VEGANISM

BAANI KAUR: Plant-based meat has been a growing obsession among many, for its apparent benefits to our biodiversity, and even for our health. OmniMeat is a well-known name for its plant-based meats. But have you heard of plant-based luncheon meat?... The OmniMeat Luncheon. It’s the world’s first-ever luncheon meat made from plants, and it is a proud creation of OmniFood and its parent organisation, Green Monday Group... This luncheon meat is a unique blend of plant-based proteins that creates this parallel universe of plant-based meats, while still tasting and smelling much like their meat…

CHARLES WAIJER: Vaccine development can be thought of as the process of separating the parts of an infectious agent that make us sick, from those that induce an immune response and protect us from future infection. As this separation can be accomplished in myriad ways, vaccines are diverse. Vaccine candidates for COVID-19 illustrate these diverse approaches. Some, such as SinoPharm’s inactivated coronavirus vaccine, use killed whole coronavirus. Others, such as the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine, modify a different virus (in this case, chimpanzee adenovirus) to express coronavirus…

CNS: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is launching a nationwide campaign called "ThanksVegan." The animal rights group is spending over $100,000 in a push "to show people how easy it is to enjoy a decadent feast that leaves animals in peace". The effort includes billboards (including a large number in the Los Angeles area), bus shelter and TV ads and vegan roast giveaways... It also offers a free holiday guide with vegan recipes, shopping tips, and advice for answering challenging questions that could come up at the dinner table... Catie Cryar, assistant manager at PETA,…

DW: On the outskirts of Münster lies the Institute for Theological Zoology. It is run by... Rainer Hagencord and is home to several animals, including two donkeys called Frederik and Fridolin. People who come here get to hear the Gospel and connect with the animals at the same time. According to Rainer Hagencord, this experience is crucial to his work because it allows his flock to reconnect with nature and God — a presence that he says has been all but lost amid the countless factory farms and meat processing plants that dominate this region... Rainer Hagencord is a Catholic priest based in…

CLAIRE HAMLETT: Laying out his 10-point, £12 billion plan for Britain’s “green industrial revolution” in the Financial Times, Boris Johnson described a future filled with electric cars, carbon capture and storage technology, wind turbines and hydrogen-powered ships. This vision is heavy on the “industrial” and light on the “green”. What green there is may be undermined by other major sources of carbon emissions and environmental degradation in the UK, which are left unaddressed in the plan. Public transport will run on clean fuel, new cycle lanes will be built, and more low-traffic…

MARKET INSIGHT REPORTS: The plant based meat market landscape is anticipated to witness massive growth over the forthcoming timeframe owing to increasing environmental concerns and simultaneously the growing awareness about health benefits offered by a vegan diet. The practice of animal agriculture, which is focused towards producing meat is a key contributor to greenhouse gas emission and is also responsible for consuming copious amounts of water on an annual basis... A Global Market Insights Inc., research report projects plant based meat market to surpass a valuation of $320 million…

CHAS NEWKEY-BURDEN: The hunt for a coronavirus vaccine has been horrendous for some animals. As part of the drive to save human lives, thousands of cheeky monkeys, ferrets, cats, mice and hamsters have been deliberately infected and experimented on in labs. Pfizer and BioNTech, the big pharma companies behind the vaccine that caused excitement yesterday, have treated monkeys and mice with contempt. While their human researchers have been protected with elaborate PPE, the animals in their care have been trapped and deliberately infected. Some were injected with an inoculation first and some…

JUDE DRY: Gunda is an experimental black-and-white film about the life of farm animals that took this year’s Berlin Film Festival by storm. “Gunda” is the latest in a trilogy of nature films from Russian documentary auteur Victor Kossakovsky, whose 2018 film “Aquarela” broke technological barriers to examine water in various shapes around the world. After viewing an early cut of “Gunda,” Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix was so moved by the film that he came on as an executive producer. Phoenix has a long history of advocating for animal rights and related issues (including in his 2020 Academy…

CHLOE SORVINO: As demand for plant-based products surge, Beyond Meat is making sure it keeps its health-conscious consumers coming back. The company today announced it will be releasing two new lean burger lines next year. Beyond’s latest iterations will now have about 3 grams of saturated fat in its leanest version (55% less than 80/20 beef) and 5 grams in the other (35% less). That’s thanks to new (and proprietary) processing that helps Beyond better distribute the fat it uses to bind its pea and brown rice protein together. “We're trying to deliver more juice and more of that savory,…

PR NEWSWIRE: Pizza Hut – in partnership with plant-based leader Beyond Meat – is the first national pizza company to bring a plant-based meat pizza to the masses with the nationwide launch of new Beyond Pan Pizzas, the Beyond Italian Sausage Pizza and the Great Beyond Pizza. This first-in the-category national launch makes plant-based meat pizzas more widely available to pizza lovers everywhere, giving consumers more choices and even more reasons to love Pizza Hut. Packed with the bold flavor and savory satisfaction you'd expect in traditional Italian sausage, the plant-based Beyond Italian…