CORPORATIONS

JOY SAHA: Kraft Mac & Cheese remains a favorite comfort food amongst budget-conscious consumers today. The packaged food item may not be the healthiest meal option available, but it does offer something that’s simple to make and delicious. Then, in November, news of the brand’s first-ever plant-based product made headlines. Called “Kraft NotMac&Cheese,” the new mac and cheese alternative is currently available in two flavors — original and white cheddar with shells — each priced at $3.49 per box. It’s also made in partnership with TheNotCompany, Inc., a food-tech company producing…

CHRISTIANE M. HAUPT: Over the years, a number of writers, articles, and advocates stand out as having been hugely influential at the start when I was just discovering the true meaning of veganism. This is one such article. The chilling, matter-of-fact description of a student undergoing an obligatory period of six weeks in a slaughterhouse in order to obtain their professional qualification left me shaken and with indelible images in my mind that still influence me these many years later. Grim, and indeed lengthy, as it is, I’m sharing it with you. Sometimes we all need to strengthen our…

DANIEL HILTON: On the crest of a hill in the occupied West Bank, five Red Angus cows chomp sombrely on some straw. Around them, a group of Israelis look on in anticipation. If all goes to plan, these cows could herald the end of the world as we know it. According to Jewish tradition, the ashes of a perfectly red heifer cow are needed for the ritual purification that would allow a Third Temple to be built in Jerusalem.That temple, say radical Jewish groups, must be constructed on the raised plateau in Jerusalem’s Old City known as the Temple Mount, where Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the…

KUNSTMATRIX: Havva Zorlu is a photographer and animal rights activist based in Türkiye. She started taking photographs at a young age with the dream of becoming a photojournalist, and uses photography as a means of expression. She was awarded the We Animals Media Animal Photojournalism Fellowship in 2023. Havva’s Fellowship focus was on her home soil in Türkiye where she documented the dominant systems of animal exploitation, ranging from dairy farming to live animal markets. Havva’s efforts were relentless in documenting animal stories throughout Türkiye. This exhibit offers a glimpse into…

SUPREME MASTER TELEVISION: The Essenes were one of the main religious sects in first century Palestine. Members wore white and followed a vegetarian diet. According to the 4th century church historian, Epiphanius, and Jewish philosopher Philo, the Essenes were Jews who kept all the Jewish observances, but were nonviolent toward all living creatures and considered it unlawful to eat meat or make sacrifices with animals. As a member of this group, Jesus would have to have been a vegetarian, as was His brother James (Jacob) and all His disciples. The main Essene scripture is the Gospel of the…

CHARLOTTE POINTING: Centralization is king in the meat industry. The days of most people eating meat from small local farms are long gone. And now, a very small number of large corporations produce the majority of meat that arrives in grocery store aisles. In the US, meat giants like Cargill, Tyson Foods, JBS, and Marfrig, each of which is worth billions, control most of the market. Every year, the meat industry raises and slaughters billions of animals, including cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, and turkeys. All of this comes with a major environmental impact; livestock emits 14.5 percent of…

GO VEGAN WORLD: The new Go Vegan World ‘Spring Lamb’ advert has resulted in some grievances from members of the public who find it upsetting and not suitable for their children. The content of the ad is upsetting because it confronts us with the violent facts of killing and eating other animals. We hide this violence from children in the process of rearing them in a speciesist culture that ensures continued demand for products that profit the animal agriculture business. Are people upset because of the violence inherent in consuming other animals that our ad confronts them with, or are they…

LAURA TRETHEWEY: Late last year, UrgentSeas received an anonymous tip from a former employee at the Miami Seaquarium about animal tanks away from public view. The advocacy group went to investigate. In November, they posted a short clip of what they found by flying a drone over the property: an elderly manatee living alone in a decaying private pool. Within a month, the clip had been watched millions of times and the outcry had grown so intense that the US Fish and Wildlife Service moved the manatee, Romeo, and his mate, Juliet, to a sanctuary. Over the past decade, drones have become…

VEGCONOMIST: At an EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting, ministers gathered to discuss cultivated meat and its potential to benefit or threaten people and the environment. A coalition of 13 agricultural ministers, rather than 12 as initially reported by Euronews, led by Austria, France, and Italy, had sent a note to the EU council urging a revision of the regulatory approval framework for cultivated meat. Supported by Czech, Cypriot, Greek, Hungarian, Luxembourg, Lithuanian, Maltese, Romanian, Slovak, and Spanish delegations, they raised concerns about the potential threat of…

THE HUMANE LEAGUE: Over the last few decades, residents of Oklahoma have watched their state transform before their eyes. The Illinois River—which supplies drinking water for communities of thousands—has changed from sparkling blue to a murky shade of green. Families who have farmed land for generations are being forced off of it. Since 1990, over three-quarters of agricultural jobs in the state have vanished. The reason? Factory farms. Over 220 million animals are raised and slaughtered in Oklahoma each year. Nearly all come from “concentrated animal feeding operations,” or CAFOs. Big Meat…