DAVID PITT: 'Just two months after a federal court judge struck down an Iowa law meant to discourage investigations of animal abuse on farms, lawmakers are pushing another so-called ag-gag measure that opponents say would likely land the state in court again... The new bill would create a trespass charge for those who use deception to gain access to a farm to cause physical or economic harm, with a penalty of up to a year in jail. It also allows for a conspiracy charge that carries a similar penalty... Lawmakers said they studied Judge James Gritzner’s Jan. 9 ruling and drafted this…

EVAGGELOS VALLIANATOS: 'Entomologists are confirming the science and wisdom of Aristotle. They have been saying insects hold ecosystems together. By ecosystems they mean large parts of the natural world: mountains, lakes, rivers, creeks, swamps, seas, deserts, and land. Insects work hard to survive and, in that process, they keep the natural world healthy... But if their numbers are declining, watch out...A recent study reviewed 73 reports that focused on that bigger problem: the dramatic and staggering worldwide decline of insects, especially in the twenty-first century... This study speaks…

CASSIE SLANE: 'The old question “Got milk?” has a complicated answer these days, because it all depends on what you mean by “milk"... Perfect Day Foods is one company creating a synthetic milk alternative... The animal-free dairy product is made in a lab using genetically engineered yeast programmed with DNA to produce the same proteins found in cow’s milk... Silicon Valley-based Perfect Day Foods says its animal-free milk is better for the environment and healthier than cow’s milk because it’s lactose-free, hormone-free, antibiotic-free, gluten-free and cholesterol-free. The company also…

ZACHARY TOLIVER: 'The political world is buzzing about the Green New Deal. As climate change breathes down our necks and with outrageous health-care costs and a sluggish economy, our only hope is to take immediate action—but unless that action includes going vegan, it’s not going to be enough... If proponents of the Green New Deal want to promote justice, equality, and economic security, they should make dismantling the meat, egg, and dairy industries a top priority... Instead of making people sick with the same old animal-derived foods, promoting vegan initiatives could help create new…

DANIEL ROSS: 'In recent decades, livestock numbers have soared in the US, while the number of actual farms has shrunk — a dynamic fueled in part by the government’s acquiescence to industrial farming mega-mergers. In 2015, for example, just four companies accounted for 85 percent of the nation’s beef packing industry. This has given rise to what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), livestock operations where animals — primarily cows, pigs and chickens — are kept and raised in confined spaces. The amount of animal feces and urine…

MIKE SCOTT: 'Consumers are becoming far more environmentally aware, and some of the world’s biggest brands are struggling to keep up with the pace of this change in taste. These Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies, including Nestlé, Coca Cola and P&G, are in a race to adapt to rapidly changing consumer trends, including a rise in veganism and increasing activism on plastic packaging, according to a new report 'Fast Moving Consumers’ from environmental non-profit and investment research provider CDP... FMCG companies have a key role to play in curbing over a third of global…

ANIMAL JUSTICE: 'Ad Standards has confirmed that a misleading transit ad campaign paid for by the Dairy Farmers of Canada has been taken down. The advertisement claimed “there are zero growth hormones in milk produced in Canada”, but this is false. IGF-1 is a naturally occurring growth hormone that is present in all cow’s milk, which helps turn baby calves into thousand-pound adults... Many Canadians are shocked to the learn that the dairy industry has a $80 million annual advertising budget, used to dupe people into drinking cow’s milk that is inherently cruel to animals, linked with health…

MELISSA LOCKER: 'Morningstar Farms can’t wait to tell you that it’s vegan now. The Kellogg-owned company behind Chik Patties and fake bacon strips and Spicy Black Bean Burgers announced plans to makes all of its products 100% plant-based (vegan) by 2021. Vegans who don’t read labels very well may be surprised to learn that many Morningstar Farm products contain egg whites or milk fat. Just last year, the company switched its popular Buffalo Wings, Chik’n Nuggets, and Buffalo Chik Patties recipes so vegans could work off their hangovers with Buffalo Wings like the rest of the planet. Since…

DAVIDE BANIS: 'Producing and commercializing cultured meat — meat produced by in-vitro cultivation of animal cells — is one of today’s most hyped scientific and technological challenges. Dozens of startups around the world, generously backed by VC funding, are competing to hit the market with the Holy Grail of the food industry: meat produced without slaughtering animals. But the quest to actualize lab-grown meat isn’t just opening up unprecedented technological possibilities. It’s also posing new moral conundrums and cultural challenges. Should vegans embrace cultured meat? Will meat grown…

MATTHEW GLOVER: 'Many world leaders have remained almost silent about the UN warning that we have just 12 years to halt a climate catastrophe. That’s why the Million Dollar Vegan campaign offered $1m to charity if Pope Francis chooses to eat only plant-based foods during Lent, and encourages Catholics around the world to do the same. The campaign has so far attracted more than 500 media articles in more than 40 countries, but this is no PR stunt. It is a carefully calculated campaign to get the world talking about the ecological breakdown that is underway, and to urge world leaders to step…