Monthly Hopium Injection #11
2024/03: This county may finally ban factory farming!
To the 29 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!
🏭 CA Residents Will Vote to Ban Factory Farms:
This. Is. Huge. If voters pass this, it could be the catalyst that triggers a cascade of positive shifts in favor of animal rights worldwide. We’ll find out in November! :)
🌱 New Policy Requires CA County to Go Plant-Based:
While the intent of this policy is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this alone will spare thousands of farmed animals from needless suffering.
🐙 World’s 1st Octopus Farming Ban Passed:
One of the representatives in support of the bill sounded pretty Vegan to me:
“Octopus farming leads to suffering and sickness for one of the more intelligent and feeling animals in our oceans...[it] is unnecessary. It’s time to move on.”
Fortunately, we already have their replacement released this month! REVO Foods unveiled the world’s 1st Vegan Octopus made with 3D printed mycelium, dubbed, “The Kraken.”
It seems like lots of the traction around this ban revolved around intelligence. Even though we know the real question is “can they suffer?,“ wait until they hear about Pigs!
💄 Washington Bans Cosmetics Tested on Animals:
Countless rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, and rats are all unnecessarily used for toxicity tests. Meanwhile, non-human models provide accurate predictions of safety for humans! This new law implicitly asserts this, and is a big step in the right direction for ending animal testing in the USA. Only 39 more states to go!
🍽️ German Nutritionists Encourage Plant-Based Diets:
Ironically, this update marks a departure from Germany’s previous stance of advising against Veganism, and instead echoes the Nordic Nutritional Guidelines updated last year. At the same time, Germans are eating less meat than ever! The Dietary Guidelines for Americans updates in 2025, so here’s to hoping that the US follows the evidence too! :)
🏫 400+ Universities Make Plant-Based The Default:
This follows a peer-reviewed study I reported on last July, showcasing that their DefaultVeg program at pilot universities both preserved student choice and did not lead to a significant decrease in satisfaction. So many more students will get to know that Vegan food can be just as delicious!
🇮🇳 Living Vegan in India Getting More Popular and Easier:
Nonetheless, the New Dehli International Food & Hospitality Fair - Aahar - will include plant-based meats for the 1st time. Furthermore, major hotel operators expect this demand to surge this year! The best part? 67% of Indians who choose plant-based products are motivated not by their health or the environment, but the animals.
🍔 BK Germany Makes Plant-Based Meals Cheaper Than Meat:
Developed in collaboration with The Vegetarian Butcher, the chain will use new flower-shaped patties for its plant-based burgers to differentiate them from the slaughter-based burgers. It’s uplifting to know that the ethical option is not only cheaper but cuter too! :3
📈 EU Retailers See Massive Demand Increases for Plant-Based Foods:
Tesco stated that plant-based eating is the biggest culinary trend this century and has reported increases in plant-based alternatives of up to 100% compared to 2023.
In line with 69% of Dutch people eating meatless at least once a week, 7 dutch brands have agreed to make 50% of their suggested recipes meat-free.
People are choosing plant-based more and more often, and supermarkets can’t keep up!
🏅 2024 Olympics Doubles Plant-Based Food Options:
To be in line with the Paris agreement, the Olympic games will need to halve its greenhouse gas emissions. It’s nice to see the French finally make food a part of this crucial equation!
🆕 Vegan Food Releases (US Edition):
☕️ Oatly now has flavored coffee creamers for your morning cup!
🌭 You can now get Vegan hot dogs at IKEA for a 70 cent lunch!
🍯 Make it spicy by topping it with Mellody’s new plant-based habanero honey!
(I am not affiliated with any brand and get no financial compensation from these links whatsoever.)
🥛 1st Animal-Free Milk at Major Sporting Event:
This is a major milestone for this revolutionary food category. Eventually, Cow’s milk will be obsolete everywhere!
🍦 1st Ever Animal-Free Dairy Yogurts Released:
Released only in select New York retailers, the company plans for a national roll out of all its products later this year. Will you try them?
🥩 Tasters Want to Eat Cultivated Meat Again:
Finally, we have the data published on these unique consumers. It seems cultivated meat does taste good enough after all!
🌭 Company Goes from Cell to Sausage in 4 Days:
The previous record was 8 days and also set by Meatable. Less than a year later, that’s been halved. The next few years show a promising trajectory for cultivated meat efficiency, which will likely lead to reduced costs for all!
🧑🍳 Vegan Chef Gets Highest Score Ever in Cooking Competition:
Vegan chefs are constantly innovating what can be achieved with plants. This particular chef made caviar out of seaweed - genius!
🇮🇪 Shellfish Producer Transitions to Oat Milk Production:
What’s even better is that they will protect their existing employees and create further job opportunities in the plant-based sector!
🇧🇷 After Investigation, Slaughterhouse Shuts Down:
Even in Brazil, the country with the 5th highest meat consumption, we are seeing progress!
🧑⚖️ Harvard Law Endorses Animal Rescue for Change:
In recent years, Animal Rights Activists have intentionally pursued criminal charges to highlight the backwards and unacceptable nature of our legal system.
It’s worked, and Harvard Law knows it. These are scary times ahead for factory farmers. >:)
🍿 UK’s 1st Fully Vegan Movie Theater Opening:
That’s right - not only will they only serve Vegan food, but they won’t allow slaughter-based food whatsoever. Finally, a safe movie theater where we won’t have to sit next to someone munching on corpses!
🎉 World’s Largest Vegan Festival Expanding to 3 More Cities:
Vegandale is an all-Vegan festival meant to unite major artists, food, music, and art, around the idea that a Vegan world looks remarkably similar - just without the use of animals.
Click your nearest city to see the dates: Chicago, Manchester, London, Philadelphia, New York City, Toronto, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami.
When those Miami dates drop, I’ll be going.
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!
As always, I am grateful for your time and attention - thank you.
Be Vegan,
Dani
I love seeing all this progress at universities - I guest-lecture about veganism a lot at universities, and new generations give me hope when it comes to compassion.