- [Narrator] This week
Ellen Degeneres tells fans
to eat less meat.
California passes a historic
ban on alligator skins,
and Stephen Colbert calls
plant-based meat the biggest
food trend in America.
All this and more on
LIVEKINDLY's Weekly Vegan News.
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Stephen Colbert took vegan
meat to task on a recent
episode of The Late Show.
A tongue-in-cheek commercial
spoofed the popular
Impossible Burger and
the buzz over plant-based
meat in general.
According to Colbert, plant-based burgers
like Burger King's Impossible Whopper,
made from Impossible Meat,
are the biggest food trends
in America right now.
He's not wrong.
Sales of plant-based meat are on the rise.
Restaurants saw a 268% increase
in vegan meat sales just last year.
The category is expected to
surpass $85 billion by 2030.
But Colbert wasn't interested
in the viability of
the vegan meat market.
He was interested in making fun of it,
especially the realistic
meatiness of non-meat meat.
- Right now the biggest food trend
in America is plant-based
burger alternatives.
(crowd cheers)
Which used to be known as salad.
(laughter)
- The show ran a spoof
commercial for a product
called the Implausible Burger.
Like the popular Impossible
and Beyond Burgers,
which both look, cook,
and taste like beef,
Colbert's Implausible Burger
is also realistically meaty.
Implausible Burgers, the commercial posits
are probably not meat.
- [Male] The only burger
alternative guaranteed
to probably not be meat.
- Ghastly looks appear on their faces
when the announcer tells
them that the burgers
may actually not be meat-free.
- Yes, but this is baked meat right?
(upbeat music)
- [Announcer] Sure.
(bell dings)
(laughter)
- What was that? What,
did you just wink at me?
I can't see you.
- [Announcer] Every
Implausible Burger exists
in an unknowable quantum state.
It's like Schrodinger's cat.
- [Announcer 2] May contain some cat.
- The spot is of course a joke,
but it isn't entirely fiction.
It touches on the growing
awareness surrounding meat's
climate and health issues.
- [Announcer] No one
likes all the problems
with eating animals,
so the Implausible Burger allows you
to plausibly believe that you aren't.
- The vegan Impossible Burger has finally
made its retail debut.
The Impossible Burger is now available
at 27 Gelson's Markets' locations
throughout southern California.
The realistic vegan burger
comes in a 12-ounce package
and retails for $8.99.
This marks the first time
that Impossible Foods'
plant-based meat has been
made available to retailers.
Until now, the burger
has only been available
in restaurants and food service outlets.
It made headlines earlier
this year when fast food
chain, Burger King, launched
the Impossible Whopper.
After a successful test
launch in select stores,
the Impossible Whopper is
now available nationwide.
According to recent sales data,
retail sales of vegan burgers
have surged 151% since 2018.
Vegan burgers are a key
driver of the plant-based
food market, with sales
increasing five times as fast
as other vegan meat products.
- We're just racing to
keep up with the demand.
- Less than a week after
launching at Gelson's,
Impossible Foods announced
it will launch on
the East Coast at Wegmans
and Fairway Markets.
The company will announce
additional retail expansions
later this year.
Coming up,
red meat may soon be
banned in Danish schools.
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New York City students
were allowed to skip school
to march in the climate strike,
which took place on September 20th.
Ahead of the protest,
the New York City Department of Education
announced that all public school
students would be permitted
to skip school and join
the climate strike.
The city has the largest public
school district in the U.S.,
with over 1.1 million students.
It's estimated that
more than 250,000 people
took to the streets to join the strike.
At the New York Climate Strike,
protestors listened to speeches delivered
by environmental activists,
indigenous rights leaders,
poets, youth climate change leaders,
nurses, scientists,
and student climate
activist, Greta Thunberg.
- We are not just some young
people skipping school,
or some adults who are not going to work.
We are a wave of change.
(crowd cheers)
- Both Willow and Jayden
Smith took to the stage
to deliver musical performances
and urged climate strikers to
take action for the planet.
Leonardo DiCaprio urged his followers
to participate in the
climate strike, as well.
The Academy Award-winning actor
and dedicated environmentalist,
shared a post from the National
Resources Defense Council,
a New York City-based
environmental advocacy group,
ahead of the strikes.
"Around the world,
"climate activists will
be taking to the streets,
calling on governments
to tackle the crisis
with the urgency it deserves,
because future generations
depend on it," the post reads.
Climate strikes took place
in over 150 countries.
According to reports,
up to four million
people may have marched,
making it the biggest climate
change rally in history.
Coming up, Marks & Spencer reveals
its vegan Christmas range.
Ellen Degeneres encouraged her fans
to cut meat out of their diet for the good
of their health, the
animals, and the planet.
The American comedian,
television host, and producer,
shared a video on her Instagram page,
which has 77.2 million followers,
to urge people to reduce
their meat consumption.
- Just, it's a great idea for the planet.
It's a great idea for your health.
It's a great idea for the animals' health.
So eat less meat, unless you're a vegan
and you don't eat meat
already, then good for you.
So you don't even need
to pay attention to this.
- She encouraged those who do eat meat,
to try to eat less of it.
- Just maybe eat it less.
Once a week, or none a week,
or just if you eat it every night,
don't eat it every night.
Eat it less than that.
The point is, it's better for you
and it's better for the environment
and for the animals.
- Danish politicians are
urging for a red meat ban
in Copenhagen schools, kindergartens,
and daycare centers.
Launched in 2013,
Denmark's alternative party consistently
campaigns for a more sustainable
future for the country.
It wants to see red
meat consumption reduced
to limit the city's environmental impact.
"Red meat has a huge impact
on the climate," said
Alternative Party counselor,
Franciska Rosenkilde,
to Danish newspaper, Politiken.
"You can choose freely
what to eat at home,
but as a municipality,
we have a responsibility
to be ambitious in our
environmental behavior.
That's why I'm proposing we
remove red meat from meals
in municipal institutions."
Beef production has a
high impact on the planet.
Every kilogram produced
emits the equivalent
of 36 kilograms of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere.
It is also responsible for
large amounts of deforestation.
Many of the fires in
the Amazon rain forest
were started intentionally to clear land
for cattle ranchers.
The Alternative Party
presented its proposal,
which would only impact
institutions that serve
one to two meals a day,
to the city council
earlier in late-September.
Marks & Spencer just revealed
its vegan Christmas range,
featuring a meat-free entree, appetizer,
and of course, dessert.
With less than a hundred
days until Christmas,
Marks & Spencer joins
other major supermarkets
in revealing a range of vegan food
that will be on offer come December.
For the entree, a vegan
root vegetable tarte Tatin.
For appetizers, vegan pigs-in-blankets.
The menu also includes a festive
vegan sweet potato sandwich
and a dark chocolate and cherry dessert.
According to the High Street retailer,
this year's menu is based on feedback
from over 80,000 customers.
Marks & Spencer aims to take out
some of the most angst-inducing elements
of Christmas entertaining.
It's the first time that
the High Street retailer
has launched a full
vegan menu for Christmas.
Marks & Spencer isn't alone in offering
a vegan Christmas menu.
Tesco, Aldi, and Asda have also revealed
their festive ranges.
California has banned
the sale of crocodile
and alligator skins.
The state first passed a ban
against the trade in 1970;
however, since then, the
exotic skins industry
has fought back.
In 2006, legislation lifted the ban.
It established an exemption
with a sunset clause.
The legislation was extended
in 2009, and again in 2014.
Previously, extensions to the legislation
were backed by fashion designers;
however, more and more
of the fashion industry
is turning its back on animal skins.
Last year, Chanel
committed to ending its use
of fur and exotic skins.
In February, Victoria
Beckham's brand followed suit.
Animal rights organizations
have called out
the exotic skins industry for
major animal welfare issues.
One investigation found alligators
in dark sheds and fetid
water before metal rods
were placed into their heads
while they were still alive.
Like many designers, California
has also taken a stand
against the fur industry.
Earlier this month, a landmark
bill banning the sale of fur
passed in the California senate.
This year, organizations including
the Louisiana Department
of Wildlife and Fisheries,
have attempted to push
for another extension,
but it hasn't worked.
According to animal
rights organization PETA,
People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals,
a ban on the sale of
crocodile and alligator
skins in the state will go into effect
from the beginning of January, 2020.
That's it for today.
What do you think of the
proposed red meat ban
in Copenhagen?
Let us know in the comments below.
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