged the complaint with the…

STANFORD MEDICINE: It may seem obvious that a patty made of plants is a healthier option than a hamburger. But many of the new meat alternatives, such as Beyond Meat, have relatively high levels of saturated fat and added sodium and are considered highly processed foods, meaning they are made with food isolates and extracts as opposed to whole beans or chopped mushrooms. All of these factors have been shown to contribute to cardiovascular disease risk, said Christopher Gardner, PhD, professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. “There’s been this sort of backlash against…

FILM INDUSTRY NETWORK: The documentary 'Hogwood: A Modern Horror Story' reveals a real and shocking home-grown conspiracy that sheds light on the true impact of intensive farming. Streaming on Amazon Prime, Apple TV and Google Play Movies, the 35-minute indie documentary follows an intrepid group of undercover investigators as they enter the UK’s biggest factory farms. The conspiracy unfolds as they fight against some of the most powerful players in the animal agriculture industry, delicately weaving a chilling tale of negligence and greed. Narrated by Jerome Flynn, best known for his role…

JANE DALTON: ‘Unprofitable’ chicks at a farm supplying Tesco, Ocado, and McDonalds were deliberately deprived of water and left to die of dehydration, an undercover investigation has found... The investigator shot the films across two months, before the coronavirus pandemic, which delayed its release... Secret filming also shows how other baby birds deemed too small to be worth raising had their necks crushed or snapped by workers, causing a painful death... One worker was seen crushing a bird’s neck against the metal handle of a bucket... Some were left to die because they were too weak to…

PI DATAMETRICS: While the world is now preoccupied with the global Covid-19 pandemic, one trend was beginning to emerge from the new year before anyone knew what the coronavirus was: eco-conscious and sustainable consumption... According to Statista, electric car sales surged 220pc from Q1 2010 to Q4 2019 and Booking.com noted Gen Zers say the environmental impact that travelling has is an important factor when deciding where to go. With those key pieces of information in mind, let us see what the top eco-conscious and sustainability trends were going into 2020. With ingredients such as…

FRAZER MAUDE: Subsidies for healthy food, plain packaging for unhealthy food, and more research into meat alternatives could help the UK's obesity crisis, according to a new report. The report - Turning The Tables - by social policy think-tank Demos, found that too many people face "significant barriers to eating healthy diets". The report recommends: A government fund for the development of lab-grown meat or meat alternatives, and subsidising healthy foods that are already low in price, such as tinned tomatoes, carrots, and frozen vegetables to make healthy options much cheaper... The…

GEORGIA SIMCOX: Vegan crimes are rising in Britain as more people choose to follow Veganism, prompting calls for the attacks to be given a special status... 172 crimes relating to Veganism happened over the past five years, with just nine in 2015 rising to 55 last year... Last year, 1.16 per cent of the population, 600,000 people, were vegan according to surveys by Ipsos Mori. It quadrupled from 150,000 in 2014... It comes after vegan Jordi Casamitjana won a landmark case after his lawyers argued that ethical Veganism satisfies the tests required for it to be a philosophical or religious…

NATHANIAL BULLARD: Global consumption of animal proteins has been rising, apparently inexorably, for the past six decades. The coronavirus pandemic has finally changed that trajectory. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that meat production—a decent proxy for consumption—dropped in 2019, and it forecasts a decline again this year. Last year was only the second since 1961 in which production fell; two consecutive years of decline is unprecedented and could be the start of something durable. We’re already at peak pasture as far as demand is concerned, and it…