- [Narrator] This week,
Billie Eilish's mom
helps donate vegan
meals to people in need,
a new documentary links
pandemics to factory farming,
and coronavirus sparks a 280%
increase in vegan meat sales.
All this and more on
Livekindly's Weekly Vegan News.
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Vegan meat sales have
surged by nearly 280%
due to the coronavirus outbreak.
According to Nielsen data,
purchases of plant-based meat
were up by 279.8% for the
week ending on March 14th.
Oat milk is also in high demand,
experiencing nearly a
477% increase in sales.
Dairy milk sales lagged
behind plant-based milk,
at less than 10% of oat milk's spike.
Maggie Baird, mom to vegan
Grammy Award-winning singer
Billie Eilish, is helping supply
plant-based food to hospitals, shelters
and first responders across Los Angeles.
Together with a number of organizations,
including Conscious Cleanup,
and East Drink Vegan,
Baird has created Support and Feed.
The initiative encourages people
to simultaneously support vegan businesses
during the coronavirus pandemic,
as well as workers on the front lines.
"Please help," wrote Baird
in an Instagram post.
"You can order from
any of these incredible
"plant-based restaurants.
"The food will be delivered
to a needy organization
"in a safe, coordinated
way when it works for them,
"with enough time for the
restaurant to plan and prepare."
She added, "You can also
add it to a personal order
"if you want food yourself."
Coming up, China's dairy
industry takes a hit
from the coronavirus pandemic.
Keegan Kuhn, co-director
of the 2017 documentary
What the Health, is releasing a new film
that explores how
diseases form animals pose
a greater threat to humanity
than climate change.
British filmmaker Alex Lockwood,
the BAFTA Award-winning director
of the 2018 short film
73 Cows is the director.
Kuhn and Lockwood starting
working on the new documentary
about six months before
the coronavirus pandemic.
Kuhn says interviewing
public health professionals
for What the Health inspired
him to make the film.
"They all kept speaking about
the real and present danger
"of diseases coming out of
animal farming operations,"
he told Livekindly.
"I realized then that there was
a major story not being told
"and wanted at some point
to revisit this issue."
He explained that
intensive factory farming
is the reason that
diseases are able to spread
and mutate so quickly.
"Our close proximity to these animals
"gives ample opportunities
for these diseases
"to jump species into us," he said.
On the conservative
side, 2.2 million people
die every year from
animal-to-human diseases.
Studies show that 60%
of all human diseases
and 75% of all emerging
infectious diseases
come from animals.
The majority of these come
from Western livestock,
including chickens, cattle, and pigs.
Kuhn hopes the film
will open people's eyes
to the dangers of animal agriculture
and animal exploitation.
"Even if people don't care
about the individual animals
"suffering and dying at the
hands of these industries,
"they should at least
care about other humans
"and their own health.
"I believe the film will
have a profound impact
"on how we see our behavior."
A new report from Rabobank
reveals China's dairy imports
are expected to fall by the double digits
as a result of the current
COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
The Dutch multinational bank
expects dairy imports will
decrease by 19% this year.
It says a drop-off in demand for dairy
amid the coronavirus
pandemic is partly to blame.
Rabobank included the estimates
in its global Dairy
Quarterly Q1 2020 report.
The report explains a
combination of factors
is putting pressure on
global dairy markets.
These include supply chain disruptions,
reduced Chinese imports,
and the rising dairy
surpluses in export regions.
Vegan athlete Lewis Hamilton
has compared self-isolation
during the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak
to the lives of animals in captivity.
- Hi, everyone.
As you all know, the coronavirus
is very, very serious,
and it's very important
that we all work together
to help reduce the spread of this virus.
- [Narrator] The six-time
Formula One champion
took to Instagram to
compare the current lockdown
to the feelings animals experience
while being held in zoos.
"If you are home on lockdown,
"perhaps you can feel a little
"of what the animals in
captivity go through every day.
"Their entire lives stopped from them.
"Please don't go to any zoos or circuses,
"because this is what our
money goes to supporting,"
he added.
Coming up, Jack Black gives
up red meat for the planet.
The Mexican Senate
unanimously passed a bill
banning animal testing for cosmetics.
The bill would also
prohibit the manufacture,
marketing, or import of cosmetics
that were tested on animals
outside of the country.
The bill was fully endorsed
by Mexico's Senate Health Committee.
The potential ban is supported by global
animal protection nonprofit
Humane Society International,
and Te Protejo, a Latin
American organization
that promotes the use of
products not tested on animals.
"This brings us one step closer
"to ending unnecessary animal cruelty
"in the cosmetics industry
"and demonstrates Mexico's leadership
"within the Americas," said Anton Aguilar,
Executive director of HSI Mexico.
If enacted into law, Mexico's bill
will make the country
the 40th in the world
to ban animal-tested cosmetics.
Actor Jack Black is off red meat.
The Jumanji star says he's given up meat
and switched to veggie burgers
to lower his carbon footprint.
The actor and musician
made the announcement
in a video shared to
Twitter in late March,
using the trending
hashtag MyEcoResolution.
- My eco resolution is
to stop eating red meat.
I'm a still eat a cheeseburger,
but it's gonna be one of those new
scientifically delicious veggie burgers.
You know, the Impossible,
the Beyond, et cetera.
I'm doing this to limit
catastrophic climate change
and to support my mental health.
I think you should too.
Much love.
JB, over and out.
- [Narrator] New York-based
food tech startup
Atlast Food Co is growing
vegan bacon from mushrooms.
The startup is a spinoff brand
of bio-tech company Ecovative.
Ecovative uses mycelium,
the roots of mushrooms,
to create sustainable packaging,
skincare, textiles, and apparel.
At Last uses Ecovatives
extensive knowledge of mycelium
to grow nutrient-rich fibers
that replicate the textures
and mouth feel of meat.
It is currently working
to perfect its vegan bacon
ahead of commercialization.
First, the company seeds
gourmet mushrooms in trays,
which are then transferred
to vertical farms
that simulate underground
growth conditions.
In just a matter of days,
the mycelium is ready to be harvested
and used as a raw ingredient
for plant-based meat.
Butter production is
3.5 times more damaging
to the environment than the
production of vegan spreads,
according to a new study.
The study, which evaluated
212 plant-based spreads
and 21 dairy butters across 21 European
and North American markets,
was published in the journal
of Life Cycle Assessment.
Greenhouse gas emissions
from cattle feed production
and livestock rearing
made dairy-based butter's
carbon footprint than its
plant-based counterpart.
Research shows the mean average
of greenhouse gas emissions
for plant-based spreads
was 3.3. kilograms.
On the other hand, dairy-based butter
accounted for 12.1
kilograms of carbon dioxide.
Brands can make vegan butter
from a variety of ingredients.
Earth Balance is made from soybean oil
and controversial palm oil.
Brooklyn-based Fora Foods
makes its faba butter
from aquafaba, the liquid
from a can of chickpeas.
- When we were building a product,
we knew that we needed a
plant-based saturated fat
to kind of give it that backbone
so it would hold up at high temperatures,
and then keep ingredient
deck super, super clean:
sea salt, nutritional
yeast, aquafaba, the brine
from chickpeas to give it
that umami, buttery kick.
- [Narrator] Northern
California-based brand
Miyoko's Creamery makes dairy-free butter
from fermented cashew cream.
It will launch the world's first
spreadable oat-based
butter later this year.
Shenzhen is now the first city in China
to ban to consumption of dog and cat meat.
Dog and cat meat will no longer be allowed
to be sold at restaurants,
as well as live markets.
The new legislation also
includes a permanent ban
on the consumption, breeding,
and sale of wildlife,
including snakes, lizards,
and other wild animals
for human consumption.
According to the Humane
Society International,
the law, which was proposed last February,
comes into effect on May 1st.
Announcing the ban, a spokesperson
for the Shenzhen government said,
"Dogs and cats as pets have established
"a much closer relationship with humans
"than all other animals,
and banning the consumption
"of dogs and cats and other
pets is a common practice
"in developed countries and
in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
"This ban also responds
to the demand and spirit
"of human civilization."
The ban also clarifies which
animal meat may be eaten:
pig, cattle, sheep, rabbit, and chicken.
Dr. Peter Lee, China
Policy Specialist for HSI
said this could be a
watershed moment for China.
The trade kills an
estimated 10 million dogs
and four million cats each year.
- Knowing that humans are capable of that,
that's probably the hardest part.
- [Narrator] In China, HSI
believes attitudes towards dogs
and cats are starting to
mirror those in the West,
as seen with Shenzhen's new ban.
The organization's Director
of International Media,
Wendy Higgins, told The Guardian,
"There is a growing and
vocal Chinese opposition
"to the dog and cat meat trade.
"Young people in China are far more likely
"to think of dogs as
companions than cuisine."
That's it for today.
What do you think about Jack
Black ditching red meat?
Let us know in the comments below.
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