The plant-based universities campaign is a decentralised push by students across the UK; students are demanding their university transition to 100% just and sustainable plant-based catering by the 2023-24 academic year. Why? It’s quite simple, industries like meat, fishing, and dairy are destroying the environment, humans, and animals. 

Universities are where a great deal of this research comes from, and therefore these institutions have an obligation to listen to themselves. All roads lead to Rome (or in this case just and sustainable plant-based catering!) 

At the University of Warwick a vote to begin the transition was only narrowly lost, despite constant sabotage and underhand tactics from university committees and student union officers. Meanwhile the campaign made waves in Lancaster, garnering the attention of national student newspaper The Tab. At the University of Sussex campaigners even wiped the floor with their opponents in an organised debate on the topic!

In an interview with Sentient Media Nathan McGovern underscored the intersectional justice the campaign is dedicated to; the just and sustainable plant-based food system the campaign aims towards is part of the greater push for human, animal, and climate justice.

On the 25th of March the campaign rocked the boat London-wide, after the teams at University College London, King’s College London, and London Metropolitan University orchestrated simultaneous banner drops! The banners read “meat & dairy = climate crisis.” This very simply spells out the situation to these institutions, who are oftentimes the source of the conclusive data on the matter! Students decided to take direct action due to the unresponsiveness and lack of engagement from their universities and student unions.

Speaking at the action, Sofia Carolina Fernandes Pontes, a student at London Metropolitan has said 

“It’s simple, universities have to act on the climate crisis and that begins with their menus. We know that meat, fish, and dairy are driving climate collapse, deforestation, and ocean dead zones. This is all whilst we produce enough to feed ten billion people, yet have hundreds of millions starving all over the world because of our woefully immoral food systems. Universities must transition to fully just and sustainable plant-based catering by the 2023-24 academic year in order to secure a livable world for the students they are educating.“

Meanwhile, at the University of Exeter, Emma de Saram is tirelessly pushing for climate, animal, and social justice in the South-West! Speaking to us she said:

At Exeter, while we have a passionate group of students and incredible academics pushing for a plant based campus, we are repeatedly halted by bureaucracy and the University system that places profit over the planet. We launched our campaign in February with a stall and online talk with activists and researchers, and have had small successes like a week-long price reduction for veggie options, but we still have a battle to fight.

With the campaign set to have upwards of 20 universities involved by the start of the 2022-23 academic year, the future is bright! We’re still looking to support and help as many students across the UK as we possibly can, so fill out our interest form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdI88OPSTQ76if-ip32HoDwVXEA1Ua3SOzZ1ztTd0w_5YwP7Q/viewform !

The post Plant-Based Universities: Taking The UK By Storm first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

So what’s wrong? Well, where do you start? The need to transition to a plant-based system to counter the climate crisis applies to the oceans as it does to the land. For 20+ years, the MSC has been propping up and providing a sheen of respectability to the fishing industry. The MSC’s “blue tick” certification label now spans 400+ fisheries, representing around 15% of all global fish landings.

There is plenty of money sloshing around this scheme. Fisheries pay fees of $20,000 to $500,000 for an assessment from Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs). Indeed, the cost of certification ironically often excludes small-scale fisheries from applying. The MSC also charges retailers royalties of up to 0.5% of the net wholesale value of seafood sold, for using its label. Around 80% (£23.6m) of MSC’s funding comes from licensing income.

It’s not difficult to see a glaring conflict of interest. And there have been plenty of people who have pointed out the flaws in the MSC model. If the nets of MSC-certified fisheries had as many gaping holes as the MSC scheme itself, then no fish would be caught in them at all.

Scores of organisations have highlighted that the MSC’s certification process does not properly account for by-catch, particularly of sharks and cetaceans.

For a long while, MSC allowed vessels to catch both certified and non- certified fish in the same fishing trip, with this only dropped after intense pressure from advocacy group, On the Hook. The 2021 documentary, Seaspiracy, particularly had MSC in its sights and the response by the charity was woeful. The film’s director, Ali Tabrizi, questioned the NGO’s independence owing to its funding and is shown repeatedly failing to secure an interview with MSC to answer the criticisms.

There was a backlash to the documentary from the MSC and other industry interests after it was aired. But Seaspiracy wasn’t making up the criticisms. One contributor to the documentary was Callum Roberts, professor of marine conservation at the University of Exeter. He accused MSC of certifying fisheries that had “astounding levels of by-catch” and said the MSC label was not “worth a damn in some cases”.

The fishing industry hides behind the certification, as do the supermarkets, with consumers duped into thinking there is such a thing as sustainable fishing and that the certification means they are doing the right thing.

The MSC needs to actually take the word in its title – “Stewardship” – seriously. It needs to extract itself from the hopelessly flawed symbiotic relationship with the industry. It must accept that sustainable fishing is a contradiction in terms. And it needs to pivot to supporting a fair and just end to fishing as a vital component of a plant-based food system. Until then, Animal Rebellion will expose its hypocrisy at every opportunity.

The post The Marine Stewardship Council: A flawed sheen of respectability for an industry in denial first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Veganuary is more than a challenge. It is a direct catalyst for food system change.

Around the world we face grave climate catastrophes and huge animal injustices. Data has shown time and time again that a plant-based food system is the best way to reduce our impact on the climate (Poore and Nemecek, 2018). Food can hold a lot of cultural value. However, culture is dynamic and as a society we are already showing that we are ready to align ourselves with the planet. We have been actively creating a shift in culture! 

In 2014, Veganuary began as the first annual challenge for people to take a one-month pledge to go plant-based. The aim being to educate and promote veganism. Only eight years later and the global pledge to try plant-based for 31 days has risen to 2 million. In the UK, over 75 companies signed the Veganuary 2022 pledge. The rise in pledges is a true reflection of how we collectively wish to move forward. It is a powerful and active protest against our current system which unapologetically contributes to environmental degradation and animal injustices.

Veganuary is Depicting Food System Change

A core principle of Animal Rebellion is to focus on system change and not individual change.

The staggering uptake in the pledge to go plant-based around the world shows how Veganuary is enacting and facilitating system change. It is acting as a catalyst to change attitudes, behaviours and even the global relationship with food and its connection to the environment. Public behaviours and demands shape what companies create and sell to us. The popularity of Veganuary has led every supermarket to create their own plant-based line of food and fast-food restaurants to increase or add plant-based meals to their menu.

This is definitely a food system change heading in the right direction. However, it is not enough. Large food corporations like McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway and Papa Johns hold the economic resources to make impactful and substantial change in the way that we need to see. Their current changes are hopeful but these companies need to see entire food menus change to plant-based. 

NO to “Less But Better“

Big corporations have felt the tide of scientific evidence piling up against meat, fishing and dairy. And some try to fight back to save this obsolete and injust meat and dairy system. 

We can mitigate this climate crisis if we listen to the science and adapt. We ask for a just transition to a 100% plant-based food system, because no meat or dairy products are sustainable or just. Since 2020 we have seen an increase in the sales for plant-based products and as a direct retaliation we have also seen environmental organisation such as “A Greener World” promote meat and dairy consumption as environmentally friendly and just to animals.

The absurdity in this lies in the fact that countless studies have shown that meat and dairy is not sustainable for our planet (Mason and Lang, 2017) – so why are “green” organisations diluting the matter by redirecting our energy towards meat again? Plant-based is not only a simple solution, but a necessary one to build a positive future for everyone on this planet.
In addition to the environmental destruction caused by meat and dairy farming, we can not ignore that animals are sentient (Kumar et al., 2019). There is no humane way to kill a non-human animal just as much as there is no humane way to kill a human animal. All animals exploited can feel pain and joy. They want to live with their families and be free, just like us. It is unjust to separate a mother from a baby as is inherent to the dairy industry. To kill one individual is not justified when abundant nutritious food that can feed the world is available.

What are companies and organisations doing NOW?

It might have seemed unbelievable 10 years ago, but here we are: full organisations and companies are paving the way to a food system revolution. Where plant-based businesses led and innovated, big companies are learning from their mistakes and becoming part of the solution to the problems they are causing. Here are some food-system change highlights: 

1. Veganuary saw a jump from 57 major companies in 2021 to 75 in 2022: encouraging employees to go plant-based and displaying the benefits for the planet, health and animals.
2. Supermarkets go plant-based: a supermarket commits to increase by 300% sales of meat alternatives by 2025
3. Fast-food and restaurant chains are cooking and baking more plant-based food: Two major restaurant chains have decided to make half their menu plant-based by the end of 2022 to battle the climate crisis. 

We disagree with the exploitation of animals (humans included) that these organisations continue to take part in with meat and dairy still on their agenda; however, we want to recognise these first positive steps being taken towards a fully plant-based food system. Whilst making plant-based more accessible and affordable, we can’t wait for them to transition to zero meat, fish and dairy!

Reasons to be hopeful

These days, the media is filled with this overarching sense of doom: that we have no hope because these industries have gone too far. However, if we zoom out and take into account all the above, we are already making an incredible impact. 

Firstly, over 2 millions animals were not exploited and killed in January 2021, Veganuary estimated. This number is based on the Vegan Society’s Veganalyser calculator and Veganuary participant data including geographical location and pre-pledge diet.

Second, we estimated the environmental impact of the 580,000 participants in Veganuary in 2021. We based our calculations on the lowest quantity of resources saved from switching from a UK meat-eating diet to a plant-based one (scientific papers and organisations in sources). In 2021, Veganuary may have cut emissions by 15,777 CO2 tons, saved 48,000 metre square of forest and 72,442,000 cubic metres of water. Besides, eating plant-based food directly saved 31,552 tons of grains, which can feed people.

Thirdly, our movement is growing and a cultural shift is taking place before our eyes. Whereas before the media consciously kept meat and dairy out of the news, they are now increasingly joining the dots between meat, dairy, fishing and the environmental crisis. Their change in approach is a no-brainer when scientific studies show that a plant-based food system would use 4 times less land cover. Any plant milk emits at least 3 times less carbon emissions than dairy milk. 

Lastly, as a consequence of the above companies recognise the role they can play by offering nutritious, plant-based food. They are taking steps towards increasing plant based options, but we have to keep the pressure on to ensure this only goes further. 

Energy Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said plant-based food is helping to cut UK’s emissions. “I think that there is a lot of societal change that will actually help us and drive the progress to 2035, where hopefully we will hit the 78 per cent reduction target.”

Our demands ?

1. Food retailers and restaurants should keep their delicious plant-based products all year long. 
2. Corporations continue to fully transition their food production to 100% plant-based.

A JUST, PLANT-BASED WORLD IS NOT ONLY POSSIBLE,

IT IS ALREADY WITHIN OUR GRASP.

References:

BBC (20/10/2021) Climate plan urging plant-based diet shift deleted https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58981505

These estimations are based on research provided by the following organisations and articles:

1. Hamerschlag, K., & Venkat, K. (2011). Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change & Health.

2. Peter Scarborough, Paul N. Appleby, Anja Mizdrak, Adam D. M. Briggs, Ruth C. Travis, Kathryn E. Bradbury, Timothy J. Key. (2011, June 11). Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK.

3. Earth Talk. (n.d.). Measuring the Daily Destruction of the World’s Rainforests.

4. Fair & smart use of the world’s fresh water. (n.d.). 

5. The true impact of animal agriculture.(2018, October 4).

Kumar, S., Choudhary, S., Kumar, R., Kumar, A., Pal, P. and Mahajan, K., 2019. Animal Sentience and Welfare: An Overview. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 8(08), pp.635-646.
Mason, P. and Lang, T., 2017. Sustainable Diets: How Ecological Nutrition Can Transform Consumption and the Food System. Taylor and Francis.

Poore, J., & Nemecek, T., 2018. Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987-992.

The post Veganuary, Food System Change and the Responsibility of Corporations first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

It’s a pretty obvious no, and yet this is almost exactly what is happening right now. But it’s not just one community that is being affected, it’s the whole world and the system that’s causing this destruction hasn’t had just one year to prove that it works. It’s had centuries. Meat and dairy have been the dominant part of a Western diet for a long time now, with increasing industrialisation following WW2 giving us the food system we are used to today. Right now, animal farming contributes at least 18% of global emissions, 70% of agricultural emissions and up to 80% of global deforestation. Even with all this, these industries fail to be profitable, with £1.5 billion of government subsidies coming straight out of taxpayers pockets and into those of livestock farmers. This industry was entrusted with the job of feeding the world. It’s failing. So why is there so much resistance to building something new?

A Deceptively Simple Solution

In recent years it has felt like there has been a shift, with campaigns for reducing the amount of meat and dairy we consume becoming more common. With reports like the 2019 EAT Lancet report which called for a 90% reduction in meat and dairy consumption as well as documentaries such as Cowspiracy and Seaspiracy, the recognition that what we eat impacts the planet has gained mainstream acceptance. A 2021 poll of 2,095 UK adults run by the ‘Eating Better Alliance’ found that 21% of respondents were eating less meat than a year ago, with 38% doing so because of carbon emissions and 37% because of other environmental concerns. In the face of a changing industry, however, we have seen a new story being told by the meat industry,  that we can keep our current food system and focus on eating less meat, but better quality.

For many people, this was the ideal answer. The idea that they didn’t have to drastically change our lifestyle or eating habits but could also have a neutral, or even positive effect on the planet while doing so. Yet, when you dig a little bit deeper into what the industries are telling us, some holes start to form.

Is Less But Better Enough?

Before we answer this question, it helps to look at a completely different industry and investigate how it dealt with rising information that was saying their product may be causing harm: the tobacco industry. In the book Merchants of Doubt, Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway show how the big businesses behind cigarettes developed a playbook for dodging the science that showed that the product they were selling was killing people. This formula has gone on to be used to talk about everything from global warming to pesticides and, more recently, animal agriculture. The basic tactic is, cast doubt on the science through paid ‘experts’ and false claims and spark controversy to derail the conversation from what the harm that is being caused.  

It can be hard to believe but by looking at the industries’ own messaging we can quickly find examples of where meat, dairy and fishing are already doing this. And they all tell one story: that we can fix the problems of the industry by eating less and ‘better’ animal products.

They bring up food miles and promote buying locally sourced meat and dairy whenever questions around the climate impact of animal products are raised. While the idea of buying local in and of itself is a positive one, the reality is that transport is an extremely small part of food emissions, making up less than 10% and as low as 0.5% of GHG emissions when it comes to animal products’ contribution to emissions. So essentially, even if all animal products consumed were locally sourced, they would still be contributing far higher emissions than plant-based products. 

They say that switching to grass-fed systems for cows and sheep will be better for the environment than intensive farming and even plant-based options. If we look into this though, we find that the opposite is the case. Research shows grass-fed systems produce more emissions than intensive farming, while also using more land! On top of that, it would take a rainforest three-quarters of the size of South America to sequester the carbon produced by livestock.

Let’s not forget that every year in the UK approximately 2.6 million cattle, 10 million pigs, 14.5 million sheep and lambs, 80 million fish and 950 million birds are slaughtered for human consumption. It’s pretty clear that a food system where no one has to die is a better one. 

They say that there is no other option and that this food system is the only one that works. But we know that isn’t true.

A Plant-Based Food System

With more and more evidence showing us that we need to change what we eat to help the planet heal, it seems obvious that we need a big change and that it’s a change that can’t just be achieved through individuals making small shifts to their diet. The whole system is set up in a way that harms the planet. Luckily though, we have an alternative which would take destruction off the menu.

A study from Oxford University that looked into the viability of a plant-based food system showed that if we were to convert all the land currently used to graze animals to natural vegetation it would remove the equivalent of 15% of the world’s total GHG emissions. Only a small fraction of pasture land would be needed to grow food crops to replace the lost beef. Another report showed that if we were to shift to a plant-based food system, food-related emissions would drop by 70% by 2050, saving £440 billion in the process.

But it wouldn’t just mean less carbon and more wild spaces. A plant-based food system is a system of abundant and affordable food as plant-based food is not only better for the planet, it also takes far less land to produce and is rich in variety, culture and flavour. Although this world may feel far away, it is already happening. Organisations such as the UK-based Refarm’d are working with farmers to transition from a struggling dairy industry into sustainable and profitable oat milk farming while the Good Food Institute is supporting transitions to pulse farming.

Conclusion – Meat and Dairy is Bankrupt

With a plant-based food system we can feed the world, provide much needed green jobs and build a world where humans and animals alike are treated with respect and dignity and have access to an abundance of food and choice. Urgent change is needed but we have an alternative that is just and fair for everyone. All we need to do is work together and achieve it.

The post Doubt and Lies: the tactics of a struggling meat and dairy industry and why we won’t fall for them first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

The meat, dairy and fish industries are under threat so are desperately lashing out and it isn’t pretty. There is nowhere for those with vested interests to hide, given the science is now so clearly stacked against them. So they are going on the offensive. All 10 largest meat and dairy companies in the USA “have contributed to efforts to undermine climate-related policies” (Lazarus et al., 2021).

In an interview published on Boxing Day in The Guardian, a Spanish government minister, Alberto Garzón, in charge of consumer affairs, explained that factory farming is damaging the environment and leading to the export of poor-quality meat. Mild stuff and clearly factually correct. 

The backlash has been furious, from the meat industry and politicians, forcing the government to distance itself from his comments.

Fortunately, Garzón has stood his ground. In a subsequent radio interview he said: “I’m not saying anything new. I’m just relaying what scientists say. Everyone knows that the factory farming of meat causes pollution … and emits greenhouse gases.”

In the UK this month, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has launched a £1.5 million campaign featuring an inquisitive little girl ‘Nancy’ along with her grandad. Being broadcast on Channel 4, ITV and Sky as well as on-demand services, the new TV advert focuses on the supposed goodness within red meat and dairy. Poor ‘Nancy’.

The AHDB describes itself as “a statutory levy board, funded by farmers, growers and others in the supply chain to help the industry succeed in a rapidly changing world”.

“Survive” might be a more appropriate word than “succeed”. The rapidly changing world is what scares corporations that for so long have trashed the environment, contributed massively to the climate crisis and put out disinformation, while making huge profits and raking in massive taxpayer-funded subsidies. 

That misinformation is nowhere better epitomised than in the Red Tractor consumer logo for pork and pork products. It is not hard to understand the problem when you know that the “standard” behind this logo is from the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA). Talk about marking your own homework.

For mass misinformation under one roof, you can’t beat the industry’s WeEatBalanced website, with its sheen of respectability and faux concern for health and the environment. 

In fact, the weaknesses of the arguments shine through. For instance, in a piece entitled “What would happen if the world converted to veganism” there is basically nothing that can be said to counter all of the benefits of a plant-based diet. 

Here’s the first of five pathetic straws that are clutched at: “Livestock produce much more than just food, from medicines and cosmetics to glue and waterproofing agents, they are in a huge number of products. Consideration hasn’t been taken on the impact of these production processes or the impact of animal-free replacements.” 

Is that the best you can do?!

If the world switched to a plant-based system, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined – and still feed the world (Poore & Nemecek, 2018). This was according to a study, published in the journal Science, based on a huge dataset from almost 40,000 farms in 119 countries and covering 40 food products that represent 90% of all that is eaten. It assessed the full impact of these foods, from farm to fork, on land use, climate change emissions, freshwater use and water pollution (eutrophication) and air pollution (acidification). Oddly, this and the many other benefits, don’t feature on the website. 

The global meat industry leaves a trail of destruction all over the world, including climate change, deforestation, forest fires, human rights abuses, land grabs from indigenous people and traditional communities, increased risk of future pandemics like coronavirus, and damaging health.

Joseph Poore, at the University of Oxford, UK, who led the research, said: “A fully plant-based food system “is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use. It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car.” 

There are echoes within the industry fight-back of other sectors that have ended up on the wrong side of history – tobacco and fossil fuels. If the food industry bodies wanted to be useful, they would put all of their efforts into bringing about a fair transition that protects independent farmers and supports the urgent shift to plant-based models. 

Instead, they shout, rant, misinform, and spend millions on lobbying, websites and advertising, as the sun starts to set on them. As Mr Garzón found recently, those that speak out will be attacked but these are the wayward, flailing punches of industries that are down and on their way out. 

What you can do:

Join Animal Rebellion and help us call out the hypocrisy and lies as we have done time and time again in our actions against the likes of McDonald’s, Arla, Red Tractor and others. 

Make a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (in the UK, this is at https://www.asa.org.uk/make-a-complaint.html)

References:

Lazarus, O., McDermid, S. & Jacquet, J. The climate responsibilities of industrial meat and dairy producers. Climatic Change 165, 30 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03047-7

Nemecek. T and Poore. J, “Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers,” Science 360, issue 6392 (June 2018): 987-992. 

The post Industrial farming: Fighting for its survival first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Activists, experts and a renowned human rights lawyer are in court today in London seeking an end to factory farming in the UK. Animal Rebellion stands with them and congratulates them on their unprecedented and urgent action.  

Today, Animal Rebellion is standing alongside Scrap Factory Farming as an unprecedented case against the UK government is heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. We are outside the court to show our support for this world’s first ever legal action to end factory farming.

The case has been brought by the Humane Being and is fronted by Dr Alice Brough and Humane Being co-founder, Jane Tredgett, represented by renowned human rights lawyer, Michael Mansfield QC. Their case includes over 1200 pages of content detailing the risks and dangers of factory farming. Dr Brough was a vet on UK pig farms. After seeing the unhygienic and stressful conditions for the animals and the appalling environmental damage done on-site, she quit to campaign for animal justice.

The case focuses on the threat to public health from factory farming, including antibiotic resistance and the significant risk of increasingly deadly zoonotic diseases such as bird or swine flu. 

Animal Rebellion recognises that dismantling factory farming is a key part of our demand for a fair and sustainable transition to a plant-based food system. We cannot address the climate crisis and achieve animal and climate justice without it. This is why we stand in solidarity.

Animal Rebellion spokesperson, Dan Kidby, says: 

“Removing the incredibly inhumane system of factory farming, that destroys the health of the planet and people, is an essential part of the move to a plant-based food system. We congratulate and support all of the volunteers and experts that have worked so hard to bring this urgent and unprecedented court case. Scrapping factory farming and ensuring a rapid, sustainable and just transition to a plant-based system has to happen if we are to reverse climate crisis.”

The Climate Impacts

The impact of animal farming on the planet is well understood.

At its most fundamental, we know that meat, fish and dairy industries, and the resources needed to support them, contribute 18-23% of all greenhouse gasses and are responsible for around 70% of all global agricultural emissions.

Scientists are clear: we don’t need these systems to feed the world. Meat, fish, eggs and dairy industries use around 83% of global farmland, but provide only 37% of our protein and 18% of our calories. Better use of this land could remove 8.1 billion metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year.

Methane gas is one of the largest contributors to global warming and can trap up to 100 times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2 over a five-year period. Most methane comes from cows that are fed low-quality grains that their bodies cannot digest, causing high levels of indigestion and flatulence. 

Water pollution

The current system is so bad on so many fronts, including the health ones highlighted by this week’s action. 

The meat and dairy industries also drain the world’s water supplies. From watering the crops that farmed animals eat to providing them with drinking water, and cleaning away the filth from farms, lorries, and slaughterhouses, the meat, egg, and dairy industries put a serious strain on the world’s water supply.

It is a double whammy in that the sector also pollutes the world’s waterways and seas. For instance, a study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, highlighted a new class of agricultural pollutants in the form of veterinary medicines (antibiotics, vaccines and growth promoters), which move from farms through water to ecosystems and drinking-water sources. 

And only last week, alongside the decimation of fish populations and destruction of their habitats, the polluting effects of the fishing industry were exposed. Scottish fishermen were so incensed by what they see in the seas off Scotland that they went to a longstanding critic of their industry, Guardian journalist, George Monbiot. They exposed the deliberate and widescale disposing of nets and longlines at sea. This “ghost gear” drifting through the oceans presents a mortal threat to whales, dolphins, turtles and much of the rest of the life of the sea.  

Taking action

Monbiot concludes that, like the fictional US president in the recent movie, Don’t Look Up, here is yet another instance of the world’s governments, faced with ecological collapse, deciding to “sit tight and assess”.

The current failure of authorities to tackle the myriad issues from meat, dairy and fishing is why brave protestors have to step up, why court cases need to be brought, and why whistle-blowers need to be heard. 

The targets for curbing carbon emissions won’t be close to being met without a transition to a fair and sustainable plant-based system and, in parallel, so many other benefits would accrue. Our health would be better, the air would be cleaner, the planet’s water would be conserved and cleaner, and billions of creatures would avoid indescribable suffering. 

The post Animal Rebellion supports those taking the UK government to court today over factory farming  first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Many people across the world today are compelled to organise and take part in protests, driven by the impending climate crisis, government inaction and the desire to show that we can do better. Animal Rebellion protests seek to highlight the disastrous effects of the meat, fishing and dairy industries and show that a better future exists under a plant-based food system. These protests seek to disrupt business as usual and show the urgent need to change our systems and behavior.

The right to peacefully protest is fundamental to a democratic society. Across the globe, throughout history, there are so many examples of where protest has brought vital change – whether black civil rights in America, the end of British rule in India, the overthrow of dictators, same-sex marriage legislation, pro-choice rights for women along with so many other causes.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is a blatant attempt to stifle protest. Typical of this government’s other moves to undermine democracy, the worst aspects of the bill have been added as  last-minute amendments, meant to get in under the radar, avoiding parliamentary scrutiny.
Writer and activist, George Monbiot, has said: “The government’s back-door amendments to the policing bill are tyrannical. We should be on the streets in our millions… This is proper police state stuff.”

Among other things, the bill would: 

• ban protesters from attaching themselves to another person, to an object, or to land, with a maximum prison sentence for this and other offences of 51 weeks; 

• make it a criminal offence to obstruct in any way major transport works from being carried out;

• significantly expand police stop and search powers so that the police would be entitled to stop and search people or vehicles if they suspect they might be carrying any article that could be used in the newly prohibited protests;

• introduce new powers to ban named people from protesting: people would be banned if they had previously committed “protest-related offences”;

• make it a crime to cause “serious annoyance” to the public, with a maximum penalty of ten years in prison;

• give the home secretary control over the definition of “serious disruption to the life of the community” and “serious disruption to the activities of an organisation”, both of which could determine when police powers are engaged to limit protest. Essentially, a minister could suppress protests that they do not like or agree with.

The power of non-violent protest scares governments. Often their tactics are heavy-handed, which rebounds on them, building more support for the cause in question. Where authoritarians are met with creative, colourful, resilient and diverse protests, their traditional responses fall down. It is easy to conclude that the bill is an attempt by central government to head off the problem before it occurs.

When thinking about Animal Rebellion or Extinction Rebellion protests, it isn’t hard to see the awful implications of the bill. It would put in jeopardy so many legitimate actions, whether it is occupying a McDonald’s outlet or distribution centre, blocking a dairy factory, scaling government buildings, or just marching for animal rights, climate justice or other causes. 

And it is not only groups like ours that will be stifled. What about local residents who want to protest against the loss of open space, the closure of a library or other services, the polluting actions of their water company, or the building of a new road? Trade unions and other groups will also be hit.

Indeed, it is hard not to conclude that it will now be difficult to attend a protest without committing an offence. Those clearly completely legitimate historical protests that brought so much positive change would arguably be made illegal under legislation such as this. 

The Green Party calls the bill “the gravest threat to civil liberties in more than a generation”. But opposition has also come from less predictable sources. Two former Conservative prime ministers, Theresa May and John Major, have spoken in parliament against the bill. 

George Monbiot asks, why aren’t more people on the streets, protesting while they still can? The Kill the Bill movement and groups such as Liberty have been doing their best to raise the dangers of what’s coming but most people seem oblivious to the implications. 

Perhaps it is the lack of media coverage. Perhaps it stems from so many other distractions, including Covid and government sleaze, corruption and incompetence. Perhaps it is just a misguided assumption that democracy in this country is safe. It is probably all of the above. 

If protests turn violent then there are already laws in place to deal with this. This bill is about state control and the erosion of freedom of expression. That is why we have to oppose it at every opportunity and continue to try to raise awareness of how it will erode all of our democratic rights. 

Follow the protest movement on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Kill-The-Bill-UK-105927524913222) and twitter (#killthebill) for regular updates and to learn about future actions. For more information and to sign the petition against the bill, visit https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/

The post The Police Bill: Our right to protest hangs in the balance. first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

This is the system that drives Amazon deforestation¹, contributes a staggering amount of greenhouse gas emissions², leaves 805 million of the world’s most vulnerable people hungry³, whilst simultaneously slaughtering trillions of animals needlessly each year⁴.

The oldest university in the English-speaking world, Oxford, has published several papers exploring and explaining the environmental benefits of transitioning to plant-based foods⁵. Besides this, dozens of British universities have declared a climate emergency, evidently these institutions are recognising the need for drastic change⁶. This gives them the responsibility to act on the emergency that they recognise.

Therefore it should come as no surprise that students from several universities including KCL, UCL, and Warwick are now pushing for change. With the demand for their university transition to serving a 100% plant-based menu throughout their cafes and restaurants by the start of the 2023/24 academic year.

Students are listening to the science that, very often, their own universities publish. They are holding their institutions accountable to their sustainability promises and commitments. By transitioning to just and sustainable plant-based food systems, universities will be securing a future, not only for their students, but for the rest of humanity, animals, and the planet.

Universities are already showing the transition is possible! KCL now has a fully plant-based Cafe whilst UCL’s daily hot food is at least 25% plant-based too⁷. The time has now come  to expand this to include the entirety of university’s menus. The answer is staring these powerful institutions in the face! By transitioning to 100% plant-based catering, universities will be helping break down an archaic and damaging food system and simultaneously be investing in one that is just and sustainable.

Plant-based universities are an unavoidable step on the road to human, animal, and climate justice. This is a fact that is evident to the ever-growing group of students pushing for the transition. Animal Rebellion is only too happy to empower and support groups of students on this mission.

If you’re a student and are excited or driven to make this change at your university, please contact us using the details, or fill out this form now!

1. De Sy. V, et al,”Land use patterns and related carbon losses following deforestation in South America,” Environmental Research Letters, vol. 10, no. 12 (2015.)
2. Jia. G, Shevliakova. E et al, “Chapter 2: Land-Climate Interactions” in UN Special Report: Climate Change and Land (2019.) https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/
3.  Cassidy. E.S, Foley. J. A, Gerber. J.S and West. P.C, “Redefining agricultural yields: from tonnes to people nourished per hectare,” Environmental Research Letters, vol. 8, no. 3 (2013.)
4. Zampa. M, “How Many Animals Are Killed For Food Every Day” (2018,) https://sentientmedia.org/how-many-animals-are-killed-for-food-every-day/
5.  Clark. M.A, Hill. J, Springmann. M, Tilman. D, “Multiple health and environmental impacts of foods,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116, no. 46 (2019.)
6.  Latter.  Briony, “Climate Emergency Declarations: What Do They Tell Us About Universities’ Response To Climate Change?,” https://pcancities.org.uk/climate-emergency-declarations-what-do-they-tell-us-about-universities-response-climate-change
7.  https://www.peta.org.uk/living/vegan-universities-uk/

The post Introducing Plant-Based Universities first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

In fact, an entirely plant-based planet is not as far away as many may think. As more and more people become aware of the environmental footprint of animal products and the suffering involved in their production, plant-based diets are rapidly becoming more popular all around the globe. Earlier this year in January, a record half a million Brits signed up to Veganuary, a campaign which inspires people to eat vegan for January and throughout the rest of the year. It is projected that vegans and vegetarians will make up a quarter of the British population by 2025. 

That’s not all. In Latin America and the Caribbean 8% of the population identify as vegetarian or vegan and in Mexico  this figure is at a staggering 20%. In the United States, the number of Americans following plant-based diets has risen by nearly 9.6 million over the last 15 years, a 300% increase. It’s safe to say support for a plant-based food system is widespread and growing rapidly. We are well and truly on the way to a plant-based world, but how would a plant-based food system be beneficial to our planet?

It’s no secret that animal agriculture is one of the very largest polluters on Earth. An Oxford University report concluded that if the world were to follow plant based diets, food-related emissions would drop by 70% by 2050! Emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide would all plummet, giving us a much better chance at fighting off climate catastrophe and ensuring our survival on Earth. 

This drop in pollution would help us avoid extreme weather disasters, as the report highlights that a plant based food system could avoid climate-related damages of $1.5 trillion US dollars. In addition to a considerable drop in greenhouse gas emissions, a plant-based food system would help us to limit air pollution levels, water pollution and would be a chance for our forests, species and biodiversity to thrive again. With animal agriculture responsible for up to 91% of Amazon destruction, its replacement with a plant-based food system would see deforestation in the Amazon and around the world fall dramatically.

Via Pexel Felix Mittermeier

A plant-based food system would see an end to the eating of animals and their products for food. We would no longer raise and kill the billions of land and aquatic animals we currently consume. Slaughterhouses would cease to exist. Billions of animals would be spared a life in factory farms and premature deaths. A plant-based food system would undoubtedly make the world a fairer, and more just place for animals. 

Extending this compassion to marine life and halting seafood consumption and fishing would give marine populations the time they desperately need to recover. Our oceans absorb far more C02 than the Amazon rainforest, with about 93% stored in their waters. Not only do oceans absorb almost all of the Earth’s excess heat, but they provide up to 85% of the world’s oxygen. Intense industrial fishing and pollution are jeopardising this natural balance so much so that we could potentially see the extinction of all sea life.  A plant-based food system would be an important step to helping our oceans to heal. 

Not only would life under a plant based food system be revolutionary for the health of our planet, but for our own health too! Plant-based diets are healthy and sustainable for people at all stages of life, as they provide all necessary nutrition and do not contain many of the disease-causing properties found in animal products. Under a plant-based food system, people all around the world would undoubtedly lead longer and happier lives, and would potentially be free from many of the major diseases and conditions millions suffer from today.

In addition, a plant based food system would help ensure that everyone on Earth has access to nutritious, healthy food. On a plant-based planet, world hunger would practically cease to exist. Rearing animals for food consumption requires 83% of our total farmland, but produces only 18% of our caloric intake. Under this incredibly inefficient system we have billions of farm animals who are well or even over-fed, whilst the majority of the world’s population goes hungry.  

Via Pexel Johannes Plenio

Converting the land we use for animal farming and animal crops to growing plant foods for the population would virtually put an end to world hunger. With almost half the world’s land freed up, we would have the chance to use it for other purposes and would have more than enough space to rewild large parts of the planet, allowing once industrialised terrain to become teaming with life. 

A world with a plant-based food system would undoubtedly be a better place for people, animals and the planet itself. We need to start the transition to a plant-based food system and we need to do it now! We’ve seen how much better a world it could be, why not join us in fighting for it? Find a role which suits you here and help us get one step closer to a plant-based world! 

The post How a just and sustainable plant-based food system could change the world first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 26, will be kicking off in a week´s time, where world leaders will meet to discuss how they plan to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, an ambitious target which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said will require drastic action.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. The eyes of the world will be watching with many desperate to see real commitment and a sense of urgency from those with the most power to stop the breakdown of our climate. At this COP, many are especially eager to see world leaders discuss each and every driver of climate change as, bizarrely, a leading cause of global warming has been painfully absent during numerous climate change conferences over the last decade.

Governments all over the world have failed to acknowledge Animal Agriculture as a major cause of global warming and have failed to propose a transition to a sustainable, plant-based food system despite there being urgent need. Without this transition we have no chance of meeting the Paris Agreement targets, or any sort of target at all. Indeed, even if the burning of fossil fuels ceased this instant, the environmental damage of the animal farming industry would be enough to raise temperatures well above 1.5 degrees and jeopardize human life. 

Aside from being one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases on Earth, the animal agriculture industry is a leading cause of air pollution, water pollution, deforestation, species extinction, habitat loss and ocean dead-zones. Raising animals for food already occupies at least a third of the Earth’s surface and uses up to a third of our freshwater supply, making it one of the most resource-draining industries in existence. The high amounts of animal flesh consumed in our societies are resulting in the destruction of our planet, with extreme levels of land and air pollution and the ocean expected to be void of life in less than three decades. 

Yet the industry continues to thrive, almost entirely unchallenged, with the demand for meat expected to double by 2040, and animal agriculture emissions projected to increase by 80% by 2050.  Not only is this going on unchallenged, but, in fact, is encouraged and paid for all over the world through government subsidies. Globally, the vast majority of agriculture subsidies go to animal farms and farmers growing animal feed. 

In the UK, around 90% of the annual profit of famers who graze land mammals comes from agriculture subsidies. It’s a similar story in the US, where, in 2020, $50 billion was used to subsidise and bail out farmers, almost all of whom were meat, dairy milk and animal feed production firms. The reality is that our tax money is being used to drive down the prices of environmentally destructive food, which are precisely the ones which should have the highest price tag of all. 

Governments must stop propping up failing, environmentally damaging industries and begin to help those rearing animals to convert to a healthy and sustainable type of farming. Governments must acknowledge the undeniable truth that we cannot continue to eat how we currently eat and begin the transition to a just and sustainable plant based food system. 

But will they? Many are skeptical. COP26 has failed to confirm whether they will discuss the need to reduce intensive animal farming or the discussion of animal agriculture as a whole. They also have failed to answer queries on whether a plant based menu will be offered to conference attendees.

In addition, with less than two weeks to the summit, a UK government report from the Behavioural Insights Unit outlining the importance of plant based eating in the fight against climate change was swiftly deleted. The report showed what aspects of public behaviour need changing in order to hit climate targets. We can see that Governments have the knowledge they need to fight climate change but are simply not doing anything with it, notably because, “asking people to directly eat less meat and dairy is a major political challenge”, as stated in the report. This would seem to be an example of politicians choosing to value their political careers and popularity more than the greater good, but what the world desperately needs is governments who tell the truth and act with urgency to change the systems that are causing so much harm.

However, we do have some reason to be hopeful. A group of UK MPs are calling for an end to animal agriculture and showing support for the Plant Based Treaty. This treaty aims to halt the destruction caused by animal agriculture and promote a global shift to sustainable plant-based eating. In addition to support from numerous politicians around the globe, the treaty has so far been endorsed by 396 Organizations and 201 Businesses. 

Ahead of the conference, a group of celebrity plant-based advocates, including Joaquin Phoenix, Billie Elish and Alan Cumming have sent an urgent letter to Right Honorable Alok Sharma, the conference’s president, demanding that animal agriculture be on the agenda.

Environmental groups around the world will be watching closely to see if politicians use the precious time they have left to negotiate change and begin a transition away from animal agriculture to limit global warming. As weather patterns become more extreme and life on Earth becomes more about surviving, there may be few of these opportunities left. Until then, Animal Rebellion will continue to highlight the overwhelming role of animal agriculture in the climate crisis and the urgent need to transition to a plant based food system.

Together, we can work to ensure that governments tell the truth, act now and listen to the people. Join us to help encourage a shift to a just and sustainable plant based food system. Learn more about how to volunteer and which role might suit you!

The post Why Animal Agriculture must be on the COP 26 agenda first appeared on Animal Rebellion.