Plant-based school meals are an essential part of the solution to the environmental and climate urgencies, because they consume less water and produce less greenhouse gases than meals with animal proteins, while being (at least) as nutritious. 1. What is the problem? Animal agriculture and fishing industries are major contributors to environmental problems. Scientific evidence show that the animal farming and fishing contribute massively to the climatic and ecological emergencies (1, 2). Animal agriculture emits 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas (3). It also causes deforestation, since the Amazon rainforest is cut down for soy crops that will feed Western’s cows (1, 4, 5). Fishing has depleted numerous aquatic animal populations, with unprecedented decrease in the number of fish (6).[…]
Fiona Oakes: The World Record Plant-Based Runner
*Originally published 18 June 2020* Fiona Oakes is nothing short of true inspiration. As a teenager, a knee condition left Fiona without a kneecap. In and out of doctor appointments and surgeries, Fiona was told that she would not be able to walk soon. Without coaches who believed in her ability to run because of her plant-based lifestyle; without any professional knowledge of marathon running; and whilst caring for hundreds of animals, Fiona became a world-class runner with marathon records in every continent. Why does Fiona keep running? Her drive to run marathons does not stem from a desire for running. It comes from a deep-rooted passion to show that a plant-based lifestyle is enough to do anything. In 2002, television and[…]
Refarm’d: One Step Closer to a Plant-Based World
*Originally published 5 May 2020* Have you ever wondered what a plant-based world looks like? Have your eyes gleamed at the possibility, but a little voice called Doubt savagely trespassed your dream? You’re not alone. After knowing the undeniable benefits of a plant-based food system, it’s difficult to ignore. However, the scale of this mission is intimidating and can often leave you feeling worse off. That’s why we are so excited to bring to you Geraldine Starke from Refarm’d who is bringing us one step closer to a plant-based world. Geraldine dreamt of making an animal sanctuary but struggled with the fact that sanctuaries rely heavily on donations to operate and are tough to scale up i.e. helping more and more animals out[…]
Wherever There Is Milk, There Is An Alternative. Arla Must Choose Plant-Based Milk.
Walk through any British supermarket today and you will encounter a vast array of milks. It’s not just green, red, or blue top anymore. Aisles are overflowing with alternatives and people are buying them (a quarter of UK customers). These plant-based options have spilled into cafes and restaurants too. You may find them at your work canteen, at school, at conferences or on trains. Wherever there is tea, there is milk, and wherever there is milk, there is an alternative. With the demand for plant-based milk growing, the UK cannot get left behind. We must choose the right milk to invest in. Although plant milks have been around for thousands of years (horchata and almond milk), the dairy industry has long enjoyed domination[…]
As Forests Burn, Our Voices Must Be Twice as Loud
*Originally published 31 December 2019* Ever since one certain animal has found a way to start fires, it has become their main tool for creating warmth, cooking food and keeping darkness at bay. But as with some other advances associated with our civilisation and technology, it has simultaneously become our favourite weapon of mass destruction and to this day, it still is. Millennia ago, we used fire to do the dirty work of mass-erasing nature off the surface of this planet, only this time there is not so much left to burn, comparatively. And just as during the first pages of the human’s pastoral history, the most likely reason for burning nature is to give way to animal agriculture, whether it is[…]
What is the Future of Animal Farmers?
*Originally published 25 February 2020* *Updated 15 November 2021* Mainstream media would have us believe that supporters of a plant-based food system and animal farmers are enemies. These two groups of people are often pitted against one another on opposite sides of the climate crisis, although, contrary to this belief, The Vegan Society states: “It is the system that is at fault, not individual farmers, who are just trying to make a living like everyone else”. Introducing the Grow Green campaign in 2015, The Vegan Society supports and collaborates with farmers and advocates for policies that will help them transition to a more sustainable system. Similarly, Animal Rebellion promotes a ‘no blame, no shame’ culture and campaigns for system change[…]
Are We All Being Milked?
*Originally published 28 November 2019* At a ‘Women in Dairy’ conference earlier this year, Dr Jude Capper, an ‘independent livestock sustainability consultant’ who also runs the ‘Februdairy’ campaign which attempts to promote animal milk, showed a slide during her presentation which featured two young children drinking what appears to be cows’ milk products. The message on the slide read, ‘Our biggest challenge is to keep dairy in the diets of future food purchasers’. This targeting of children by the dairy industry is not new, even if, evolutionarily speaking, drinking the bodily secretions of another species is. Set against the 300,000 year history of our species, drinking milk is a relatively new habit. Before about 10,000 years ago, hardly anybody drank milk,[…]
Incentivising Plant-Based Businesses: A Necessary Step Towards a Just and Sustainable Future
*Originally published 16 November 2019* *Updated 15 November 2021* As part of Animal Rebellion’s response to DEFRA’s National Food Strategy, Animal Rebellion has made ten core suggestions. The first is to incentivise a just and sustainable plant-based business model. In their (invited) consultation with DEFRA, Animal Rebellion points out that vegans and vegetarians are expected to make up a quarter of the population by 2025. They note that in response to the increasing demand for ethical plant-based alternatives to meat, fish, dairy, and other animal products, plant-based businesses have been on the rise. The popularity of Beyond Meat products (such as the Beyond Burger, made from pea protein, coconut oil, potato starch, and beetroot juice) and other plant-based alternatives to animal products is[…]
Cargill Family, A Historic Choice is upon You: Planetary Destruction or Climate, Animal and Human Justice?
*Originally published 25 October 2019* An open letter from Animal Rebellion to the ‘silent giant’ that holds the fate of many of the world’s forests, billions of worlds’ farmed animals and much of the global food-system in its grip. Over 140 years Cargill, whilst remaining little-known, has grown to be one of the largest traders of commodities for the animal-agricultural industry. Your company is one of a handful that control up to 90% of the worlds grain markets. Your company is also the largest worldwide producer of the grain-based feed for farmed animals and the third-largest “meat processing” company in the world.Today, your agri-business is the largest food-conglomerate in the world. Astonishingly, all this makes your organisation directly accountable for: the life and death experiences of billions of commoditized[…]
Where Is the Compassion for Sentient Marine Animals in the Fishing Industry?
*Originally published 12 October 2019* As Animal Rebellion activists invite Billingsgate Fish Market into dialogue on the climate crisis and the plight of the the 2.3 trillion marine animals killed every year, we look at this often forgotten victims of our current food system. It’s easy to forget about fish or to dissociate ourselves from them and them from food, unlike cows, pigs, and sheep, which we see all around us in the landscape. When we order a salmon steak in a nice restaurant, collect a battered cod from the local chippy, or buy our favourite mackerel pate in the supermarket, we’re not usually thinking of these aquatic animals as sentient beings. It’s not often covered in the media that fish are[…]