DIET

FOOD REVOLUTION NETWORK: From the team that brought you PlantPure Nation, From Food to Freedom tells the story of a live-in immersion program in Greensboro, NC with six participants (and two spouses) diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The 10-day program includes biometric testing, physician supervision, and daily meals. As we go through the immersion, we hear from participants of their past struggles living with such a dreaded disease, and we hear of their hope for a better life. We watch firsthand as they suddenly change their diet from a standard American diet to a whole food plant-based…

DAMIAN CARRINGTON: Climate-heating emissions from food production, dominated by meat, dairy and rice, will by themselves break the key international target of 1.5C if left unchecked, a detailed study has shown. The analysis estimated that if today’s level of food emissions continued, they would result in at least 0.7C of global heating by the end of the century, on top of the 1C rise already seen. This means emissions from food alone, ignoring the huge impact of fossil fuels, would push the world past the 1.5C limit. The study showed that 75% of this food-related heating was driven by foods…

JORDI CASAMITJANA: It was the German philosopher Karl Marx who in the 19th century theorised about how people would inevitably revolt when facing the injustices of the capitalist society. He postulated that in a capitalist industrialised society (like the one he and most people in the West were living in at the time), a revolution of the oppressed class against the ruling class would be inevitable. After the publication of his 1867 book “Das Kapital”, his theories influenced many revolutionaries (such as Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, etc.) If the passing of decades…

JOEL MEAD: The UK is in the grip of its largest ever outbreak of bird flu. As its name suggests, avian influenza primarily affects birds, but it can also infect humans and other mammals... Though the UK government currently assesses the risk to the wider public as very low, some strains of bird flu can pass to humans after sustained close contact... As a result of the outbreak, mandatory housing of chickens has been in place in England since November 2022. This means that no eggs produced in England are currently “free-range”. There is no defined end to this situation and as of February,…

UC BERKELEY: With the world's population topping 8 billion last year, it's clear that humans have achieved a unique status in Earth's history. We are the only creature that dominate all other organisms on the planet, from animals and fungi to plants and microbes. It remains to be seen whether humans can retain this dominance as we push the global climate to extremes while driving to extinction the very organisms that we climbed over to get to the top. In a new book, a group of scientists and philosophers places part of the blame on an attitude prevalent among scientists and the general…

VEGCONOMIST: A survey of Chinese consumers in four major cities has revealed immensely positive attitudes towards plant-based meat. Conducted by the School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences at Peking University, the research found that a huge 99.8% of respondents would be willing to buy locally-produced plant-based burgers. 85% had already tried plant-based meat, largely due to a desire to try new things and a belief that plant-based products are healthier. Women, highly educated people, and those with a high income were the most likely to buy plant-based meat. Beijing had the highest…

NICOLE MEYER: A new PETA TV spot airing this week during similarly grim movies The Day After Tomorrow and Zombieland is pointing to animal agriculture as a leading cause of the climate catastrophe and asking viewers, “Are you a bad parent?” while urging them to safeguard their children’s future by banning environmentally devastating meat and dairy from their homes. Much like The Last of Us’ Ellie (played by vegan Bella Ramsey), PETA’s protagonist is a young orphan trying to navigate a post-apocalyptic world. In the video, she lists the rules her mom enforced—such as not touching the stove…

MATTHEW SCHULTZ: It often feels like the progressive circle of moral concern includes every ethnic, racial and sexual minority under the sun... There is, however, an even more glaring absence. Missing entirely from the agenda are non-human animals, who remain among the most oppressed members of our society. According to the progressive worldview, every decade should bring more liberties for more people. The arc of history, in other words, is long and ought to bend toward justice. For domesticated farm animals, however, the arc of history is long and bends toward an abyss. With each year,…

FIONA CALLINGHAM: Diet is a key factor when it comes to cholesterol, with certain foods raising levels and others lowering them. It has long been accepted that certain meats can be bad for cholesterol, with fatty cuts like sausages and bacon among those to be eaten in moderation. But now a study has shown that swapping out meat for plant-based alternatives can both lower “bad” cholesterol - known as low-density lipoprotein - and your risk of heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular disease. New research from the University of Warwick found that two types of meat alternatives had…

VEGCONOMIST: The Italian government becomes the next in a growing list of those proposing restricted labelling on plant-based meat from using “meaty” terms, in a move ProVeg describes as “misleading and backwards.” The bill notes that its efforts represent an attempt to protect livestock production in the country, even though animal agriculture is responsible for about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions globally... “Plant-based foods emit half the amount of greenhouse gases as animal-based foods, so we need to introduce policies that actively encourage people to switch to more flexitarian…