Monthly Hopium Injection #2
2023/06: In monumental historical milestones, a UK slaughterhouse shuts down and US cell-based meat steps up!
To the 5 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.
HOPEFUL POLICY DEVELOPMENTS
🇨🇭 Switzerland Aims to be 1st Fully Vegan Country:
As sales of meat alternatives surge by over 350% and 63% of the Swiss population reduce their consumption of flesh, Animal Rights activists ride the wave by envisioning a country where slaughterhouses are museums and fish killers remove litter from rivers instead.
🇪🇺 Proposal to Make Vegan Mainstream in EU:
How are they doing it? With these key recommendations:
Liberalizing harsh labelling standards for plant based products. (e.g. Oat Drink → Oat Milk)
0% Taxes (VAT) for plant-based whole foods like fresh fruits and vegetables.
Subsidize plant-based and cell-based food production over slaughter-based food production.
One by one, more influential Vegan organizations are taking big swings at big government everywhere!
🇨🇦 Canada Phases Out Toxicity Tests on Animals:
Some of these alternative methods include AI models and organ chips, which are not only more ethical, but are more cost effective and more predictive of actual human health and environmental outcomes! It’s important to note that this bill does not YET apply to cosmetics, but more so chemicals like cleaners. This is a huge step in the right direction!
HOPEFUL PLANT-BASED DEVELOPMENTS
🇺🇸 US School Food Systems Try Vegan and Succeed:
Sodexo, the funder of the study, is one of the largest institutional food service providers in the world, and they have publicly committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by making their college campus planned menus >50% plant-based by 2025.
JTM, the creator of PlantBorn, the product in question, plans to bring this product to food service providers all over the country.
Uproot, the distributor of these dispensers, made this awesome and hopeful statement:
“Our plan is to make plant milk the default choice in university cafeterias.”
🧽 Spongebob Squarepants is Going Vegan:
There’s a theory that Krabby Patties are actually made from crabs… But these Krabby Patties are Vegan!
🧀 Kraft is Bringing Vegan Cheeze to the Masses:
Apparently, data shows that the Vegan cheeze category has only reached 2% market penetration, and 47% of consumers report being dissatisfied with such products’ taste, texture, variety, and availability. So, the full release of this cheeze following their successful trial in Ohio, USA, spells a lot of hope for bringing Vegan cheeze to the masses!
🆕 Vegan Food Releases (US Edition):
And just like that, I showed you a new Vegan breakfast, lunch, and dinner to try :)
HOPEFUL CELL-BASED DEVELOPMENTS
✅ Cell-Based Meat Approved for Sale in the US:
Competition continues to brew between UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat as they push onward with approval to produce and sell their cell-based meat to both restaurants and eventually retail stores!
In a post explaining cell-based meat, I recently predicted that around 2030 is when we’d see cell-based meat lining our supermarket shelves, I was wrong, we’re going to be eating Vegan flesh a lot sooner, folks. ;)
🥩 World’s Largest Meat Packing Company is Building World’s Largest Cell-Based Meat Facility:
The subheading isn’t a joke, but it certainly feels like one! Literally JUST LAST MONTH Mosa Meat opened up the current largest cell-based meat facility in the world… The steaks keep getting higher (get it? hehe).
🍕 Vegan Pizza Gets the Biggest Upgrade Ever:
New Culture debuted their animal-free, Vegan dairy Mozzarella atop wood-fired pizzas, marking one more step until we grow past our current overly creamy plant-based pizzas.
New Culture uses Precision Fermentation to make casein, one of the primary Cow’s milk proteins found in Mozzarella, without any Cows whatsoever!
🫛 Soy Beans Are About to Taste So Much Meatier:
“Piggy Sooy” is made by somehow infusing Pig’s genes into soy beans to create literal Pig flesh encased in a soy bean. Bruh. To be honest, I’m not sure exactly how they do this or if it’s 100% Vegan, but at least on the surface, it’s an exciting and hopeful development of the future of food.
IN OTHER HOPEFUL NEWS…
🐔 18 Chickens Saved from Slaughterhouse:
49,000 Chickens are murdered each DAY at Petaluma Poultry and Perdue Farms. That day, it was 18 less. Next time, I’m hoping for 20! Let’s go.
🐷 UK Slaughterhouse Closes in light of Gas Chamber Footage:
Animal Rights Activist, Joey Carbstrong, released footage from a Pilgrim’s Pride farm (a “bacon” factory owned by, you guessed it, JBS) in which they stunned innocent Pigs by gassing them, sometimes to their death, leading to bad press and their eventual shut down.
I’m sure JBS is mighty glad that they’re investing in cell-based meat after this one! In all seriousness, I saved you the best for last: real, concrete evidence that by revealing to people the truth of what actually happens to these wonderful individuals, the magic of supply and demand can lead to the shut down of these genocide camps 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
Fruit and vegetables already are zero rated for VAT. And as oat drink contains only 10% oats it would be inaccurate to describe it as 'milk'. Would an orange drink containing only 10% orange be classified as juice?
Laboratory engineered cell-based 'food', no thank you; describing it as a 'smart' protein project gives the game away. And any plant product which has animal genes infused into it is not vegan.