Monthly Hopium Injection #9

2024/01: The end of animal testing is near.

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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🔬 Maryland Enacts 1st Ever “Tax” on Animal Testing:

• Research facilities that perform animal testing or research are required to pay a contribution, based on a certain number of animals, to develop human-relevant alternatives for testing and research.

Organ-on-a-chip, AI, computer models, whatever. The tools exist for us to abolish animal testing once and for all. It’s only a matter of funding their development and scaling. Thankfully, this bill aims to support exactly that!

🇰🇷 South Korea Puts An End to Dog Meat Trade:

• In 2027, following a 3-year phase out period, the breeding and slaughtering of Dogs to produce meat for human consumption will be punishable by up to three years in prison or 30 million won ($22,800) in fines.

This is huge. What was once normal and traditional is now barbaric and illegal! Since there was public pushback from the Korean Association for Edible Dogs (gross), I’m hopeful this movement has opened up the minds of South Koreans to consider who else has vested interest in unnecessarily killing animals for food.

🐔 Oregon Requires Hens to Be More Free:

The transition period is over! Starting January 1st, 2024,

• Egg farms in Oregon with 3,000 or more Hens must live outside of a cage, and buying eggs from caged Hens who lived in OR outside of the state is now illegal.

We know that the practice of exploiting Hens is wrong, but these advances in welfare are important. Not only do they out-price many consumers from supporting these practices, it’s undeniable proof that we care about furthering the rights of non-human animals!

The energy at this historic Dog meat protest must’ve been phenomenal! I can’t wait to see a Pig up there next. :)

🧼 Global Beauty Brand Gets 100% Vegan Certified:

• With over 2,500 stores across the globe, The Body Shop’s 1200+ products are all certified by The Vegan Society!

This isn’t just ANY Vegan Certification, this is the GOLD STANDARD Vegan Society Certification: over 4000 raw materials, including their suppliers and manufacturers, had to undergo The Vegan Society’s meticulous assessment for approval. Peace can start on our plates skin!

🇬🇧 UK Adds 1,000,000 Vegans to their Population:

• A survey found that there are now an estimated 2.5 million vegans in the UK, totaling 4.7% of the adult population!

Since only 3.5% of a population is needed to make meaningful societal changes, it’s only a matter of time before the UK becomes the first Vegan nation.

🇹🇭 2/3rds of Thai People Want to Eat More Plants:

• A survey found that 67% of Thai people would like to replace meat with either traditional plant proteins, novel alternatives, or a mix of both.

The main motivation for this willingness to change is Health. In my experience, health is usually the gateway to going Vegan, with animal rights usually being the motivation to stay Vegan. Across the world, everyone is doing their part!

🇦🇪 UAE Airliner Adds Vegan Meals to Meet Demand:

• Emirates is seeing a 40% YOY growth of demand for Vegan meals, leading to the airliner adding 120 new Vegan recipes to their rotating menu!

We can’t stop people from flying, but we can stop them from eating animals! I see Emirates going fully Vegan in the near future.

🆕 Vegan Food Releases (US Edition):

• 🍦 Head to ANY Carvel to pick up an Oatly Vegan soft serve ice cream!

• 🥟 Or, steam some of OmniFoods’ award-winning Teriyaki Bao Buns from Safeway.

• 🧀 Pair it with some of The Laughing Cow’s Plant-Based Garlic & Herb Cheese atop some bread from Whole Foods!

• 🥯 Miss good sour cream? I do. At Publix you can find Elmhurst 1925’s new Vegan sour cream in a pouch!

• 🍨 Ben & Jerry’s has a new oat-based Vegan ice cream flavor: Strawberry Cheezecake!

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

🐍 Innovative Cultivated “Eel” may Save the Eels:

• Forsea, an Israeli company, worked with Japanese chefs to create a cultivated Eel (Unagi) that is set to release for commercial use in 2025.

Japan farms and kills over 70% of all Eel consumed on planet Earth, which has led to their status as an endangered species. Scaling an animal-free, taste-identical product like this one has the potential to literally save the Eels!

✅ Cultivated “Beef” Approved for Sale in Israel:

• After 1.5 years of bureaucratic processes, Aleph Farm’s “Petit Steak” will be coming to restaurants and retailers in Israel very soon.

Just a few months ago, both Singapore and the US approved cultivated “chicken,” while Israel became the first country in the world to approve cultivated “beef.” With plans to expand, the release of this product will be at price-parity with premium cuts of Cow-flesh! In the midst of a burning world caused by unnecessarily murdering Cows, I’m happy that consumers around the globe can soon have their steak and eat it too.

🏫 University Opens Alt-Protein Research Center:

• University of California, Davis (UC Davis) opened the Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein. It aims to research how to enhance consumer acceptance of, and preference for, cultivated meat, plant-, and fungal-based proteins.

Around the world, demand for meat is still going up. When universities are researching how to meet the demand sustainably and ethically, you know we’re on the right track. :)

🇺🇸 Scientists Urge USDA to Address Meat & Climate:

• Over 250 climate, health, and food scientists sent a bold, evidence-based letter to Tom Vilsack, US Secretary of Argiculture.

“The issue is to know not ‘if’ diets should change – for they absolutely must for human and planetary health – but how to obtain these results.”

At COP28, the obviously money-corrupted fool claimed to have never heard of reducing meat intake to mitigate climate change. These professionals called him out, and now he can’t say the same at the next one. This letter is sure to have ripple effects throughout the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), as it marks the moment the global community starts to hold the USDA accountable.

🇪🇺 EU Climate Advisors Recommend Plant-Based:

• The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change released a lengthy report documenting key methods to achieve EU climate neutrality.

How? Shift subsidies from animal agriculture to alternative-protein development and encourage plant-based eating. This strategy has previously been tried by other, more independent organizations, to no avail. I’m hopeful that since it’s coming from the official EU office this time, we’ll see more progress!

🧫 3D Printed Chip Could End Animal Testing For Good:

“Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have designed a groundbreaking “body-on-chip” that perfectly mimics how a medicine flows through a patient’s body.”

I believe that within in our lifetime, testing drugs on animals will be considered barbaric. With two major strides for protecting animals from testing, we’re coming full-circle this month! I wonder what’s in stock for next month... :)

For the animals, this little revolutionary chip could save their life!

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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, and HAPPY VEGANUARY! In a few months we’ll get the data from this growing movement, and I’m sure it’ll be more than hopeful. :)

Be Vegan,
Dani