Monthly Hopium Injection #6

2023/10: Performative art turns bystanders Vegan on the spot!

To the 10 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

🇺🇸 US Federally Bans Gestation Crates and More:

• Gestation and farrowing crates, as well as tail docking, de-beaking, and induced molting are all banned under the Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards rule.

These standards were abolished under the Trump administration and have now returned thanks to 57,000 supporters of the Humane Society.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland Ends Cruel Fox Hunting:

• The Hunting with Dogs Act of 2023 effectively ends hunting with hounds. Any hunt wishing to continue will have to obtain a license and follow strict regulation and monitoring after exhausting every other available option.

Law breakers face huge fines and prison time if found breaching the terms of the license. As they should!

🇰🇷 S. Korea Enacts National Plan to Increase Plant-Based Foods:

• Initiatives include expanding the utilization and exports of domestic plant products, increasing plant-based foods in schools, training for chefs on plant-based food production, and building an alternative protein research center.

Last month, Denmark was the first country to initiate a nationwide plan such as this one. With increasing demand for planet and animal-friendly food, it makes perfect sense. I wonder what country is next!

🇬🇧 Another London Borough Officially Supporting Plant-Based Treaty:

• The Global Plant Based Treaty campaign provides vouchers for vulnerable households to buy more plant-based foods, tracks and reduces animal-product related emissions, supports sustainable businesses, and establishes new green spaces to protect biodiversity.

Lambeth is the 4th UK Borough to join this treaty, and the 22nd worldwide! The council is working with local community groups to make these changes happen.

🇺🇸 California Forces Big Ag to Disclose Emissions:

• S.B.253, The Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, requires California businesses that make >$1B annually disclose not just their direct emissions, but also their indirect and upstream emissions too.

State Senator Scott Wiener says,

“This legislation will support those companies doing their part to tackle the climate crisis and create accountability for those that aren’t.”

And those big businesses aren’t happy: they say, “it won’t actually lead to a reduction of emissions!” but who will support them when we can clearly see that they are ruining our Earth?

Not us.

Courtesy of Hunt Saboteurs. :)

PLANT-BASED DEVELOPMENTS

📉 UK Reaches Lowest Meat Consumption in History:

• Government data showed that in 2022, the average Briton consumed 854g (1.88lbs) of meat, down 12.5% from the previous year, and the lowest it’s ever been since 1974.

It’s likely people are cutting down due to rising costs and increasing awareness. If there’s one good thing that comes out of global economic instability, it’s people realizing they can save money and lives by choosing plants over animals.

💶 Lidl’s Vegan Products Priced EQUALLY to Animal Products:

• Vemondo (Lidl’s in-house Vegan brand) products will also be placed directly next to their slaughter-based counterparts in all of it’s 3,250 locations in Germany.

The brand has been climate neutral since 2021 and offers nearly 650 different Vegan items! With the choice between bad and better right in front of you, it’s never been easier to make the right one.

🥛 Dutch Dairy Company Goes Fully Vegan:

• Boermarke has been selling Cow secretions for 30 years and is now deciding to transfer their operations to plant-based dairy after seeing an 800% surge in sales of these products!

Following the money can sometimes be more ethical. We love to see it!

🌍 Dubai’s COP28 Will be 2/3rds Plant-Based:

• Following pressure from ProVeg, 165,000 meals served to over 60,000 visitors per day will be “1.5°C aligned.”

Previous summits have notoriously ignored food production, so it’s awesome that this year’s summit will also include a Food, Agriculture, and Water Day for the first time ever! If the trend continues, we can expect the next few to be fully Vegan.

🏨 Dubai Builds 1st 100% Vegan Hotel Rooms:

• NH Collection Dubai the Palm will have animal-free bedding, leather-free upholstery, vegan soaps, a vegan mini-bar, wooden key cards, and solar-powered heating and cooling, all for the SAME price as other rooms!

Should you or others serious about ethical consistency attend COP28, there’s now somewhere to stay, stress-free. :)

🛳️ Cruises & Airlines Launch Permanent Vegan Menus:

• Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruises, and Virgin Atlantic are now offering fully Vegan menus!

Travelling by air or sea is basically committing ecocide, but we have places to be, so it’s great to see that these big companies are making travel more sustainable, ethical, and delicious!

🆕 Vegan Food Releases (US Edition):

• 🍔 IHOP adds Impossible burgers and sausages to ALL 1,690 locations!

• 🍬 Lindt’s Lindor Truffles now have an Oat milk version! They’re melt-in-your-mouth amazing.

• 🍫 Vegan versions of Twix & Kit-Kat can now be bought through a Colorado-based Vegan brand, Trupo Treats! Highly recommend.

• 🍰 New York brand Culiraw rolls out 7 raw Vegan cheezecakes made without artifical ingredients you can order today.

• 🍠 In response to texture concerns, Dr. Praegers unveils a new crunchy veggie burger product line you can find in major retailers across the country.

(I am not affiliated with any brand and get no financial compensation from these links whatsoever.)

Even though I despise walking through these aisles, this placement is necessary if we want to choose a VEGAN WORLD NOW.

CELL-BASED DEVELOPMENTS

🧬 Human Collagen Can Now Be Cultivated via Cells:

• Jellatech is now able to cultivate this revolutionary product with lower cost and at scale.

Collagen from Cows and Pigs is widely used for cosmetic and medical procedures involving the teeth, eyes, skin, cartilage, and bone. To be able to assist those needing these procedures without the use of an animal is huge.

🏷️ Italy Withdraws Idiotic Cultivated Meat Labelling Ban*:

• The ban aimed to prevent cultivated meat from being called “steak” or “salami” in order to protect the country’s “culture and food heritage.”

I think they realized how much money and support they’d lose by doing this...You can have your culture and eat it too!

🐈 Companion Animals Can Now Eat Cultivated Protein:

• CULT Food Science released “Noochies!,” America’s “first” Vegan cat treats with protein content as high as chicken or lamb flesh. You can get it through their website or select retailers in California.

The company claims their patented “Bmmune and Bflora” ingredients also offer improved digestion, immune system support, and enhanced cognitive and heart health for cats and dogs.

(Disclosure: I own 12,500 shares of $CULTF, but I make no financial compensation from this link.)

You can’t make this stuff up.

IN OTHER HOPEFUL NEWS…

📺 Campaigners Call to End Meat, Dairy, and Egg Ads:

• Adfree Cities is leading the “End Meat Advertising” campaign, using tactics from the success of the ban on Tobacco advertising.

Major organizations are recognizing that we have been fed literal propaganda for years. From normalizing the objectification of non-human animals, humane-washing, green-washing, and more, it’s time we put an end to the lies.

🐓 Chickens Pass Self-Awareness Tests:

• Roosters make calls when another rooster is in the room, but when placed in front of a mirror, they make significantly less of these calls, suggesting they understand it’s just their reflection.

Only a few-non human animals have passed this test, like apes, dolphins, and elephants, which are much more protected than the humble chicken. If this science is true, it can be a step towards extending protection to these intelligent beings too.

📘 An Activist’s Guide to Debating Non-Vegans:

• Earthling Ed is releasing How to Argue With A Meat-Eater (and Win Every Time) on December 28th, and you can pre-order it now!

Earthling Ed is basically the king of respectful debate-activism, and his use of reflections and the Socratic method is extremely effective in getting meat-eaters to face their hypocrisy. For him to release a book that teaches everyone to be able to do this is amazing for the animal-rights movement.

🙍‍♀️ Female Humans Milked to Protest Against the Horrors of the Dairy Industry:

• Stephanie Lane, founder of SPECIESISM.WTF, led the performative art protest, handing out oat milk at the demonstration to “connect the next dot of compassion towards non-human animals in a linear way.”

Art can be one of the best forms of activism, as a few people even decided to go Vegan right then and there! While campaigns like these really push the boundaries of activism, the most effective form of activism is always the one where you “do what you can with what you have and where you are.” This newsletter is an example of that. :)

Performative art so powerful it’ll turn you Vegan.

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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

*2023/11/16 Update: The ban has gone through, and cultivated meat production is now prohibited in Italy.