Monthly Hopium Injection #5

2023/09: Countries are subsidizing plant-based food transitions now!?

To the 27 new people here, welcome! Here’s what this is:

Ho·pi·um

A Vegan cocktail of “hope” and “opium,” prescribed as a healthy dose of optimism, without the need for clinical trials.

Because here, the evidence speaks for itself.

This is a showcase of a VEGAN WORLD coming: hopeful Vegan news from the last month, all here, all NOW.

You ready?

Let’s hit it!

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POLICY DEVELOPMENTS

🦊 Oregon Ends Wildlife Killing “Contests”:

• The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted unanimously to prohibit wildlife killing contests for Coyotes and other species classified as unprotected mammals in the state, making it the 9th state to do so.

Many studies show these “contests” are unnecessary and damaging. 41 states to go!

🇩🇪 Germany to Transition Out of Pig “Farming”:

• The Agricultural Investment Promotion Program (AFP) provides grants to farmers transitioning to crop growing based on a point system - they’ll receive 5 points for 50% reduction in Pig capacity or 10 points for 100%!

Demand for Pig flesh is at an all time low in Germany, so the abusers will follow the money here.

🇩🇰 Denmark Subsidizes Plant-Based Food Production:

• The Plant Fund is part of a wider 2021 Danish agreement that plant-based foods are key to a greener world, so funding is allocated to projects that directly increase plant-based foods in private, public, and international markets.

Applications for the first round of funding closed this month with 101 submissions received! I bet that more countries will soon follow these genius strategies.

🇺🇸 Massive Opposition Against Cruel US EATS Act:

• 169 representatives and 30 senators oppose the EATS Act, compared to 31 representatives and 13 senators who cosigned the Act to overrule California’s Prop 12, a successful initiative that gave pigs, cows, and chickens...more space.

Just 4 months ago, Prop. 12 passed, and it devastated animal abusers operating in California. This is how the animal agriculture industry fights back, but I don’t think they’re winning this one! We will continue to move forward.

Grants and subsidies can be effective vehicles for change - it’s how the US Dairy industry got so big! Now, it’s our turn.

PLANT-BASED DEVELOPMENTS

🌲 A 50% Plant-Based Diet Can Stop Deforestation:

In a recent study published in Nature, researchers state,

“if 50% of the main animal products (pork, chicken, beef, and milk) are globally substituted, net reduction of forest and natural land is almost fully halted.”

With this shift, the land used for feeding and keeping livestock would shrink by 12 percent — or 653 million hectares, roughly twice the size of India!

🇬🇧 ALL UK Universities Pressured to Go Vegan:

• Over 650 academics, alumni, industry professionals, and grassroots campaigners signed an open letter urging ALL UK universities to switch to a 100% Vegan catering menu.

Just two months ago, the people behind Animal Rising’s Plant Based Universities initiative got a UK University (and many others) to actually commit to this! I think their campaigning approach has been effective, take a look:

“Not vegan? That’s okay. We are not asking for individual dietary changes… What we are asking for is institutional divestment within procurement in the same way that universities are boycotting fossil fuel companies.”

🇨🇦 Canadian University Goes 43% Plant-Based:

• Humane Society International’s Forward Food program provided training for chefs to develop various new vegan menus for Western University’s residence dining halls.

And they’ve done it! Some of the meals they serve now are kimchi fried rice, smoked black bean brisket and mushroom stroganoff. Mmm.

🤖 3D Printing Plant-Based Burger Robot Chef:

• The printer, deployed by Sodexo & SavorEat at the University of Denver, allows you to choose the size of the burger, doneness, protein level, and cooking style!

This follows Sodexo’s commitment of turning 42% of its college and university menus plant-based by 2025. This is just one piece, but wow is it a wild one!

🆕 Vegan Food Releases (EU Edition):

• 🍣 3D printed plant-based salmon filets made from Mycoprotein was released by Revo Foods and can be bought NOW!

• ⚔️ The Düzgün Group helps the Döner Kebab go plant-based by partnering with The Vegetarian Butcher to bring Halal-certified soy skewer spit roasts to restaurants.

• 🌭 This Oktoberfest, Planteneers of Germany will be offering restaurants the option to serve plant-based Bavarian Veal Sausage, Nuremberg Bratwurst & Liver Loaf!

Brb, making this burger rn. Will take 9 hours instead.

CELL-BASED DEVELOPMENTS

🧫 Cows Spared with Achievement of Immortal Cells:

• Steakholder Foods is patenting their immortal bovine cell line, which can remove cows from the tissue (cell) harvesting process.

Globally, 350 million tons of flesh is consumed each year. This one cell line can theoretically produce >3.25 quadrillion tons… That’s the same as the amount of stars in ~8125 milky way galaxies. Yeah, you read that right.

🖨️ Innovative “Ink” Can 3D Print Steak:

• Steakholder Foods launched their “SH Beef Steak Bio Ink” to be used with their fusion printers which extrude the ink through a narrow nozzle to achieve realistic fibrous textures.

I’m sure many of us are repulsed by this, but having steak mass produced from printers or vats rather than innocent animals is a massive step forward! Here’s how they see it:

“With our plant-based SH Inks as the canvas and cultivated cells as the brush strokes, we’re not just recreating meat and fish with our 3D printing technology; we’re revolutionizing the future of food, one print at a time.”

FYI, they can already do this for seafood!

🥛 Animal-Free Milk Greener than Cow’s Milk:

• A life-cycle assessment concluded that Bon Vivant’s Milk made with precision fermentation generates 96% fewer emissions than cow’s milk, while using 99% less water, 92% less land, and 50% less energy.

“If just 5% of the milk produced in Europe was replaced with animal-free milk, it would save the equivalent of 2.3 million Olympic swimming pools of water.”

🌐 Cultivated Meat & Fat Production Goes Global:

• 🇺🇸 UPSIDE Foods begins production of USA’s 1st commercial-scale plant, Rubicon, just outside of Chicago Illinois. It can produce 30M lbs (13.6M kg) of cultivated meat annually!

• 🇬🇧 Extracellular opens UK’s largest cultivated meat and seafood pilot production facility, which plans to provide the industry with scale-up and manufacturing services required to launch the industry to commercial scale!

• 🇧🇷 JBS starts to work on Brazil’s 1st cultivated protein research center. Their aim is to discover how to make production more efficient, scalable and economically competitive. It’ll be completed by mid-2024!

• 🇬🇧 Hoxton Farms opens UK’s ONLY cultivated animal fat pilot production facility. What’s crazy is that it’s in central East London, right across the street from a Pub! The future is local and decentralized. Here’s what they said about the move:

  “This is probably the last place people would expect to find a cultivated food production facility, but you can do it anywhere. We really like the idea of being close to consumers who are going to eat our products. We need them to understand [how food will be produced in the future.] I don't think you can demonstrate that to people if you have a facility out in the middle of nowhere.”

With this new Brazil center, it’s official: every continent on Earth (except Antarctica) now has a cultivated meat facility, Africa included!

🛐 Cultivated Meat Approved by Major Religions:

• 🕌 Leading Islamic Sharia scholars of Saudi Arabia have deemed GOOD Meat’s cultivated meat Halal, under certain criteria.

• 🕍 Orthodox Union Kosher, the world’s largest and most influential kosher certification authority, recognized SuperMeat’s chicken cell line products as kosher Mehadrin meat, meeting the most stringent qualification for kosher supervision.

They can already just eat something else, but these developments still pave the way to a future in which our most religious won’t have to slaughter animals, and can instead be consumers of this more ethical food technology. Religion won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, so this is a great thing!

Irrespective of religion, curious people coming together to see if something aligns with their values can be sweet.

IN OTHER HOPEFUL NEWS…

💰 Vegan Diets Are Cheaper, Saving ~$500 per Year:

• Research by the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) found that by purchasing exclusively plant-based foods, consumers can reduce their grocery bills by 16%.

This research just makes sense: plant—based foods like rice, beans, tofu, and tempeh have been central to poorer communities and indigenous peoples around the world for centuries, and are remarkably cheaper than slaughter-based foods. Furthermore,

• a recent Gallup Consumption Habits poll highlighted that the largest population of Americans opting for plant-based diets are actually those in low-income families!

“Vegan = expensive” is a myth that’s been busted over and over again. It’s time for it to end!

🔪 Chilling Vegan Ad Reaches Millions on TV:

• Viva!’s “Takeaway the Meat” TV advertisement was broadcasted to over 18 million people on UK’s channel 4! Click this to watch it!

The ad forces people to make the connection.

🦁 Zoo Lion Rescued and Brought Home:

• Animal Defense International rescued Ruben from a private Armenian zoo where he lived in complete solitude for 15 years.

Ruben now gets to live in a South African wildlife sanctuary! It’s just so heartwarming to know that he’ll be able to interact with other lions like him. :,)

🌌 Vegans Light Up the Sky with Important Message:

• Eat Differently partnered with Projecting Change to coordinate light drones to say, “Eat Plants, Not Animals.” Watch the show by clicking the play button below!

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Do you feel the Hopium now, my dear reader?

Jokes aside, what from this list are you most excited about? Skeptical of? The discussion continues in the comments below!

If you want more before next month, there are dozens of developments that didn’t make the cut but are equally interesting. I share them on Substack Notes!

As always, I am grateful for your time and attention - thank you.

Be Vegan,
Dani