Monthly Hopium Injection #1
2023/05: Proof that it isn't irrational to be hopeful that a VEGAN WORLD coming.
It’s hard to remember that our non-vegan world is slowly shifting to a Vegan world when there’s so much proving otherwise: a new McDonalds propping up every day, ads littered with “food” industry propaganda that specifically target us, and our closest loved ones continuing to consume products of pure suffering.
Hard is an understatement.
Inspired by
& (Weekly Dose of Optimism) and (FriendlyVeg YouTube Channel), one of the missions of this newsletter is to cultivate hope in both aspiring and ethical Vegans. How? With some Hopium, of course!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.
HOPEFUL POLICY DEVELOPMENTS
🐷 Pigs and Hens Get More Freedom:
“This requires veal calves, breeding pigs and egg-laying hens to be housed in systems that comply with specific standards for freedom of movement, cage-free design, and a specified minimum of 24 feet of space. Sows must be able to turn around without touching their enclosures.”
I know these are only minor changes for the animals, but for those who enslave them, they are new major costs of doing “business.” This may make selling their cruelty to Californians deeply unprofitable, and thus impossible. Greasy senators who are obviously paid by the pig industry are espousing ridiculous quips like, “liberals are trying to ban our bacon!” Sure we are. ;)
🏭 Vegan Becomes the Default in NYC:
In New York, Mayor Eric Adams has announced that the city will aim to reduce food-related emissions by 33 percent by 2030. This quickly follows the city’s first inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, which revealed that animal-based food accounts for >20% of emissions in NY.
How are they doing it? By making Vegan the default, not the alternative.
“By serving plant-based meals as the default option and enhancing patients’ food experience, NYC Health + Hospitals is on track to serve 850,000 plant-based meals this year — reducing its food-based carbon emissions by 36 percent as of February 2023 while reducing the public health burden of diet-related disease.”
What’s more, the primarily plant-based Mayor, Eric Adams, is tackling animal agriculture within the school system too! It’s truly amazing what one person can do for our world, and this is just the beginning.
🚫 A Petition to Ban Beef Propaganda:
We need more people like the EWG fighting against blatant propaganda. It’s not anything concrete, but proof that organizations everywhere are advocating for our mother Earth.
🍼 Oat Milk Approved for Babies:
In Canada, the Food Directorate of Health Products approved the first nutritionally fortified oat milk for toddlers and kids aged 12 months and over! This comes with a recent nutrition guideline change to include recommendations for implementing plant-based beverages into the diets of infants and young children.
Indoctrinating kids into thinking that consuming animal parts is okay is one of the worst plagues of modern society, so knowing that there will be so many children that grow up never consuming them is hopeful for creating and sustaining future Vegan generations!
🌲 The EU is Ending Deforestation:
Deforestation is responsible for ~10% percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and is a key contributor to biodiversity loss. One step at a time, we are removing harmful practices from our global trading networks! And not just any step, but a huge one - here’s the policy explainer for the curious ones.
HOPEFUL PLANT-BASED DEVELOPMENTS
👅 Study Proves Plant-Based Meat Tastes Better:
Next time someone tells you they taste “bad,” you can now show them some science to prove them otherwise. ;)
🥤 Vegans Welcome at Shake Shack:
This includes their new VeggieShack Burger (ask for the gluten free bun, no cheese, no ShackSauce), milkshake, and custard made with NotMilk. Finally! Something more than fries...
🤝 Epic Plant-Based Partnerships:
🍔 Next Level Burger, America’s first 100% plant-based burger joint chain has introduced their Brunch Burger featuring JUST Egg for National Egg Month!
⚾️ In a first of its kind, multi-year partnership, Oatly is making Minor League Baseball dairy-free.
Vegan companies partnering with sports leagues is awesome. They’ll be bringing their creative advertising, new concession menu items, and product samples to 50+ MiLB parks across the USA!
While it wasn’t entirely Vegan, getting southerners to admit that the crawfish fettuccine, jambalaya, French toast, and milkshakes using Oatly tasted great, if not better, than the cow secretion version is a monumental feat worth praising.
🧀 Babybel is Slowly Going Vegan:
Babybel is making another plant-based cheeze! This time, it’s a tangier, “white cheddar variety.”
This follows the overwhelmingly positive response of Veganizing their OG mozzarella, which tastes identical and AMAZING (I highly recommend it).
🫘 Plant-Based Meat’s Nutritional Value Skyrockets:
It’s crazy that they managed to achieve this without fortification or artificial additives, keeping those dreadful long ingredient lists at bay.
🇺🇸 Lawmakers Recognize The Future of Food as Vegan:
Eat JUST, Oatly, Impossible Foods, and dozens of other scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors from leading plant-based and cellular agriculture companies recently met in Washington, D.C. for the Future of Food event!
Amid the drafting of the new Farm Bill, Lawmakers invited these leaders to discuss sustainable solutions to safely integrate these innovative products into the American food system to the point where they are no longer considered “alternatives.” I’m hoping for it!
HOPEFUL CELL-BASED DEVELOPMENTS
🧠 Debunking Fears over Lab Grown Meats:
For any opponents or skeptics of cell-based meat and/or precision fermentation, this one’s worth a read!
🍔 80,000 Lab Grown Burgers Coming Soon:
And they’re working with the Two Michelin-starred Chef, Hans van Wolde, to make them utterly delectable. It’s extremely hopeful that Chefs believe in this tech this much:
“When I first tried a Mosa Burger as part of the internal development team, I was blown away by the beefy taste and the amazing mouthfeel of the beef fat. It gave me goosebumps. I genuinely believe this new way of making beef can delight connoisseurs and casual beef lovers alike, while enjoying the positive benefits of cultivated beef from a sustainability perspective. I am excited to work with the Mosa Meat team to make future versions even better.“
🍥 Caviar & Grouper Made Without any Fish:
🐟 Cell-based caviar just dropped. South Korea’s CellMEAT says its cell-based caviar offers a more ethical and sustainable alternative to traditional caviar without compromising on taste or texture.
🐠 And 3D printed Grouper Fish too! I’ve never even had Grouper.
I imagine a world where humans can indulge in even the greatest luxuries without harming a single individual. Wow. We are getting there!
IN OTHER HOPEFUL NEWS…
🏃 Vegan Wins Monumental Race:
Vegan ultra-runner Austin Meyer took first place at the Zion Ultra 100km (62 mile) race, finishing in just over 10 hours (10:07:53)!
Proving once again, that Vegans can do anything.
😡 Meat Eaters More Prone to Abuse their Partners:
Truly, we are what we eat! If we consume suffering, we are more likely to create suffering for others. This is hopeful because it demonstrates that the hormones found in flesh may contribute to hormonal imbalances in us, and that being Vegan may simply be more peaceful for all. :)
☮️ Pig Killer turned Crop Farmer:
I saved the best for last: real, concrete evidence that by working together and believing in the goodness of others, we can put an end to these archaic practices once and for all.
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