Local activist Hope Bohanec has been active in the area for 30 years and recently resigned from a decade with United Poultry Concerns to focus her full time attention on her organization Compassionate Living. One of Compassionate Living’s programs is the Humane Hoax Project, and they have an online event coming up on Saturday, February 26.  The Humane Hoax Online Conference will feature leading thinkers in the animal advocacy movement with a focus on the humane hoax. The panel of experts will expose animal agriculture’s humane washing and greenwashing with fresh insight on a wide range of topics. Learn more at https://humanehoax.org/online-conference/   Free registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LA8zFMfbQ5y5FiTZB9kzBg Vegan Journal
The venerable Vegetarian Resource Group has changed the name of its excellent magazine for members from Vegetarian Journal to Vegan Journal.  With trustworthy advice from registered dieticians, great recipes, new product reviews, essays and interviews, this publication is well worth the $25 membership fee for the Vegetarian Resource Group.   VRG also offers college  scholarships to high school seniors who help to create a veg world.  Mail a check made out to Vegetarian Resource Group to PO Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203 or go to vrg.org/donate


Amy's Mac & Cheeze Recalled
Because of trace amounts of cow's milk protein found in one lot of Amy's Mac & Cheeze, the company recalled the product last month.
https://tinyurl.com/ybra95rp


Vegan Travel is Now a Thing
Many years ago I went on a phenomenal trip to Thailand with VegVoyages and VegNews magazine.  Every detail was exquisitely attended to, and all food served was vegan. It was almost impossible back then to find vegan focused tours anywhere in the world, and that adventure was unique.  Now, according to the New York Times, there are many options for vegan travelers. I am eager to feel safe enough to travel again, though the thought of flying for simply for pleasure does not sit well with my desire to minimize my carbon footprint.   https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/travel/vegan-travel.html


Miyoko and Rancho Compasion
A new six minute Youtube video tells the story of Miyoko Schinner's  local animal sanctuary Rancho Compasion.   The queen of vegan cheese is also a champion for rescued farm animals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA8RQAtqr90   The sanctuary just joined the LEAP program, a humane alternative to 4-H.  LEAP stands for Leaders for Ethics, Animals, and the Planet. https://leapforanimals.org/


Music to My Ears
Violins, handbags, shoes all have new vegan options. I thought these stories were interesting, and hope you do as well. 

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/instruments/violin/worlds-first-vegan-violin/
https://vegnews.com/2022/1/recycled-vegan-leather-handbag
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christophermarquis/2022/01/31/vegan-footwear-company-steps-into-growing-sustainability-shift-in-fashion-industry/?sh=35aae7d97fb9


Valentine's Day and Chocolate
If you buy chocolate for Valentine's Day, be sure to check first to ensure that its cocoa isn't from countries that use slave and child labor.  I love chocolate, and am thrilled to know that the Food Empowerment Project is keeping a focused eye on which vegan chocolates are truly cruelty free. https://foodispower.org/chocolate/

Interesting Debate: Share the Despair or Show Inauthentic Optimism?
I was intrigued by this comment from Karen Davis of United Poultry Concerns and equally captivated by a response to it by Stevan Harnad, a cognitive science professor and the editor of Animal Sentience. After hearing about the first pig heart transplant to a human, both of these passionate vegan advocates made good points.  Read their comments here: http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/drawing-the-line-on-human-vital-necessities/      And/or you can listen to them talk about the issue on this podcast:  https://open.spotify.com/show/1tl9GQg6YUtN63JVCPY1hl


Vegan Voices
New Anthology Promotes Veganism
A new anthology promotes veganism from more than 50 perspectives. Edited by Joanne Kong with a foreword by Victoria Moran, Vegan Voices sounds like a great handbook for new vegans and seasoned activists.  Well known and not so well known leaders in the vegan movement share their stories of how and why they chose the vegan path.  (I have not read it yet.)  Here's a great review by Richard Schwartz: https://www.upc-online.org/bookreviews/220125_a_book_promoting_veganism.html


Prop 12 Delayed
Animal agriculture organizations have gone to the courts and won a delay in implementing Prop 12 in California.  This successful ballot measure was supposed to prohibit sales of eggs and pork products that came from animals confined in unlawful cages. The North American Meat Institute complained that the law would include criminal sanctions and civil litigation for noncompliance."  Well, yes, that's the point!   It's interesting to read this news from a meat industry publication and see their perspective on this anti-cruelty measure.  https://www.feedstrategy.com/swine/california-judge-delays-prop-12-implementation/  And Food Safety News reported the delay as good news for California: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/01/california-judge-rules-prop-12-pork-sales-provisions-cannot-be-enforced-without-regulations/    Sometimes it feels as if I live in a topsy-turvy world.


Plant Based News Film About Veganism in 2021
Here is this year's six minute summary of headline making news from the vegan world last year.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBMXh5z9XVU

Animals Win in Court
Read about some good news for animals from 2021.  https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/a-look-at-2021s-biggest-wins-for-animals-in-court/   Let's hope that the Pt. Reyes case below is on this list next  year.

Pt. Reyes Plan Goes to Court
Three environmental groups are challenging the National Park Service management plan for Pt. Reyes National Seashore.  They object to killing elk confining elk, and allowing ranching that pollutes the water and air, adds to greenhouse gas emissions, and defiles the natural beauty of the National Seashore. https://www.marinij.com/2022/01/10/lawsuit-point-reyes-elk-ranch-plan-violates-federal-laws/

Krogers Predicts More Vegan Comfort Food
One of the largest supermarket chains in the United States predicts that vegan comfort food is going to be even more popular in 2022.
https://thebeet.com/vegan-comfort-food-is-a-trend-to-watch-in-2022-according-to-kroger/


Three Vegan Chicken Stories, Plus a Different Perspective on Vegan Versions of Animal Foods

1. AMC Theaters to Sell Impossible Vegan Chicken Nuggets
https://vegnews.com/2022/1/amc-theaters-impossible-vegan-chicken-nuggets

2. KFC Now Selling Beyond Chicken
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/kfc-beyond-fried-chicken-is-back-for-now-what-to-know-before-the-meatless-nuggets-go-away/

3. New Plant Based Chicken Brand
A company called Daring took out a full color, four page (full page) ad in the New York Times recently announcing "Chicken is Broken."  This is yet another player in the vegan chicken business.
https://www.daring.com/our-mission


Before We Celebrate
I know that many of us are thrilled that vegan chicken, fish and beef are becoming more mainstream.  I agree that this reflects a growing interest in veganism and offers far superior choices to people who want the flavors and textures they are used to, but want to reduce animal consumption.  Still, I think it's important to pay attention to the downside of these new innovations and the means by which they are overshadowing and usurping the vegan ethic of non-harming.   The article below from Michele Simon and the video clip from Sarina Farb are good reality checks.

Michele Simon on the Men Who Are Changing the Face of Veganism
Michele Simon's writing always impresses me.  In this article from Forbes she describes the male based movement to use marketplace forces as the "solution" to animal agriculture.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelesimon/2021/12/14/are-men-taking-over-the-plant-based-foods-movement/?sh=3c2eecc23c87

Sarina Farb on the Co-opting of the Vegan Movement
Sarina Farb points out the danger to the vegan movement from the high tech and major food companies that are adding vegan options to their product lines.  She encourages us to ask important questions when we learn about new plant based foods that try to mimic animal based foods.  Her talk begins at the 35 minute mark, and that's where I began watching.  Disclaimer: I did not hear any other speakers and do not know or endorse any other speakers or sponsors of this event.  Also, Sarina's slides appear to not have been showing correctly when I watched, but her talk was nevertheless interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxjnbhVr4WQ

Eating Less Beef and the Normalization of Vegan Food
This entire article from Sierra is worth reading. Most of it points to how meat alternatives are normalizing vegan food.  Nevertheless, here are two excerpts that raise the same caveats that I do about the trend toward vegan versions of animal based foods.
 
Burger King made waves in summer 2019 when it debuted the Impossible Whopper and Dunkin’ Donuts rolled out the Beyond Sausage Breakfast Sandwich (made possible by food scientists at several start-ups who’ve engineered juicy, plant-based burger products specially to look, taste, and "bleed" like real beef or mimic chicken, fish, eggs, and other animal products). While some sustainable-food advocates argue that “imitation meat” products perpetuate the problems of industrial agriculture—they're highly processed and often contain genetically modified ingredients—the fast food industry’s embrace of imitation meat makes it easier for vegetarians and flexitarians to find plant-based alternatives at highly accessible eateries.


Don’t be fooled by any edenic menu language, though—these items are all highly processed and loaded with the usual barrage of toxins and sugar found in most products peddled by this industry.

https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/7-signs-mainstream-has-beef-beef