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…

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…

FMCG NEWS GLOBAL: Forty percent of "leading" food firms, including Kroger, Tesco, Nestle and Unilever, now have dedicated teams focused on plant-based products, according to new research from collaborative investor network the FAIRR Initiative... FAIRR's research found that two in five global food giants with combined annual revenues of $459bn now have dedicated teams to develop and sell plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy, with Tesco and Unilever ranked top... The figures were published following a four-year investor engagement programme between the FAIRR Initiative and 25 large…

MIA RISHEL: Encouraging people to reduce their meat intake poses its own challenges, but a growing body of research is providing insight into the most effective ways of doing so. In this study, a group of researchers reviewed contemporary literature on interventions targeted at “conscious determinants” of behavior; in other words, the conscious system of learning and memory used to explain and predict our behavior... The review included over 25,000 observations of individuals or individual meat purchases and looked at self-monitoring and various educational interventions connecting meat…

ANIMAL PLACE: The critical issues affecting farmed animals are only increasing during this global pandemic, and as animal activists, vegans, environmentalists, and plant-based eaters we know we must do more. But what? And how? Join the Farmed Animal Conference E-Summit (FACES) August 3-9. This FREE online event about the future of the farmed animal movement is sponsored by Animal Place and Plant Based Network, and features activists, scientists, authors, filmmakers and other impactful voices in the farmed animal movement! Topics include farmed animal behavior, the role of sanctuaries as…

KENDRA COULTER: Corporate animal agriculture is in crisis, and its days are numbered. Factory farming and industrialized animal slaughtering are being recognized as dangerous for workers’ health, as potential causes of the next pandemic and as both ethically and environmentally unsustainable. Early numbers suggest noteworthy increases in the purchase of plant-based foods during the pandemic. New vegan products are being brought to market almost weekly. And advancements in cultured “clean” meat may soon result in mass production. These technological innovations mean that meat can be created…

ANKUSH DAS AND KOWTHAMRAJ VS: The WHO estimates that 75 percent of new diseases discovered in the last decade have originated in animals (zoonosis). This is primarily because more than 90 percent of the meat we consume is sourced from a vast industry of factory farms that house farm animals in unhygienic conditions. This presents a perfect breeding ground for viruses. To prevent future virus outbreaks, a part of the solution may lie in moving towards a more plant-based diet. In this regard, India might be sitting on a gold mine of opportunity. The vegan movement advocates for a shift to a…

BRIAN MCGLEENON: Chinese factory farming is creating the perfect environment for "the mutation and amplification of new viruses" and unless conditions improve "this pandemic will not be the last one", a leading scientist has warned. Global Head of Research and Animal Welfare for Animals in Farming Kate Blaszak described the growth of intensive farming units not just in China but across the world and pointed to them as having the potential to both increase antibiotic resistance and create a deadlier pathogen than COVID-19. Ms Blaszak said: "China is incubating two new strains of bird flu. It…

CBS SACRAMENTO: California will kill 3.2 million trout to stop the outbreak of a bacterial infection that’s threatening hatcheries, wildlife officials said... The trout, which are used to stock waterways for recreational fishing, are in two hatcheries in the Owens Valley in the eastern Sierra and one hatchery in the Mojave Desert city of Victorville, northeast of Los Angeles... Fish at the hatcheries have been infected with Lactococcus garvieae, which is similar to streptococcus, wildlife officials said... The fish to be killed are at Mojave River Hatchery, Black Rock Hatchery and Fish…