GOVERNMENT

3BEE: Food for Profit is the first documentary to show the thread that binds the meat industry, the lobbies and political power. At the centre are the billions of euros - exactly 397 - that Europe allocates to intensive livestock farms, which mistreat animals, pollute the environment and pose a danger to future pandemics. Food for Profit is the result of a investigation conducted over five years by journalist Giulia Innocenzi, who wrote and directed the docufilm together with Pablo D'Ambrosi. Food For Profit premiered on Thursday 22 February at the European Parliament in Brussels... The…

CAMILLE LABCHUK: Animal Justice is celebrating a landmark court decision that strikes down much of Ontario’s agricultural gag law (Ag-Gag law), which aimed to silence whistleblowers and journalists who work undercover to investigate animal cruelty in the meat, dairy, egg, and fur farming industries. Joining Animal Justice as applicants in this case were freelance journalist Jessica Scott-Reid, and animal advocate Louise Jorgensen of Toronto Cow Save. Passed in 2020 by the Ford government under pressure from lobby groups, the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act was enacted…

ANASTASIA SLOAN: Even in cities that accommodate allergens and veganism, an extra $0.50 to $1 is almost always tacked on to coffee for nondairy milk. ​This additional fee, according to a recent class action lawsuit against Dunkin’, is discriminatory. The lawsuit — filed in late December in Northern California’s federal district court on behalf of all U.S. consumers who have paid more at Dunkin’ for nondairy milk alternatives within the last four years — seeks no less than $5 million for class members. The named ​plaintiffs “all suffer from lactose intolerance and milk allergies,” making it…

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…