GOVERNMENT

WILLIAM MORRIS: Prosecutors have dismissed a second case against an Iowa animal rights activist who recorded secret video of hogs being euthanized at two Iowa pork facilities. Cresco native Matt Johnson, an activist affiliated with the organization Direct Action Everywhere, made headlines in early 2020 when he released footage of hundreds of pigs being killed in Grundy County by Iowa Select Farms, a major pork producer, early in the pandemic. Unable to ship pigs to slaughterhouses that were shuttered due to COVID, Select Farms euthanized the animals by shutting down ventilation in their…

VEGCONOMIST: As one of Asia’s leading food-tech startups, NextGen Foods has been in the vegan news frequently following its $20 million fundraise as well as the US launch of its flagship TiNDLE plant-based chicken. The Singapore based brand also named former Tesla and Impossible Foods executive Rachel Konrad as its first independent board member. Vegconomist took the opportunity to speak with Konrad a few months into her new role and to find out more about why the future of meat is already here... V: What do you think the plant-based food market will look like in 5 years’ time? RK: Great…

MATT SPENCE: During my time at the Pentagon and National Security Council, we not only prepared for war but also searched for opportunities to address global risks without conflict and used technology to address long-term security risks. One of the most immediate, politically feasible, and high-impact ways to do this is for the U.S. government to invest in and accelerate alternative ways to produce meat... Alternative proteins are a new way to produce meat, either directly from plants or by cultivating it from animal cells. Singapore is already selling meat made from actual animal cells; if…

HOLLY BANCROFT: Overuse of antibiotics on farm animals could lead to a pandemic “much bigger than Covid,” campaigners have warned. Health experts are calling for a ban on the use of low doses of antibiotics on healthy farm animals, saying the practice was breeding untreatable “superbugs” which could spread to humans. Farmers often give animals a preventative low dose of antibiotics as an insurance policy against disease. But from 28 January, new EU legislation will prohibit all forms of routine antibiotic use in farming, including preventative treatments. The government’s veterinary…

MARCO SPRINGMANN: The global food system is in disarray. Animal agriculture is a major driver of global heating, and as many as 12 million deaths from heart disease, stroke, cancers and diabetes are each year connected to eating the wrong things, like too much red and processed meat and too few fruits and vegetables. Unless the world can slash the amount of animal products in its food system and embrace more plant-based diets, there is little chance of avoiding dangerous levels of climate change and mounting public health problems. Agricultural subsidies help prop up a food system that is…

WILL TUTTLE: In ancient Greek mythology, the three Furies (the Erinyes) were goddesses of retribution who punished human beings for committing crimes against the natural order. It is long past time for us to awaken to the basic fact that our enslavement, sexual abuse, and killing of billions of cows, chickens, and other fully sentient animals is a dreadful and massive crime against them, against the Earth and the natural order, and, ultimately, against ourselves. It is time for us to realize that we are indeed being severely punished for this ongoing crime of animal agriculture. Animal…

DUTCH NEWS: Animal legal rights campaign group Dier & Recht must remove posters saying separating a calf from its mother at birth constitutes serious animal suffering, a court in Amsterdam decided this week. The court said the campaign ‘Quitting dairy’, which shows posters of dairy products carrying a health warning similar to that on cigarettes, put farmers in a negative light, confirming an earlier lower court verdict. The animal rights group was taken to court by farmers’ organisation Agractie. Dier & Recht says the calves are isolated for weeks after the separation, causing…

MARJORIE FISHMAN: In a huge win for transparency and accountability, the US Department of Agriculture has agreed to publicly disclose on its website records related to the treatment of animals in US slaughter plants to settle a lawsuit filed by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and Farm Sanctuary. Marian Payson, a federal magistrate judge for the US District Court for the Western District of New York, approved the settlement yesterday. The 2018 complaint alleged that the USDA failed to proactively disclose records relating to the enforcement of two laws—the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act…

SHARON NUNEZ: The animal agriculture industry is cloaked in secrecy and deception, and every day Animal Equality’s brave and compassionate investigators fight back to expose the industry’s animal abuse. Our investigators face dangerous environments and risk their own safety to bring vital information about animal suffering to the public. In addition to the physical dangers, investigators are prevented from exposing farms in certain U.S. states, due to discriminatory and unconstitutional ag-gag laws that unjustly target undercover investigations. Ag-gag laws are state laws intended to…

YAEL BIZOUATI-KENNEDY: The White House announced its “Action Plan for a Fairer, More Competitive, and More Resilient Meat and Poultry Supply Chain,” a $1 billion investment of American Rescue Plan Funds to finance and support independent processing projects “that will give farmers and ranchers more and better options". The plan aims to lower meat prices for consumers and boost competition, according to a statement... According to the fact sheet, some of the steps the administration will take include increasing competition and creating more options for producers and consumers in the near…