Animal Rebellion, including two ex-RSPCA trustees, met with the RSPCA earlier this month. The meeting was an opportunity to press the charity to take a formal stance against animal farming, and to support a transition to a plant-based system. 

Martin Whybrow is a former RSPCA branch trustee and now a member of the Animal Rebellion group. He said in a press statement, “It is impossible to meet the targets needed to limit global heating without the shift to a plant-based food system.” 

Whybrow continued, “Already, millions of humans and animals are suffering from the effects of extreme climate. It makes total sense for a charity dedicated to animal welfare to join the dots.”

RSPCA’s animal welfare standards

The RSPCA campaigns for the “highest possible standards” of animal welfare during the rearing, transportation, and slaughter of animals.

But the organization permits controversial practices, including the use of gas and maceration for the killing of day-old chicks.

“Done correctly, both methods can offer an effective and humane kill and our welfare standards set strict parameters stating how both of these methods must be carried out to ensure this is the case,” the RSPCA shared in a Tweet.

Advocating for a kinder food system

Animal Rebellion is asking the RSPCA to fulfil its mission statement and support a future where all animals are respected and treated with kindness and compassion. 

“We ask the RSPCA how they can justify caring for dogs and cats while supporting the slaughter of the millions of farmed animals who are killed for food every year in the UK alone,” Animal Rebellion explained.

“Additionally, we ask the RSPCA how they can claim to care for and respect wild animals when they condone an industry that is one of the leading causes of the climate crisis.” 

The animal protection movement intends to continue taking action until “the world sees a food system that centers on climate, animal, and human justice, rather than unsustainable growth.”

The post Former Trustees Urge RSPCA To Reject Animal Farming In Favor Of Plant-Based Systems appeared first on Plant Based News.

Vegan egg sandwiches get political

Eat Just’s sandwiches take aim at specific members of Congress, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

The Republican infamously fled his home state for Mexico last year during a storm disaster that left millions without any power or water. Hence why his sandwich was named “Ted Cruz’s Cancun Vacation.” (If you’re wondering what that tastes like, the filling is made up of vegan egg, dairy-free pepper jack cheese, spinach, and chipotle aioli.)

Research suggests that climate breakdown increases the risk of intense and destructive weather events. Last year, the US experienced 20 costly, damaging, and deadly extreme weather events, including Texas’ winter storm, wildfires, drought, floods, and cyclones. Without action, this will get worse. But Congress isn’t moving fast enough, environmentalists argue.

Egging Congress

In an attempt to get the US government to move faster, Eat Just isn’t only selling vegan egg sandwiches and putting up adverts. It’s also calling on people to write to lawmakers via its website and urge those in power in their area to do more to pass climate crisis measures.

One of the brands’ billboards refers to the Build Back Better Act. The bill, which would help to advance climate initiatives and is a key part of President Biden’s climate policy, has not yet made its way through Congress.

Eat Just’s CEO Josh Tetrick told Adweek: “Protecting our planet requires more than just personal choices about the food we eat or the cars we drive—it requires policymakers and citizens to press for fundamental policy changes.”

Find out more about the campaign, called Egging Congress, here.

The post Congress Is Getting Called Out for Climate Inaction (By Vegan Egg Sandwiches) appeared first on Plant Based News.

Four protesters used fire extinguishers to spray the building red, and dumped red paint inside the office. As part of the campaign, Animal Rebellion is urging the MSC to stop offering environmental certification to the fishing industry.

The MSC maintains that products donning its blue eco-label are sourced from a “sustainable fishery” that meets specific standards. The MSC zeroes in on three “core principles,” its website says, including Sustainable Fish Stocks, Minimizing Environmental Impact, and Effective Fisheries Management. 

Products and companies certified are subject to a yearly audit, and must be re-certified every five years.

But Animal Rebellion argues that there is no sustainable way to commercially fish, and that any such program is simply “certifying destruction.”

Animal Rebellion spokesperson and protester Orla Coghlan elaborated on the issue in a statement. 

“Evidence has shown that our oceans could be empty as soon as 2048 because of fishing. The MSC has a responsibility in their claims to be sustainable. They have a duty to revive the ocean when species are going extinct,” Coghlan said. 

“The solution to fishless seas and ocean acidification is obvious: the government and the Marine Stewardship Council need to fund a just transition from fishing to sustainable plant-based agriculture, such as seaweed and legumes. 

“The MSC are responsible for ensuring ‘sustainable’ fishing, however scientific evidence has shown that it is not possible to sustainably fish in our seas.”

MSC controversy

The public’s interest in sustainable consumption – especially relating to seafood and marine life – is on the rise. The hit documentary Seaspiracy – which quickly climbed into Netflix’s top ten most-watched films when it was released in 2021 – has been hailed as a driving force behind the change. 

Around the time the movie was released, Google searches for “sustainable fishing” shot up worldwide.

And the MSC did not escape criticism. Seaspiracy took a thinly veiled swipe at the non-profit, highlighting that the MSC is funded by the licensing fees paid by the fisheries and supermarkets which receive its certification.

In July 2021, The Guardian revealed the MSC’s labeled products were worth $12 billion (£9.5 billion) the year prior.

WWF, which co-founded the MSC in 1997, admitted in a 2016 report of its own that the certification scheme involves “troubling systemic flaws.” It has also called on the MSC to become “more rigorous” in its certification. 

Further, last year, WWF’s director of the WWF Mediterranean marine initiative, Giuseppe Di Carlo, told The Guardian that “I would not trust all of the fisheries [certified by MSC] to be sustainable.”

“WWF expects MSC to make reforms in the standard, and also in the assurance process, the implementation of standards.”

Animal Rebellion spokesperson Harley McDonald-Eckersall says a fishless food industry is key in boosting sustainable consumption.

“Despite increasing warnings of imminent climate catastrophe, these certifiers continue to promote these destructive industries,” they said.

“We’re here today to demand that they stop the hypocrisy and stop condoning an industry that is destroying the planet and killing the animals they claim to protect. A fully just, sustainable plant-based food system is the only way forward.”

The post Activists Call Out ‘Sustainable Fishing’ Certifiers For Destroying Oceans appeared first on Plant Based News.

The footage shows immense suffering. Over the past 50 years, chickens have been bred to be bigger and bigger, exposing many to injury, heart attacks, disease, and death. 

Inside the factory, Leah Garcés, president of Mercy for Animals, describes the scene as similar to a “nuclear waste site.” There, she is hit by a “wall of ammonia” from the “sea of white” chickens.

There are tens of thousands of birds defecating on the ground and the ammonia, which causes the strong smell, also causes burns to the chicken’s chests and pads of their feet.

Widespread animal welfare issues

Although the unique footage was recorded on one US farm, Mercy for Animals reveals that issues with chicken welfare are widespread. 

“The cruelty that we documented isn’t a matter of one farm failing to meet industry standards,” said Garcés.

She continued to explain that, “current standards allow for the blatant animal suffering seen in the video. Yet consumers have made it clear that they care about animal welfare.” 

In the hard-hitting video, Garcés shares that 4,000 birds died on the farm in a six-week period from dehydration, heart attacks, and disease before they even reached the slaughterhouse. 

“There’s no excuse for these practices,” she added. 

This comes after Animal advocacy organization Open Cages investigated Cuttings Farm and Silver Drift Farm in the UK last year and found  “prolonged suffering.”

Welfare demands

Mercy For Animals is launching a new campaign called “The Life of Chickens” to expose the chicken industry’s widespread abuse to consumers and demand action from retailers. 

It’s demanding that retailers, the largest purchasers of chicken in the country, sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment and treat animals with basic decency.

So far 200 companies in North America have adopted standards aligned with the commitment, but only six of them are supermarkets.

The recommended welfare practices include giving birds more room to move, providing environmental enrichments, and using a multi-step controlled-atmosphere processing system.

A retailer report

Mercy for Animals also released its first retailer report in late 2021. 

This report is available for anyone to read and ranks companies according to their efforts to address the most pressing welfare issues for chickens raised for meat.

Among those listed as lagging behind are ALDI, Walmart, Trader Joe’s, and Target, due to their inaction in addressing the welfare issues.

Mercy For Animals is a leading international nonprofit working to end the exploitation of animals for food and construct a compassionate food system. MercyForAnimals.org.

The post Video Pulls Back The Curtain On Hidden Cost Of Cheap Chicken appeared first on Plant Based News.

Iceland’s current quota – which expires in 2023 – allows for 217 minke whales and 209 fin whales to be hunted annually, despite the latter being an endangered species. With only one whale killed by Icelandic hunters in the last three years, however, this quota may not be renewed.

On February 4, Svandis Svavarsdóttir, the fisheries minister, wrote in Morgunblaðið newspaper: 

“Why should Iceland take the risk of keeping up whaling, which has not brought any economic gain, in order to sell a product for which there is hardly any demand?”

Activists welcome the change

Iceland is one of the few countries in the world – along with Norway and Japan – that hunts whales commercially despite the United Nations’ international ban. When Japan, the largest market for whale meat, lifted its 30-year commercial whaling ban in 2019, the profitability of Icelandic whaling dramatically decreased.

Animal rights and climate activists welcome the change. Vanessa Williams-Grey, of UK charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation, said: “Icelandic whalers have killed hundreds of whales in recent years, despite almost zero domestic demand, and declining interest from tourists and the Japanese market.”

She added: “Killing fin whales, an endangered species and the second largest creature on our planet, is nothing short of ecocide, especially given the essential role these gentle giants play in the battle against climate change.”

Whales key to oceanic ecosystem

Whales, particularly baleen and sperm whales, store carbon in their bodies and play a large role in shaping the ocean ecosystem.

A 2010 scientific study found that, before industrial whaling, whales would have sunk 190,000 to 1.9 million tonnes of carbon per year to the bottom of the ocean, equivalent to the annual emissions of 40,000 to 410,000 cars. 

Whaling on the decline

Under the UN’s International Whaling Commission (IWC), only subsistence whaling is permitted where it is considered an indigenous activity, as is the case in Canada, the United States, Denmark, and Russia. 

Iceland has been a member of the IWC since its creation in 1949. However, since the 1986 international whaling moratorium, Icelandic whalers have hunted more than 1,700 whales.

In 2018, Icelandic whalers controversially hunted and killed a blue whale. Although the current quota window, which began in 2019 and will end in 2023, allowed for over 2,000 whales to be hunted legally, only one whale has been killed in this time period – a Minke whale in 2021.

In 2020, IP-Utgerd, one of Iceland’s two main whaling licence holders, ceased whaling entirely.

The post Whaling Could Be Banned In Iceland Within 2 Years, Says Fisheries Minister appeared first on Plant Based News.

All of the animals are at least 17-years-old and have spent their entire lives in tiny barren cages on the ranches.

But now, the animal rights organization has confirmed that they’ll be able to roam free at the Four Paws animal sanctuary in Ninh Binh.

What is bear bile farming?

Bear bile farming is an established industry in Asia, with more than 10,000 bears currently in captivity.

Here, bile is frequently extracted from the livers of live bears to be used in traditional Chinese medicine.

It’s mainly Asiatic black bears, also known as moon bears, that are selected. But Sun bears and brown bears are also frequently used in the industry.

According to Animals Asia, both the conditions and extraction techniques in the trade are incredibly painful. Moreover, it causes “unimaginable physical and psychological suffering and long-term health problems.”

In some regions, the “free-drip” method is implored. This involves cutting a hole in the bears’ gall bladder to insert a permanent catheter.

What remains the same across these bile farms is that all animals are confined to small metal cages. Additionally, they’re often starved and dehydrated in order to maximize bile production.

Later in life, when they are no longer able to produce bile, they are often left to starve to death in their cages. That’s only if they haven’t already died from tumors or disease caused by the gruesome practice.

Various campaigning charities also report witnessing bears with damaged or missing teeth from trying to gnaw their way out.

It is these conditions that have prompted prominent celebrities such as Joaquin Phoenix and Stephen Fry to join welfare charities in the battle to save moon bears from the grim bile trade.

A vital rescue

On February 10 and 11 this week, World Animal Protection is conducting its biggest rescue mission to date.

It’s taking place across three farms in Vietnam – Nguyen Ngoc Tien, Huynh Thi My, and Vu Van Hien. 

All of the farms have agreed to voluntary transfers.Whilst bile extraction has been illegal in Vietnam since 2005, farmers are still allowed to keep the bears as “pets.”

According to the non-profit, this loophole has allowed for illegal bear bile extraction to carry on across the country.

But in partnership with the Forest Protection Department in Vietnam, World Animal Protection has been able to support 135 bear rescues in the country over the past five years. This is comprised of 101 voluntary rescues and 34 “confiscations.”

The ‘lucky ones’

Maya Pastakia is World Animal Protection’s wildlife campaign manager.

In a statement sent to PBN, they said: “This huge milestone means we are now nine bears closer to a bear-bile-free Vietnam.

“Despite the strides made to end bear farming in Vietnam, hundreds of bears are still suffering a torturous life in captivity for their bile. 

“These nine bears were kept in tiny cages – not much larger than a telephone booth – for at least 17 years, which is when they were first microchipped. 

“While they are the ‘lucky ones’ who are now free from cruelty, the scars from their extreme physical and psychological suffering will last their lifetime.

“The government of Vietnam must close all remaining legal loopholes. And, prohibit farmers from keeping their caged bears as pets in order to end the barbaric and illegal practice of bear bile farming.”

Phuong Le Duy, Vietnam consultant for the non-profit, added that most of the bears on the farms are thin, weak, and small due to being poorly fed.

“After meeting these bears in 2019, it’s rewarding to know that their owners have finally listened. And, can give them the peace they deserve after a lifetime of cruelty,” they added.

Issues within traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is thousands of years old and widely considered to be the oldest system of its kind in the world.

It’s centered on a connection to nature and operates on the basis of prevention being the best cure. Additionally, it heavily involves the use of remedies made from plant and animal-derived ingredients.

And, it’s not only China that conducts the practice – with reports in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe.

Among the 70 species of animals used to produce treatments are tigers, rhinos, pangolins, and sea horses – as well as black bears.

They’re harvested for their bones, blood, skin, and organs to treat a range of ailments. Many are put through immense suffering as a result and are now at risk of extinction.

Campaigners have long called for government agencies in Asia to develop herbal substitutes for the medicines. There have been notable positivities within this, including a joint assessment between World Animal Protection and the Wildlife Conservation Unit at the University of Oxford.

They found that many regular consumers are “likely to be happy to replace animal-origin medicines with sustainable plant-origin alternatives.”

Doctors are also reportedly favoring prescriptions of plant-derived alternatives.

According to wildlife campaigner Gilbert Sape, of World Animal Protection: “TCM consumers, professionals, scholars, and government agencies must unite to make [development of plant alternatives] happen – and we stand by with them to facilitate this transition.”

This article was updated on 07/02/22 to amend the date that the rescue is now taking place on

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Yesterday, on December 9, PBN circulated the news that Starbucks was finally to drop its plant-based milk upcharge. And instead, charge extra for dairy milk from cows – citing dietary racism as the motivation.

A slew of media organizations followed but it was soon revealed the original release was fake, and later the hoax was claimed by dairy-free advocacy group, Switch4Good.

The confusion has won support for shining a light on how lactose intolerance disproportionately affects Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).

Starbucks prank

In a statement sent to PBN, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said: “These merry pranksters have spilled the beans about Starbucks, which claims to champion social causes while imposing a surcharge that harms cows.

“PETA urges Starbucks to recognize this prank as a wake-up call from the public and to drop the upcharge before any other tricksters roast the company for its hypocrisy.”

The coffee titan has also been in the news this week over workers voting to unionize a New York branch. Employees claim they are overworked and began unionizing this summer.

Starbucks reportedly flew out top executives to fight it. 

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It was organized with the Yes Men, a team specializing in exposing corporate “wrongs.” Today, it mounted an elaborate culture jamming campaign, calling out the coffee giant for dietary racism.

Starbucks spoof

On Thursday morning, a spoof site aka StarbucksCares.com and video announced that Starbucks would drop its upcharge on plant-based milks, and instead raise prices of dairy-based drinks.

The initiative was launched with a magnificent new themed cup – the Justice Cup – a corporate social responsibility masterpiece that allows consumers to proudly, and vapidly, show their concern for racial equity.

The spoof immediately grabbed headlines from news outlets including Business Insider and the Daily Caller, among others. 

The “initiative” reflected the fact that 65 percent of the world’s population cannot digest dairy. This is a condition known as lactose intolerance, which disproportionately affects Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities, as a fake spokesperson with the title “Starbucks equality innovations director” explained. 

Media onslaught

However, Starbucks was quick to deny it was doing the right thing and said the company has “known about ethnicity-related lactose intolerance for many years.” 

“We assure our most valued customers that we would never place the burden of a dairy upcharge on them,” the company told Yahoo! News. “

It added: “We categorically deny the accusations of ‘dietary racism’ in this false announcement. Starbucks is and always has been a vigorous defender and promoter of people of all the colors.” 

Cue the record scratch…wait, what? “People of all the colors?” Did Starbucks really say that? 

As it turns out, it didn’t. That, too, was part of Switch4Good’s spoof.

The Starbucks denial was part of Switch4Good’s campaign to highlight the dietary racism of plant-based upcharges.

The facts are correct. Lactose intolerance disproportionately affects communities of color.

Ninety-five percent of Asians, up to 80 percent of Black and Latinx people, and more than 80 percent of Indigenous Americans cannot digest dairy, versus only 15 percent of white people. 

Dietary racism

“While sadly it isn’t true that Starbucks is changing its policy, what is true is that profiting off of people of color who are only trying to maintain their health is systemic racism,” said Dr. Milton Mills, MD, an urgent care physician in Washington DC.

Dr. Mills has published several research journal articles addressing racial bias in federal nutrition policy.

“By the numbers, more people of color are forced to pay extra, which makes it not just an upcharge but an unfair and racially targeted overcharge.”

Switch4Good advocates dropping dairy not only for health but also for environmental reasons.

Starbucks—the real Starbucks—openly acknowledges that dairy products are the single biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions across its operations and supply chain and the second-highest contributor to water withdrawal. 

What does Switch4Good think?

“Starbucks has ignored our efforts to encourage them to right this injustice, so we had to resort to another way to communicate this important issue,” Switch4Good executive director Dotsie Bausch told PBN.

When people choose plant-based milk, they’re doing something for their health, for the responsibility, we all have to our planet and they are standing up for justice for all beings.

“These reasons should always be more important than a corporate bottom line.”

Switch4Good has a history of advocacy for food justice.

It has petitioned the USDA to remove dairy from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), and testified on Capitol Hill. It succeeded, alongside other NGOs, in getting soy milk recognized as nutritionally equivalent to dairy in the DGA, and is currently working to ensure schools have access to, and reimbursement for, soy milk.

Its multidisciplinary and multicultural coalition that includes BIPOC clinicians, dietitians, activists, athletes, and other thought leaders, works to pressure lawmakers into enacting fairer, healthier nutrition policy.

The post Leading Dairy-Free Advocacy Group Claims Credit for Starbucks Spoof appeared first on Plant Based News.

The British entertainer locked himself to the steel gates of the Marshall Bioresources (MBR) Acres research site in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. 

There, thousands of beagle puppies are bred for biomedical research. MBR says these experiments help produce “life-saving” treatments for humans. It has been running such operations for more than 80 years. 

Raising awareness

But not everyone agrees that the testing is justified. Campaigners say the puppies, who are sent to animal testing laboratories at around 16 weeks old, suffer tremendously during the experiments. 

Grassroots anti-animal testing campaign Camp Beagle calls the industry “barbaric.” 

“These beagle puppies will be used in the most horrific and unnecessary experiments for toxicology testing, in which tubes will be rammed down their throats and masks forced over their faces to ingest and inhale lethal doses of toxins,” the group writes online.

“They will be given no pain relief, blood will be taken out of their tiny veins every hour, they will vomit, blood, excessively drool, shiver from changes in body temperature, and cower at the back of the cages.”

Many of the puppies are killed at six months old. 

Young joined Camp Beagle protesters at the MBR facility. He was photographed alongside the protesters with a sign that read: “Cambridgeshire. Famous for beagle torture. Thanks to MBR.”

The 42-year-old posted about the issue online. “I spent today at the gates of MBR Acres in protest of their testing on beagles. I wanted to raise awareness of animal testing and the fact that this is a puppy farm that farms over 2,000 beagle puppies a year to be sent out to their inevitable torture and death,” Young wrote.

“People do not know about it in this country and that is why I’ve handcuffed myself to the gates.”

The post Will Young Handcuffs Himself To Puppy Breeding Facility To Protest Animal Testing appeared first on Plant Based News.

This move comes as world leaders meet in the city for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. GFI is joining several other organizations taking direct action to promote sustainable alternatives to animal agriculture. 

The United Nations brings together representatives from almost every country on Earth for a global climate summit every year. The 26th summit, COP26, is currently taking place in Glasgow.

At the 2015 summit, every country agreed to limit global warming to no more than two degrees, preferably 1.5 degrees. 

This commitment, known as the Paris Agreement, did not come close to achieving this. So, at COP26 this year, countries must update their plans and go much further to limit global warming.

The Good Food Institute

Bruce Friedrich is the founder and CEO of GFI, an international nonprofit working to promote plant-based and cultivated meat. 

Friedrich has said that the world won’t meet the Paris 2015 targets unless conventional meat consumption falls. He will be in Glasgow with the GFI to encourage national governments to include alternative proteins in their climate emergency plans. 

Alice Ravenscroft, head of policy at Good Food Institute Europe, said, “We’re on the ground in Glasgow, making the case for national governments to include sustainable proteins—meat made from plants and cultivated from cells—in their national climate plans. To achieve this potential, governments must invest billions in open-access research so that sustainable proteins become the most delicious, affordable, and convenient option for consumers.”

The GFI recently installed billboards around Glasgow highlighting how plant-based and cultivated meat can help cut emissions by up to 92 percent. 

“Our billboards make clear that we can’t limit global temperature rises to 1.5ºC without changing how meat is made. Plant-based and cultivated meat can cut emissions by up to 92 percent and use 95 percent less land than farming animals,” said Ravenscroft.

Direct action across Glasgow

The GFI poster campaign coincides with direct action efforts from other organizations in Glasgow around COP26. 

A PETA city center bus campaign sees buses with posters reading: “You can’t be a meat-eating environmentalist. Take Personal Responsibility: Go Vegan.” 

Plant-based brand Heura projected an elephant onto buildings with the text, “plant-based diet = reduced food carbon footprint of 73%”. Earlier this week, hundreds of climate activists marched through the city as part of Extinction Rebellion demonstrations.

Outside of Glasgow, vegan artist Moby called on COP26 world leaders to endorse the Plant-Based Treaty. This is a grassroots campaign designed to put food systems at the forefront of combating the climate crisis. 

Campaigners from Animal Rebellion scaled the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) building in Westminster. Hanging from the walls, they dropped a banner that read “COP: Invest in a Plant-Based Future.” 

Animal Rebellion has also criticized the sustainability of the COP26 menu, which is nearly 60 percent meat and dairy-based.

Changing the global food system

At COP26, the GFI will highlight how alternative proteins can provide the meat people want while using up to 95 percent less land than conventional animal agriculture. 

Research in the journal Science in 2020 showed that even if governments eliminated fossil fuel emissions immediately, it’s impossible to meet the Paris Agreement without significantly changing food production. 

According to a 2021 study in Nature Food, greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice those of plant-based, with animal agriculture emissions alone responsible for roughly one-fifth of human-caused climate breakdown.

The GFI believes food and agriculture are under-represented at COP26. It also states that nations must address the significant role agriculture and the global food system play in global warming. 

Moreover, the organization says making the shift is necessary to hit our climate targets. And that we need to give people better options and make sustainable plant-based or cultivated meat the default choice.

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