Category Archives: Veganism

China’s appetite for meat fades as vegan revolution takes hold

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Concerns over carbon emissions and food crises are fuelling a move away from meat consumption as a symbol of wealth

The window of a KFC in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou hosts the image of a familiar mound of golden nuggets. But this overflowing bucket sporting Colonel Sanders’ smiling face is slightly different. The bucket is green and the nuggets within it are completely meat free.

Over the last couple of years, after many years of rising meat consumption by China’s expanding middle classes for whom eating pork every day was a luxurious sign of new financial comforts, the green shoots of a vegan meat revolution have begun to sprout. Although China still consumes 28% of the world’s meat, including half of all pork, and boasts a meat market valued at $86bn (£62bn), plant-based meat substitutes are slowing carving out a place for themselves among a new generation of consumers increasingly alarmed by food crises such as coronavirus and African swine fever.

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Yak politics: Tibetans’ vegetarian dilemma amid China meat boom

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While China pushes for more industrialised farms, Buddhist monks urge now-sedentary nomads to embrace vegetarianism

Former free-roaming nomads now mostly resettled in rows of sun-baked block houses in Tibet are facing a struggle for their identity, their spiritual and cultural practices – and even their stomachs.

These yak-tending herders have always eaten meat. In addition to the milk, butter and cheese they derived from yaks, meat was a necessity in their harsh lives.

But a movement spurred by Tibetan Buddhist monks in the region over the past two decades has increasingly urged now sedentary nomads to practise vegetarianism, to pay a “life ransom” for the release of animals destined for the slaughterhouse, and to abandon the slaughter of their own animals because they have settled down.

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UN global climate poll: ‘The people’s voice is clear – they want action’

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Biggest ever survey finds two-thirds of people think climate change is a global emergency

The biggest ever opinion poll on climate change has found two-thirds of people think it is a “global emergency”.

The survey shows people across the world support climate action and gives politicians a clear mandate to take the major action needed, according to the UN organisation that carried out the poll.

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19 brilliant vegan recipes – from orange poppy seed cake to ‘smoked salmon’

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Halfway through Veganuary and running out of ideas? Here are some reader suggestions of comforting but easy meals to add to your repertoire

This cake has passed the vigorous “visiting non-vegan children” test with flying colours. Preheat the oven to 180C. In a bowl, stir together 375g (1½ cups) plain flour, 190g (¾ cup) sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp salt, 1½ tbsp poppy seeds and 125g (½ cup) almond meal (or finely chopped almonds). Add 190g soy milk, 2 tsp orange extract, the zest of 1 orange, 60g (¼ cup) olive oil and egg substitute equal to 1 egg, then stir together gently until just mixed. Pour into a lightly oiled 20cm (8in) cake pan and bake for 25-30 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Make an orange icing using icing sugar and some of the orange’s juice, then spread over the cooled cake. Simon Perry, cyber-sales trainer, New South Wales, Australia

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Viva veganuary! 17 delicious ways with tofu – from thai red curry to chocolate mousse

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The high-protein meat substitute is one of the world’s most versatile ingredients. Here’s how to use it in everything from tasty stir-fries to nutritious smoothies

On 11 January 1770, Benjamin Franklin, then in London, wrote a letter to a friend in Philadelphia, enclosing some soya bean seeds (“Chinese garavances”, referring to garbanzos, or chick-peas) and forwarding a recipe for a type of cheese that could be derived from them, which he called “tau-fu”.

Franklin may never have actually tasted tofu, and certainly didn’t know much about making it, much less cooking with it. To some extent this ignorance persists in the west, where tofu is prized as a high-protein meat substitute, albeit one so bland that it is basically a texture awaiting a flavour. Tofu may be versatile, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we know what to do with it and, unless you’re a vegan, it can be hard to get excited about it. If that’s the case, here are 17 recipes to change your mind.

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Battle over EU ban on ‘veggie burger’ label reaches key vote

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Farmers and meat lobbyists accuse plant-based food producers of ‘cultural hijacking’

The terms “veggie burger” and “veggie sausage” could be banned under proposals being voted on by the European parliament next week. Also banned would be terms such as “yoghurt-style” and “cheese-like” for plant-based alternatives to dairy products.

Sales of these products are growing fast but farming and meat lobbyists say the terms mislead people and amount to a “cultural hijacking” of the meat industry. Opponents, backed by major food companies including Unilever and Nestle, say the claims of consumer confusion are ridiculous. They say a ban would also contradict the EU’s drive to help consumers choose more sustainable food and cut climate-heating emissions.

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The wurst is over: why Germany now loves to go vegetarian

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More than 40% of Germans are cutting down on meat, and vegan burgers are a shopping mall staple

Inside a shopping mall in south Berlin, two colleagues are chomping on hamburgers and fries, cheese sauce running down their fingers as they try to beat the lunchtime clock.

Feelings of guilt are in short supply this Friday afternoon: the burger joint where the two women have grabbed a bite is called Vincent Vegan, and the patty inside the brioche bun is made of wheat, barley and soya.

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Joaquin Phoenix urges people to ‘go vegan’

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The Baftas awards frontrunner joins protestors on Tower Bridge in London to campaign for a meat-free world

Oscar and Bafta nominee Joaquin Phoenix has made a plea for people to “go vegan” as he led an animal equality protest in central London.

The actor gathered activists for a protest where he dropped a 390-square-foot banner from Tower Bridge that declared: “Factory farming destroys our planet. Go vegan.”

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Is veganism as good for you as they say?

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It’s the wellness industry’s cash cow, and athletes’ latest choice, but scientists caution there’s still much we don’t know about the diet

Katharina Wirnitzer was in the midst of training for the Bike Transalp race, one of the world’s toughest endurance events, when she began investigating whether a vegan diet was suitable for athletes.

The year was 2003 and veganism was a long way from the current boom, which has established it as one of the most in-vogue dietary trends. But Wirnitzer, a sports scientist at the University of Innsbruck, had become intrigued by the resurgence of ancient theories linking plant-based diets with improved athletic performance.

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Man sues Burger King for grilling vegan burger and meat on same grill

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Phillip Williams argues he wouldn’t have bought the burger if he’d known it was ‘covered in meat by-products’

When Burger King announced the Impossible Whopper (a vegan alternative to their bestselling burger), they did so with the tagline: “100% Whopper, 0% Beef.”

Turns out, the statement may have been misleading. At least, that’s what customer Phillip Williams, who is vegan, has claimed in a lawsuit filed against the fast-food giant in south Florida on Monday.

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Beyond Meat preps for IPO as rivals take bite out of food industry

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Startup is the latest ‘unicorn’, with a valuation of about $1.2bn, to go public as its competitor launches the Impossible Whopper

Wall Street is going vegan. At some point in the next four weeks, Beyond Meat, a pioneering plant-based meat alternative startup, will debut on Wall Street at a valuation of about $1.2bn. And in the meantime its rivals are cutting deals with some of the biggest names in food.

Beyond Meat is the latest in a series of “unicorns” – private companies valued at over $1bn – to go public. And this one is edible.

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‘The need was there’: Berlin’s first vegan canteen for students opens

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Veggie 2.0 hopes to cater for growing appetite for plant-based food in Germany’s capital

Berlin’s first vegan canteen for students has opened its doors, reflecting a growing interest in eating only plant-based food in Germany

Veggie 2.0 is an experimental initiative of the Studierendenwerk Berlin, the state-run organisation governing student affairs. Its backers say they are responding to a growing trend towards veganism.

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Heather Mills to reopen former crisp factory as vegan food plant

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Animal rights activist says she will create up to 500 jobs in County Durham

A former crisp factory in the north-east of England will be turned into Britain’s biggest vegan food producer, creating up to 500 jobs in the area, according to its owner, the former model Heather Mills.

VBites in County Durham will take over the former Walkers factory and turn protein from seaweed, peas and other plants into substitutes for beef, chicken, pork, salmon and tuna, according to Mills, who told the BBC the factory would be the biggest of its kind in the UK.

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Could flexitarianism save the planet?

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Scientists say a drastic cut in meat consumption is needed, but this requires political will

It has been known for a while that the amount of animal products being eaten is bad for both the welfare of animals and the environment. People cannot consume 12.9bn eggs in the UK each year without breaking a few.

But the extent of the damage, and the amount by which people need to cut back, is now becoming clearer. On Wednesday, the Lancet medical journal published a study that calls for dramatic changes to food production and the human diet, in order to avoid “catastrophic damage to the planet”.

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