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!
POLICY DEVELOPMENTS
🦊 Oregon Ends Wildlife Killing “Contests”:
Many studies show these “contests” are unnecessary and damaging. 41 states to go!
🇩🇪 Germany to Transition Out of Pig “Farming”:
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:
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:
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.
PLANT-BASED DEVELOPMENTS
🌲 A 50% Plant-Based Diet Can Stop Deforestation:
In a recent study published in Nature, researchers state,
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:
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:
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:
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!
CELL-BASED DEVELOPMENTS
🧫 Cows Spared with Achievement of Immortal Cells:
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:
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:
“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!
IN OTHER HOPEFUL NEWS…
💰 Vegan Diets Are Cheaper, Saving ~$500 per Year:
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,
“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:
The ad forces people to make the connection.
🦁 Zoo Lion Rescued and Brought Home:
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!
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
