VEGANISM

PI DATAMETRICS: While the world is now preoccupied with the global Covid-19 pandemic, one trend was beginning to emerge from the new year before anyone knew what the coronavirus was: eco-conscious and sustainable consumption... According to Statista, electric car sales surged 220pc from Q1 2010 to Q4 2019 and Booking.com noted Gen Zers say the environmental impact that travelling has is an important factor when deciding where to go. With those key pieces of information in mind, let us see what the top eco-conscious and sustainability trends were going into 2020. With ingredients such as…

FRAZER MAUDE: Subsidies for healthy food, plain packaging for unhealthy food, and more research into meat alternatives could help the UK's obesity crisis, according to a new report. The report - Turning The Tables - by social policy think-tank Demos, found that too many people face "significant barriers to eating healthy diets". The report recommends: A government fund for the development of lab-grown meat or meat alternatives, and subsidising healthy foods that are already low in price, such as tinned tomatoes, carrots, and frozen vegetables to make healthy options much cheaper... The…

GEORGIA SIMCOX: Vegan crimes are rising in Britain as more people choose to follow Veganism, prompting calls for the attacks to be given a special status... 172 crimes relating to Veganism happened over the past five years, with just nine in 2015 rising to 55 last year... Last year, 1.16 per cent of the population, 600,000 people, were vegan according to surveys by Ipsos Mori. It quadrupled from 150,000 in 2014... It comes after vegan Jordi Casamitjana won a landmark case after his lawyers argued that ethical Veganism satisfies the tests required for it to be a philosophical or religious…

FMCG NEWS GLOBAL: Forty percent of "leading" food firms, including Kroger, Tesco, Nestle and Unilever, now have dedicated teams focused on plant-based products, according to new research from collaborative investor network the FAIRR Initiative... FAIRR's research found that two in five global food giants with combined annual revenues of $459bn now have dedicated teams to develop and sell plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy, with Tesco and Unilever ranked top... The figures were published following a four-year investor engagement programme between the FAIRR Initiative and 25 large…

ANIMAL PLACE: The critical issues affecting farmed animals are only increasing during this global pandemic, and as animal activists, vegans, environmentalists, and plant-based eaters we know we must do more. But what? And how? Join the Farmed Animal Conference E-Summit (FACES) August 3-9. This FREE online event about the future of the farmed animal movement is sponsored by Animal Place and Plant Based Network, and features activists, scientists, authors, filmmakers and other impactful voices in the farmed animal movement! Topics include farmed animal behavior, the role of sanctuaries as…

RHIAN HUNT: Another brand of plant-based burgers is coming to the shelves of Walmart on a large scale, according to a press release from Impossible Foods, a leading maker of meat substitutes in the USA and elsewhere. Packages of Impossible Burger, which the company describes as its "flagship product," will soon be on offer in the retail giant's meat section, and will also be available for delivery or for pickup at Walmart store locations. Impossible Foods notes stocking of its 12-ounce Impossible Burger packages in over 2,000 Walmart stores and super-centers will boost the number of…

LIZZIE THOMSON: Would some extra cash persuade you to change your eating habits? A company is offering to pay meat lovers £2,000 each to go vegan for a month. Research agency VeganLiftz has revealed it’s looking to recruit three meat eaters who are willing to go plant-based for a month, to highlight the benefits of a vegan diet. Anyone interested needs to live in Newcastle, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool or London – as these cities have been found to have the most meat-eaters... Jason Hughes, founder of VeganLiftz.com, said: ‘Our main aim at VeganLiftz.com is to debunk any myths out there…

JADE SCIPIONI: What does the founder and CEO of Impossible Foods have to say to critics who say his and other plant-based burgers are really just vegan junk food? “It’s bulls----,” Pat Brown tells CNBC Make It. Impossible Foods, along with Beyond Meat and other plant-based meat competitors, tout their products as healthy alternatives to animal protein. And people are eating it up, literally — according to new data from Nielsen, sales of plant-based meat alternatives have grown nearly 25% from July 11, 2019 to July 11, 2020, bringing in roughly $601.4 million in sales during that period. But…

UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK: Consuming a plant-based diet can lower blood pressure even if small amounts of meat and dairy are consumed too, according to new research from the University of Warwick... They argue that any effort to increase plant-based foods in your diet and limit animal products is likely to benefit your blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular disease. They conducted a systematic review of previous research from controlled clinical trials to compare seven plant-based diets, several of which included animal products in small amounts, to a…

ANKUSH DAS AND KOWTHAMRAJ VS: The WHO estimates that 75 percent of new diseases discovered in the last decade have originated in animals (zoonosis). This is primarily because more than 90 percent of the meat we consume is sourced from a vast industry of factory farms that house farm animals in unhygienic conditions. This presents a perfect breeding ground for viruses. To prevent future virus outbreaks, a part of the solution may lie in moving towards a more plant-based diet. In this regard, India might be sitting on a gold mine of opportunity. The vegan movement advocates for a shift to a…