GHANIM AL-SULAITI: 'As ‘The Year of the Vegan 2019' continues, four countries have taken a huge step for the industry by uniting to form an alliance, known as the ‘Vegan World Alliance (VWA)’. The alliance aims to promote vegan values on a global scale. The VWA consists of four activist groups from The Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia. The alliance envisions a world in which all people agree that all animals (human and non-human) are or maybe sentient beings that are subjectively aware of, and able to value their own lives. VWA says “Everyone understands that animals…

KELSEY PIPER: 'When the Impossible Burger launched quietly in upscale restaurants a few years ago, the coverage was mostly positive, with some reviewers even calling it the future of meat. Now, Impossible products have hit Qdoba, Burger King, and supermarkets. Another plant-based meat company, Beyond Meat, is featured in Carl’s Jr, Subway, and now McDonald’s. It’s a sign that the new wave of meatless meat is approaching mainstream status — an encouraging development if you care about changing our meat-centric food system. But if the emergence of meatless meat a few years ago was hailed…

MARKETWATCH: 'Nutritionists across the country are hitting back hard after a new collection of studies alleged that red meat and processed meats — including steak, ribs, bacon and salami — are fine for your health after all. “Totally bizarre,” Harvard University professor Walter Willett told MarketWatch. “It really displays ignorance. They ignored major parts of the available evidence.” He was speaking after the Annals of Internal Medicine, a publication of the American College of Physicians, this week published a collection of five studies that contradicted decades of growing consensus…

SPENCER YOUNG: 'The new movement of plant-based protein, with companies like Beyond Meat leading the way, perfectly aligns with the new physical demands of being an NBA player. One of the primary reasons players are seeking a change in diet is the evolution of the game. No longer do teams start lineups with more than two non-shooters. With almost all teams running a system based on spacing the floor, almost all players have to be able to defend on the perimeter. This requires more stamina and speed on the court. Off the court, it demands that players recover from games properly. Recovery may…

JENNY SPLITTER: 'Though sales of plant-based foods grew by 11.3% in 2019, a growing chorus of critics say these foods are too processed for their liking, vegan junk food with a plant-based health halo. That rejection has to sting just a little if you’re Beyond Meat. Unlike Impossible Foods, which gets its beefy taste from genetically engineered yeast, Beyond embraced the non-GMO label as a way to straddle the nature-tech divide. The move failed to win over critics, but the critics may have missed the mark too, lost in their obsession over processed food. Can the plant-based movement get…

LORRAINE KING: 'Vegan campaigners are threatening to sue the UK government if they fail to introduce a plant-based drink in the Nursery Milk Scheme. Under the scheme, children under the age of five who attend nursery are entitled to a third of a pint of cow's milk every day for free. The Vegan Society claims the scheme is unfair as it does not include alternatives to cow milk. Legal advisors working for charity say that the Government is failing in its duty to the 2010 Equality Act. In a letter to the Government, the charity demanded that alternative is offered otherwise they could take…

PERSISTANCE MARKET RESEARCH: 'The rising inclination of consumers towards natural and plant-based products is estimated to enhance the sales of vegan flavors. Increasing awareness about the side-effects of chemicals present in animal-based products, and growing animal concerns are some of the major reasons for the growth of natural and plant-based products. Therefore, manufacturers in the food and beverage industry are looking for natural and plant-based ingredients to develop innovative products and to gain traction of health-conscious consumers... The global vegan flavors market is…

SAM BLANCHARD: 'Going on a vegan diet could help people lose almost a pound a week and slash their risk of diabetes, according to a study. People who switched to a plant-based diet high in carbohydrates lost an average of 13lbs (5.8kg) in the space of just four months. Scientists suggested changes to bacteria living in the gut could have been responsible for boosting the people's digestive health. And they said the diet could make their bodies more able to absorb sugar from food, reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Scientists at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine…

LIJI THOMAS: 'According to the latest review, adopting a plant-based diet could well relieve the swollen joints and pain of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA is autoimmune in origin, a painful joint disorder caused by inflammation of the joints, affecting 1 in 100 people all over the world. Both genetic predisposition and lifestyle factors participate in its etiology. The latter includes factors like infections, diet and the gut microbiome. How does diet affect the joints? One theory is that dietary factors may reduce the strength of the intestinal barrier which allows food molecules to…

D. MOZAFFARIAN & D. GLICKMAN: 'Americans are sick — much sicker than many realize. More than 100 million adults — almost half the entire adult population — have pre-diabetes or diabetes. Cardiovascular disease afflicts about 122 million people and causes roughly 840,000 deaths each year, or about 2,300 deaths each day. Three in four adults are overweight or obese. More Americans are sick, in other words, than are healthy. Instead of debating who should pay for all this, no one is asking the far more simple and imperative question: What is making us so sick, and how can we reverse this…