REGULATION

SCOTTIE ANDREW: More than 100 years before Morrissey declared that “meat is murder,” before PETA supporters disrupted runway shows featuring leather fashions, before documentaries like “Food, Inc.” galvanized viewers to reconsider their relationship to animal products, there was Henry Bergh, shouting about animal rights on street corners to anyone who would listen. In 1866, Bergh, who founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), would regularly station himself on a New York street, waiting for a carriage driver to lash their horse. When he witnessed abuse,…

WYATT MYSKOW: Months in jail and thousands of dollars in fines and legal fees—those are the consequences Alabamians and Arizonans could soon face for selling cell-cultured meat products that could cut into the profits of ranchers, farmers and meatpackers in each state. State legislators from Florida to Arizona are seeking to ban meat grown from animal cells in labs, citing a “war on our ranching” and a need to protect the agriculture industry from efforts to reduce the consumption of animal protein, thereby reducing the high volume of climate-warming methane emissions the sector emits...…

SUMEET SINGH LAMBA: Veganism, as a dietary style, emphasises the consumption of primarily plant-based meals while avoiding all animal products. Veganism has witnessed a dramatic and sharp surge in popularity in recent years. Food is an essential element of everyone's daily existence. It is therefore important to study what people consume and their attitudes about specific foods from the standpoint of health and fitness. One way to obtain these types of information about the food is through social media analysis...   Research is being conducted to measure the reasons why there is an increase…

VEGCONOMIST: A new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) has underlined the importance of a shift towards plant-based foods to address climate change. The European Climate Risk Assessment report notes that the Farm to Fork Strategy and international dietary guidelines call for reduced animal product consumption and a shift towards plant-based diets. The authors find that this would reduce freshwater consumption and dependency on imported animal feed, while achieving healthier dietary patterns. Reducing animal product consumption would also free up a substantial quantity of cereal…

ESTELA M. DIAZ: The enduring concern of animal experimentation sits at the heart of the animal defense movement, propelled by the humanitarian ethos established in the 19th century and the principles of anti-speciesism that emerged in the 20th century. At the same time, within the spectrum of animal advocacy, animal testing is one of the most contentious issues due to the scarcity of viable non-animal alternatives for drug testing and the broad spectrum of stances within the movement. These range from advocating for the outright abolition of animal testing to endorsing its restricted use…

ROLAND MAYRHOFER: Although vegan and vegetarian diets and lifestyles differ significantly from each other, among other things, notably in their respective consequences regarding animal welfare and their ecological impact, vegans and vegetarians are often grouped together and usually compared to omnivores in psychological research. Considering that vegans and vegetarians often share similar motives for their lifestyle choices, namely animal and environmental issues, the question arises why similar motives lead to different conclusions and correspondingly different behaviors, most notably, of…

BBC: Could going vegan help feed the world and save the planet? While industry and energy production are often singled out as the main drivers of climate change, the global meat production industry is a bigger polluter. Veganism advocate Gary Francione and nutritionist Dr Ron Weiss join Nuala McGovern to discuss the pros and cons of veganism. While it might make sense from an ethical and climate change perspective, it is a massive cultural leap for many. We ask whether veganism could really be useful in places where food might not be readily available. And answer concerns over whether a…

HARRIET MARSDEN: The EU aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 – but has been investing four times as much money into carbon-intensive livestock farming than growing plants, research has found. More than 80% of subsidies given to farmers through the bloc's common agricultural policy (CAP) went to animal products in 2013, according to a study published last week in the journal Nature Food: 38% directly and 44% for animal feed. The "vast majority" of CAP subsidies are going towards products that are "driving us to the brink", said study co-author Paul Behrens,…

JAMIE FINN: Haru Lev is an activist. It is through this lens, the lens of counter-culturalism and of protest, that we can best understand his work. The movies that Haru has produced all attempt to communicate his worldview... Haru Lev's latest project, Planet A: OST, is a compilation album featuring the work of performers who share a passion for animal rights. Each track acts as a protest in favour of better treatment of animals and argues for a vegan lifestyle. The album came out November 1st, and a few months later, an omnibus of short films (one for each track) was released. Most of the…

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…