The nonprofit humanitarian organization has published a video titled “The Importance of Serving Plant-Based Foods During Disasters.” American Red Cross is working with partners such as Plant Based Treaty to ensure plant-based options are widely available.

“A lot of people are eating plant-based for whatever reason,” said Samantha Lau, a campaigner for Plant Based Treaty, in the video. “Could be dietary reasons, could be allergy, it could be lactose intolerance, religious reasons – for whatever reason that people choose to eat plant-based, we just want to make sure that they have access to it.”

Nigel Holderby, the assistant director of external relations at American Red Cross, said that she can find it “very difficult” to find options as a plant-based person with food allergies. 

“Having that as part of what we’re building into the core of our food service means that we’re serving more people and we’re meeting them where they are,” explained Holderby. “We’re part of a network, we’re part of this response community. So just being able to provide our local restaurants here with the access to people to provide things that they need, I think is another avenue for the Red Cross to be part of the community response.”

Lau noted that in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires, some of the people sheltering at Pasadena’s convention center were initially unable to access plant-based options. However, Plant Based Treaty stepped in and made plant-based food available to those who needed it.

Read more: Tabitha Brown Partners With Vegan Food Truck To Feed Those Affected By LA Wildfires

Extreme weather in Los Angeles

American Red Cross is continuing to support the victims of Los Angeles’s enormous wildfires, which displaced thousands of Californians across the region. The Palisades and Eaton fires alone burned down around 40,000 acres of land and over 15,000 buildings.

On Tuesday of this week, fire authorities issued further evacuation warnings ahead of expected heavy rain and mudslides in the area, including in the Palisades neighborhood.

According to a report by UCLA researchers, the scale and severity of California’s wildfires is linked to the climate crisis. A separate study – published in the Journal of Climate earlier this month – suggests that California’s increasingly heavy rain and winds are also in keeping with broader predictions about the climate crisis and frequent, extreme weather events.

“One of the biggest changes that we’re seeing across the country is that people want to help,” said Holderby. “We’ve seen an outpouring of local volunteers that raised their hands, they want to be part of the response, they want to help their neighbors, and I think there’s a healing in engaging our local community as part of the response and the recovery that’s coming.”

Read more: New Report On Why Healthcare Settings Should Go Plant-Based By Default

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

Voting took place on February 4 at student union meetings at both Bristol University and Imperial College London. Other universities that have held similar votes include Cambridge, Newcastle, Lancaster, and University College London. A total of 13 other UK, Netherlands, and Austria students are backing the move to 100 percent vegan menus.

Hollie Meyers, a 4th-year Medicine student at Imperial College London said: “We are overjoyed to see our fellow students join calls for Imperial to show that it takes the climate crisis seriously and begin the move toward cheap, nutritious, and delicious plant-based menus. Animal farming and fishing are wrecking the planet and the lives of millions across the globe and now is the time to take a definitive step towards a plant-based future.”

Read more: University Of Cambridge Votes In Favor Of Plant-Based Transition

About Plant-Based Universities

Plant-Based Universities is an international campaign comprised of students in the UK and a number of other countries, and it is active in over 50 institutions. The campaign reaches out to fellow students and encourages signups to help run campaigns at each of the universities, and has a firm commitment to citing the scientific research to support their goals. The campaign has received high-profile support from Chris Packham, Dale Vince, Etienne Stott, George Monbiot, and Dr Hannah Ritchie, as well as dozens of academics from both universities.

“With a majority of Gen Z either meat-free or planning to be within a year, it is clear that younger generations are leading the way when it comes to compassionate and environmentally-conscious living,” campaigners said. 

Read more: Plant-Based University Catering Would Slash Costs And Emissions, New Report Finds

This article was written by Adam Protz on the PBN Website.

Heura appeared outside the Faculty of Medicine in Barcelona with a van bearing the slogan “A plant-based diet can increase your life expectancy by 10 years.” It’s aim was to raise awareness among future doctors about the effectiveness of plant-based diets for preventing serious chronic diseases. The Heura team handed out sandwiches and packets of its plant-based ham to medical students who had taken their exam.

Read more: Gordon Ramsay Partners With Flora For ‘Skip the Cow’ Campaign

“We want to invite the doctors of the future to lead the shift towards a more sustainable and conscious diet, benefiting both people and the planet with alternatives designed to be as delicious as they are healthy,” Marc Coloma, CEO and co-founder of Heura Foods, said in a statement.

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Plant-based gains

The campaign pointed out that plant-based diets can reduce disease risk compared to the increased risks posed by eating certain animal products.

Eating a diet rich in plants and low in animal products is associated with a significantly lower risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease. One study showed a 31 percent reduction in risk of death from heart disease. Heura highlighted how eating products like beef burgers and ham makes it more likely people will develop heart disease of colorectal cancer.

According to research from the University of Oxford, each additional 50 g a day of processed red meat increase cardiovascular disease risk by 18 percent. For each 50 g of unprocessed red meat, the risk goes up by 9 percent.

Heura also highlighted a study showing that swapping just 3 percent of animal protein for plant protein was associated with nearly 40 percent higher odds of healthy aging. The benefits to the health system were also promoted in the campaign. Heura said that for every €1 invested in healthy diets, more than €12 are saved in treatments for preventable diseases.

The campaign, coinciding with the last week of Veganuary, is Heura’s most recent bit of public advocacy for the health benefits of plant-based eating. In October 2024, the brand opened a pop-up “pHAMacy” in Paris to highlight the harms of processed meat and the solution to the problem: plant-based meat.

Read more: Chris Packham Urges Government To End Meat ‘Propaganda’ Campaign

This article was written by Claire Hamlett on the PBN Website.

The food truck is parked in Pasadena this week and will serve food from 10am each day until the ingredients run out. They aim to feed at least 1,000 people.

The wildfires started nine days ago and have been unusually early, large, and destructive, partly due to the climate crisis, according to a new report by UCLA researchers.

The Palisades blaze alone – just 30 miles from Pasadena – is currently the largest, and has destroyed 23,700 acres so far. The wildfires have made thousands of people homeless, and around 88,000 Californians across the region remain under evacuation orders.

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Brown, an actor, author, and social media personality, appeared in a short Instagram video alongside Vurger Guyz founder Na’eem Outler. “LA is going through a real tragedy right now,” said Brown. “We wanted to partner together and feed as many people as we can.”

“This is a way that we can help to serve the community,” she added.

Tabitha Brown x Vurger Guyz partnership shows ‘the power of compassion’

Vurger Guyz is a pop-up and event-based company that serves all of Southern California, serving “some of the best burgers you’ve ever had in your life,” according to Brown. She will be supplying ingredients for the next few days, and Vurger Guyz will be serving meals.

“Your unwavering kindness and generosity continue to inspire so many, and this act of love is yet another testament to the pureness of your heart,” wrote Outler in a separate post on Instagram thanking Tabitha Brown. “You have always been a beacon of love and light, and the way you show up for others reminds us all of the power of compassion.”

Earlier in the week, Vurger Guyz also thanked Beyond Meat for “stepping up and providing” ingredients to support “first responders and those affected by the wildfires.”

Outler founded Vurger Guyz in 2018 to promote healthy, plant-based foods with great flavors. Outlet is a former NCAA D1 athlete and has previously said that he created the brand as a “gateway” to show different communities the potential of plant-based food.

The Vurger Guyz truck is parked at Pasadena Church East Campus, 425 SIERRA MADRE VILLA AVE, PASADENA 91107, from Tuesday, January 14 to Thursday, January 16, 2025.

Read more: Celebrity Chef Supreme Dow Serves 1,000 Vegan Community Meals, Sets Guinness World Record

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

The RSPCA has come under renewed scrutiny following a major new investigation that uncovered huge suffering at some of its certified slaughterhouses. 

Read more: Why The RSPCA Removed Meat Recipes From Its Website

RSPCA stands for Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It’s the UK’s oldest animal welfare charity, and celebrated its 200th anniversary this year. Animal rights groups have long argued, however, that the RSPCA is not preventing cruelty to all animals in the UK, and that it’s in fact endorsing it. This is because it certifies farms and slaughterhouses with its “RSPCA Assured” label. RSPCA Assured claims that animals are killed in “the most humane way possible.”

In a major slaughterhouse exposé released today, animal advocacy group Animal Rising documented a number of apparent breaches of both RSPCA standards and legal standards for animal welfare. It visited four RSPCA Assured slaughterhouses in the UK. Three of them were in England (in Cornwall, Norfolk, and Staffordshire), while a fourth was in Argyll, Scotland. Animals killed at the slaughterhouses included pigs, sheeps*, cows, and salmon. The RSPCA confirmed to Plant Based News that the three English slaughterhouses have now been suspended from the scheme.

Read more: Celebrities And Vets Call On RSPCA To Ditch Its Farm Assurance Scheme

The reality of UK slaughterhouses

One of the most serious findings of the investigation was ineffective stunning. Under RSPCA guidelines, animals are supposed to be stunned prior to slaughter so that – in theory – they don’t feel pain. Stunning is also required by law under the UK’s Animal Welfare Act (with exception for some religious slaughter). 

One method of stunning is electricity. When this method is used, however, there tends to be 15 to 20 second window before the animal wakes up again. Regulation therefore requires the animal to be killed at most 15 seconds afterwards. According to Animal Rising, “many” of the animals observed in the slaughterhouses were killed after the 15 second mark. 

Animals were also stunned ineffectively, according to Animal Rising. At the Norfolk slaughterhouse, the electrodes used to stun pigs were often placed incorrectly near their jaws. They were also placed vertically, either above or below the head. Animal Rising calculated that 85 percent of pigs at this slaughterhouse were improperly stunned. At the Staffordshire slaughterhouse, electrodes appeared to be placed too far back on the necks of sheeps and over thick wool. In Argyll, at a salmon slaughterhouse, Animal Rising observed 25 instances of apparent ineffective stunning in a three-hour period. Some animals appeared to be alive while being dismembered. 

Other welfare breaches at the slaughterhouses included animals being hit and kicked, excessive electric prod use, rough handling, and sheeps being dragged by their wool.

Cruelty across the board

This slaughterhouse investigation is “part 2” of a much larger exposé of RSPCA Assured by Animal Rising. Earlier this year, it documented huge suffering on dozens of supposedly “high welfare” farms across the country. According to the group, it found suffering on every farm. Chris Packham, the RSPCA’s president, called for an urgent review of the scheme after the investigation was released. The RSPCA conducted a review, and concluded the the scheme was “operating effectively”. Other organizations, including Animal Justice Project, have also uncovered suffering on RSPCA Assured farms.

Animal Rising – alongside celebrities including singer Moby, human rights activist Peter Tatchell, and actor Peter Egan – is calling on the RSPCA to drop RSPCA Assured. “The scheme is a systemic cover-up of animal cruelty that misleads the public via disingenuous marketing,” Rose Patterson, lead investigator at Animal Rising, told Plant Based News. “Our investigations of farms and slaughterhouses have uncovered practices that if carried out on cats and dogs would send people to jail. These double standards at the world’s oldest animal charity have to end.”

The RSPCA claims that its Assured scheme was set up to “improve farmed animal welfare.” But according to Patterson, there is no “kind” way to kill. “No matter how it is framed or regulated, the processes of farming and slaughter inherently prioritize efficiency and profit over the well-being of animals, making cruelty an unavoidable reality,” she said. “There is no such thing as humane slaughter.”

RSPCA responds

In a statement to Plant Based News, an RSPCA spokesperson said: “We are appalled by this extremely distressing footage and RSPCA Assured launched an immediate investigation and has suspended these three slaughterhouses from the scheme. These sites are assured by a number of other accreditation schemes, with different standards and we have alerted the other schemes. We have confirmed that none of the cows and sheep and none of the animals at the Cornwall site featured in the footage were part of the RSPCA Assured scheme. We are concerned some of the allegations made could constitute breaches of the law, so we have also contacted the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which has responsibility for overall enforcement of slaughterhouses.

“RSPCA Assured’s swift action to suspend three slaughterhouses in the wake of this investigation shows we act decisively when standards are breached – protecting and enhancing animal welfare is core to our work. Failure to comply with RSPCA standards and FSA regulations is unacceptable.

“RSPCA Assured provides higher standards of animal welfare. Unfortunately, there is very little legal protection for farmed animals and enforcement is virtually non-existent and we need to unite with other animal protection charities and organisations to call for improved legislation and regulation.

“We are continuing to invest in strengthening the RSPCA Assured scheme, including working towards tripling the amount of unannounced visits annually, a larger investigation team, increased use of technology to consistently monitor standards, and enhanced frontline assessments. We urge other organisations to work with and support us in driving change.”

*While the English language typically refers to multiple sheeps as “sheep,” we use “sheeps” to emphasize their indivuduality

Read more: Veganuary Co-founder Applies For RSPCA CEO Role

This article was written by Polly Foreman on the PBN Website.

Read more: Vegan Guide To ‘Palworld’ Released Following PETA Comments

The Vegan Dictionary is an all-in-one reference guide to veganism, intended to help make veganism more accessible to those not familiar with the movement.

“Veganism has its own vocabulary, grammar, and even slang,” Cockshaw said in a statement. “Understanding it all can be overwhelming for vegan newcomers, for their friends and family, and for the plant-curious.” The dictionary “is a guide for anyone who wants to explore veganism,” he said. “It’s designed so that there’s tonnes you can learn even if you’ve been vegan for years already.”

Vegan terminology

The Cockshaw siblings decided to write The Vegan Dictionary to address a knowledge gap. Players of Plants Against Veganity, a card game by This Is Not A Game, have told Cockshaw that their non-vegan friends don’t get the game’s jokes and references.

Read more: Patrik Baboumian To Release Animal Rights Video Game

The dictionary explains vegan terminology from science, agriculture, animal behavior, health, history, philosophy, and practical concepts. These include abolitionism, vitamin B12, nociception, and panpsychism. It also includes entries on prominent figures in the vegan movement such as Earthling Ed and anti-vivisection activist Lizzy Lind af Hageby.

A dictionary seemed like a natural choice for Cockshaw to write. A lifelong language lover, he owns over 200 foreign language dictionaries. The book was designed vegan graphic designer Ákos Zsiga. The Vegan Dictionary is available for pre-order and will be officially released in January.

Read more: Is A Plant-Based Olympics On The Cards For Los Angeles?

This article was written by Claire Hamlett on the PBN Website.

Read more: Blink 182’s Travis Barker Says Glasgow Restaurant Has ‘Best Vegan Burger’

Butler was honored with the award by the Center For A Humane Economy and the Global Council For Animals at the first Malibu Sunset Soirée For Animals on October 5 in California. Tal Ronnen, founder and chef at vegan restaurant Crossroads Kitchen, presented the award and described Butler as “an amazing champion for the animals.”

He was honored along with actor and director Alison Eastwood, philanthropist Laurie McGrath, and scientist and philanthropist Gary Michelson. The Center For A Humane Economy is a non-profit that works on public education and corporate and political lobbying on animal welfare policies. Its Global Council for Animals comprises a group of “change agents” working to secure major reforms to protect animals, of which Butler’s wife Gloria is a member.

“It is no exaggeration to say that millions of animals will be spared torment and cruelty because of their selfless dedication to the well-being of animals,” Wayne Pacelle, president of the Center For A Humane Economy, said of the awardees.

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Butler’s life of veganism

In a 2023 interview, Butler explained that he went vegan at eight years old after his mother served him a piece of meat for dinner that was bleeding. When he realized it did that because it was an animal, he decided never to eat meat again. “She understood where I was coming from, so she always gave me vegetables,” he said of his mother.

Read more: Massive Attack Serves Entirely Vegan Menu At Eco-Conscious Gig

In 2009, Butler shot a pro-vegan advert with peta2, the youth animal rights organization. According to Blabbermouth, Butler told peta2 that he would invite friends for dinners featuring meat alternatives and wait for them to compliment the food before revealing they had eaten an entirely vegan meal.

Along with Gloria, he has campaigned against puppy mills. He has been vocal on social media about animal issues, including deaths at horse races and how fireworks frighten animals.

Read more: Billie Eilish And Finneas Are Opening A Vegan Restaurant

This article was written by Claire Hamlett on the PBN Website.

Read more: AI Technology And Fermentation Could Replace Sugar With Healthy ‘Sweet Proteins’

That’s what Sam Tucker, founder of charity Open Paws, believes. The meat industry is working on harnessing AI to make it easier and more profitable to confine and kill animals in their billions every year. But animal advocates could use it to further the cause of animal rights, including by boosting their resources and increasing the reach of their messages.

“The future of AI is at a crossroads—a tug-of-war between being used to harm animals through intensified factory farming or to help them through powerful advocacy,” Tucker told Plant Based News. “With AI rapidly becoming superhuman at persuasion, now is the pivotal time to ensure it’s directed towards compassionate purposes that promote animal well-being.”

Tucker’s goal with Open Paws is to make it hard for AI to be used in factory farming contexts. At the same time, he wants to help animal advocacy organizations access and effectively use AI in their work.

AI creeps into farming

AI is already being used on farms to help locate grazing animals, monitor health conditions, and control environmental conditions such as temperature. The argument in favor of it is that it can help improve animal welfare, alerting farmers to illness and pain, and minimizing the need for handling animals, which they can find stressful.

But relying on AI to monitor animal health and welfare could also make the worst forms of animal farming seem better than they are, as ethicists have warned. Keeping track of chicken welfare with AI, for example, is likely to be easier if the chickens are kept in cages. “High-tech” cages that use AI are already being marketed to farmers.

Read more: Bill Gates-Backed Company Makes Butter From CO2

AI could make animal slaughter more efficient, increasing the profitability of the meat industry and further entrenching its power. The industry is also using AI to make itself appear more sustainable. One company, Atarraya, makes AI-powered “shrimpbox farms” which it says are a solution to the environmental harms of conventional shrimp farming. Another company, Meyn, is using AI to automate the slaughter of chickens.

For proponents of AI in farming, it might be too optimistic to expect the industry to use the technology to the benefit of animals rather than itself. As Open Philanthropy’s farm animal welfare officer Lewis Bollard has pointed out, meat companies have been quick to adopt tech which enhances efficiency. But it has invested far less in animal welfare improvements. “Will an industry too stingy to install air conditioning or fire sprinklers really spring for AI sensors to help its animals?” Bollard writes.

AI in animal advocacy

According to Tucker, animal advocates can use AI to their own advantage. They can learn to use it for tasks such as securing funding, improve and expand research and communications to reach more people, and conduct corporate campaigns. AI is also being used by alternative protein companies to optimize ingredient choices and product formulations. This could lower the industry’s costs, making alternative proteins cheaper to buy than meat from animals.

Open Paws helps animal charities to use AI in their advocacy and builds free tools to help them. Once such tool built by Tucker is VEG3, a vegan version of ChatGPT.

“By automating routine tasks and utilizing AI’s predictive capabilities, we can exponentially increase the efficiency of animal advocacy—freeing up valuable time and resources to focus on strategic actions that drive change,” Tucker said. “AI can help us identify the most effective campaigns, prevent advocate burnout, and even forecast legislative success. Now is the time to embrace AI as a force multiplier for compassion, ensuring it serves to liberate rather than oppress.”

Another thing advocates can do is influence AI models to make them more animal-friendly. Speciesism is rife in AI, as efforts to eliminate it have been lacking. Researchers including Peter Singer have warned that this risks AI systems “normalizing” or increasing violence that humans inflict on animals, particularly in farming contexts. Tucker is working on solutions to this; Open Paws is currently seeking volunteers to give feedback on AI responses. This will help to train an AI model that is more useful to animal advocates.

Weakening the meat industry’s grip

At the same time as strengthening their advocacy with AI, Tucker wants advocates to help push for restrictions on the use of AI in animal farming. Banning the use of AI on factory farms is the big political ask, but there are smaller ones that can be pursued too. These include putting legislation in place to stop companies from using AI to increase animal stocking densities, and forcing companies to be transparent about AI-detected welfare problems and how they’re being addressed.

Though the meat industry is hugely more powerful than animal charities, advocates have some advantages on their side in this fight, Tucker believes. AI developers want data, but the meat industry is notoriously secretive, whereas advocates can choose to share their data openly. They can also make the case the anti-speciesist AI is safer, since speciesism is linked to other forms of bias against humans.

Read more: What Is Precision Fermentation, And Could It Replace Animal Farming?

“We must act now to prevent the widespread adoption of AI in factory farming, which threatens to scale animal suffering to unimaginable levels,” Tucker said. “By building unlikely coalitions—with labor unions worried about job losses due to automation, environmental groups concerned about intensified farming’s ecological impact, and small farmers facing obsolescence—we can unite diverse forces to oppose the use of AI in animal agriculture. Together, we can redirect technological progress towards creating a more compassionate and sustainable food system.”

This article was written by Claire Hamlett on the PBN Website.

Read more: Major Pork Producer Admits To Breaking Marketing Law With ‘Climate Controlled’ Label

The Danish government is set to begin negotiations on a deal – named Grøn Trepart – that will determine the country’s environmental and agricultural policies for years to come.

But Thunberg and activists from Denmark’s Green Youth Movement say the government must strengthen the deal’s policies regarding animal agriculture. They want meat producers to pay a higher tax on greenhouse gas emissions than is currently proposed. They have also criticized the meat industry for saying it will invest in techo-fixes for its emissions that will likely entrench intensive animal farming.

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“Still time to save it”

Earlier this year, Denmark became the first country in the world to agree on a tax for agricultural emissions. The tax will come into force in 2030. From that date, farmers will need to pay 120 krone (around $17) per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalents they produce. This amount will increase to 300 krone ($43) by 2035. But activists say this is not enough and is being brought in too late.

Read more: Report Calls For Plant-Based Food Action Plan In Europe

In an Instagram post, Thunberg says there is still time to save the deal so it actually protects the environment and the climate. She urges activists to pile pressure on Danish political parties to improve the deal’s agricultural policies, in particular to raise the emissions tax on animal farming.

There must be “a reduction and complete transformation” of Denmark’s animal agriculture industry, she says.

A quarter of Denmark’s emissions come from agriculture. The country farms about 200 million animals a year and is a major producer of meat from pigs and cows, the latter being particularly carbon intensive.

The Danish government is trying to encourage people to eat less meat, having published a pioneering roadmap towards a plant-based food system in 2023.

Read more: Is Greta Thunberg Vegan? Everything She’s Said About The Movement

This article was written by Claire Hamlett on the PBN Website.

Read more: Meat Industry Musical ‘Mad Cow’ Debuts At UK’s First Vegan Theater

Act 1.5 took place last weekend at Clifton Downs in Bristol, Massive Attack’s home town. The one-day event, which featured music and talks, was intended to demonstrate how the music industry can cut its climate impact. As well as vegan food, Act 1.5 ran entirely on renewable energy. Attendees were encouraged to walk, cycle, and use public transport to reach the venue. Reusable cups were available and glitter and disposable vapes were banned to reduce harmful plastic waste. The name “1.5” comes from the 1.5C global warming limit outlined by the Paris Climate Agreement.

Among the food vendors were Bristol vegan caterers Chiki Monkey and Soy Ahoy. The other vendors were not vegan, but they all plant-based menus at the festival. The festival organizers explained on Instagram that “sourcing plant based providers with major event capacity isn’t as easy as you might think.”

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Veganism in the music scene

Ahead of the festival, Massive Attack published a Roadmap to Super Low Carbon Live Music. The resource was commissioned by the band and produced by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. According to the report, audience travel accounts for the majority of emissions from live music events. It doesn’t specify food-related emissions, but according to a study from Music Declares Emergency Switzerland, food and drinks contribute about 10 percent of festival emissions.

Read more: Is Billie Eilish Vegan? Everything She’s Said About The Movement

Massive Attack aren’t the only band trying to remake the music industry into a more positive force for the climate, including by making gigs vegan. Billie Eilish has become as well-known for her veganism and climate activism as her music. In 2022, during her inaugural OVERHEATED climate-action week, London’s O2 Arena ditched all animal products.

Read more: Ariana Grande Says Her Family ‘Always Forgets’ That She’s Vegan

This article was written by Claire Hamlett on the PBN Website.

Read more: Sea Shepherd Calls For Immediate Release Of Founder Paul Watson Following Arrest

Watson was arrested in the Danish autonomous territory after his ship docked at the port of Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, on July 21, 2024. According to the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), the vessel was on its way to “intercept” a new Japanese whaling ship in the North Pacific called the Kangei Maru.

The environmental campaigner, who founded Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, will remain in detention until September 5, according to Nuuk’s Sermersooq Circuit Court. The Greenland police has said that this is to “ensure his presence in connection with the decision to be made on the issue of extradition.”

Read more: Iceland Permits Hunting Of 128 Fin Whales

The case sets a ‘dangerous precedent’ for the treatment of activists

Japan issued an international arrest warrant for Watson through Interpol in 2012. He faces charges from 2010 including including “accomplice to assault” and “ship trespass.”

If extradited, the 73-year-old Watson could face up to 15 years in prison. His lawyers say he is innocent and demand his immediate release.

Supporters are currently campaigning for his release and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation’s petition is nearing its next goal of 70,000 signatures.

“This case not only threatens Watson’s freedom but also sets a dangerous precedent for the treatment of activists and the protection of individual rights in the face of politically motivated persecution,” writes the Captain Paul Watson Foundation on X, formerly Twitter.

Read more: First North Atlantic Right Whale Spotted Off Irish Coast In Over A Century

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

Read more: These Are The Most Plant-Based Regions In The UK, According To A Study

The fill-in-the-blank party game requires players to match white prompt cards and green response cards in the funniest combinations they can find. The pairings create lighthearted jokes and irreverent phrases about vegans and non-vegans.

This Is Not A Game founder and vegan activist Rory Cockshaw launched the company earlier this month. He hopes to produce a range of card and board games designed to “bridge the gap” between vegans and non-vegans by “making fun of everyone equally.”

“The hardest thing to do as a vegan activist is often simply talking to your own friends and family about your personal dietary choices,” Cockshaw told Plant Based News (PBN). “People are under the impression that we vegans are humorless, inflexible, and often not all that pleasant to be around. […] I want to break that stereotype.”

Read more: Vegan Guide To ‘Palworld’ Released

Creating ‘more candid’ conversations about veganism

Plants Against Veganity is currently available to buy online. But This Is Not A Game is already working on additional trivia games, dictionaries, kid’s games, sanctuary-themed board games, and even a vegan Monopoly-style spin-off.

Several other companies have launched vegan takes on classic games in recent years, including Vegan Top Trumps, Vegan Snap, true-or-false game Vegan Not Vegan, and Eating Vegans. There are also an increasing number of dedicated vegan board game cafes in the UK, such as Norwich’s Slice and Dice and Nottingham’s The Dice Cup.

The overall number of vegans in Britain rose from 2.5 percent of the population in 2023 to nearly five percent in 2024, approximately 2.5 million people.

“I think that vegans are some of the funniest, kindest, and friendliest people I know – and I wanted to create a game or three to prove it,” added Cockshaw. “By making fun of activists and activism as much as I do meat-eaters and climate nay-sayers, I’m able to break the taboos and – hopefully – create more, better, and more candid conversation afterwards.”

Read more: How To Make This Vegan Fried Chicken

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

Read more: Complement To Donate Plant-Based Meals In No-Purchase Necessary Campaign

Dow served 1,008 meals to community members in just 37 minutes on June 19 – also known as Juneteenth, or Emancipation Day – at Estrada Courts in Boyle Heights. The historically multicultural housing project is one of the city’s oldest, and notably served as the birthplace of the Chicano Mural Art Movement in the 1970s.

The Boyle Heights neighborhood has been identified as a “food desert,” meaning that access to fresh, nutritious ingredients is limited. However, many food justice advocates say that the label ignores how the intersection of race and class influences access to fresh produce.

Dow partnered with Kevin de León, the Los Angeles City Council member for District 14, for the record attempt, which was also supported by The Plant-Based Treaty, The Save Movement, The SheRise Enterprise, and UnchainedTV.

Read more: Major 20-Year Review Finds Plant-Based Diets Reduce Disease Risk

Everyone deserves to be ‘whole, healthy, and happy’

Dozens of volunteers attended the Guinness World Record attempt to box up meals and deliver them door-to-door, while the meals themselves were put together by the Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club and Generation Vegan (Gen V). Each box included a savory Beyond Meat meatloaf, Spanish Rice, kale salad, and a soft chocolate chip cookie.

“This event represents more than just a culinary challenge,” said Dow in a statement. “It embodies our commitment to fostering unity and health within our community through sustainable food practices. By serving these meals, we are not only feeding bodies but also nourishing souls and strengthening the communal bonds that define our city.”

Dow spearheads nonprofit The Harvest Academy which aims to serve 100,000 nutritious meals to “unhoused neighbors” in Los Angeles over the next decade. He hosts an annual Skid Row BBQ, serving food to the approximately 2,000 unhoused people who live there.

“Everyone deserves the opportunity to be whole, healthy, and happy,” added Dow.

Read more: Groundbreaking Documentary ‘They’re Trying To Kill Us’ Exposes The Link Between Diet And Racism

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

Read more: Whale Captivity In Canada Comes To An End After ‘World’s Loneliest’ Orca Dies

Watson left Sea Shepherd in 2022 and co-founded the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF) to continue his work defending marine life. CPWF said on X that it believed Watson’s arrest was connected to a previous Red Notice for his anti-whaling activities in the Antarctic. “This development comes as a surprise since the Foundation’s lawyers had reported that the Red Notice had been withdrawn,” wrote CPWF. It now believes that Japan made the Red Notice “confidential to facilitate Paul’s travel for the purpose of making an arrest.”

Read more: Northern Right Whale ‘Condemned To Extinction’ By Harmful Lobster Fishing Gear

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A post shared by Sea Shepherd (@seashepherd)

A country can issue a Red Notice to law enforcement worldwide to find and provisionally arrest someone pending their extradition or surrender. Interpol issued the initial notice against Watson in 2012, two years after the Japanese Coast Guard put out a warrant for his arrest. He is currently in custody awaiting a decision on whether he will be extradited to Japan.

New whaling threat

Japan ceased whaling in international waters in 2016, years after a ruling by the International Court of Justice forbidding it from whaling in the Antarctic. It has since continued to slaughter whales in its territorial waters. Watson and CPWF suspect that Japan intends to use the new ship, named Kangei Maru, to start whaling in the high seas again. According to the CPWF, the reactivation of the Red Notice was “politically motivated.”

Japan claims its whaling activities are for “scientific” purposes. The owner of Kangei Maru has also denied it will be used to resume whaling in international waters, and says it will be used for killing whales on Japan’s coastline.

As well as Japan, Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands (an independent Danish territory) continue to slaughter whales, despite a 1986 ban by the International Whaling Commission on commercial whale hunting. Though whaling has lost popularity in Iceland, the Icelandic government granted its last remaining whaling company a license to kill 128 fin whales this year.

Read more: First North Atlantic Right Whale Spotted Off Irish Coast In Over A Century

This article was written by Claire Hamlett on the PBN Website.

Read more: Heather Mills Tells UN Officials To ‘Eat Vegan’ If They Care About The Planet

Joining the pair at the front of the march was clean energy entrepreneur Dale Vince. The march aimed to raise awareness not only of the climate crisis, but also the huge loss of wildlife and natural habitats in the UK. Vince, one of the speakers at the end of the march, took the opportunity to tell the crowd about the direct links between nature destruction in the UK and the animal agriculture industry.

Vince is the owner of green energy company Ecotricity and Forest Green Rovers FC, said to be the world’s first carbon-neutral and fully vegan football club. With one in six species in Britain facing the risk of extinction, and the country facing ecological disasters such as sewage being poured into rivers and the sea, Vince took the podium to address what he called “the cow in the room.”

The cow in the room

Posting a video of his speech to his LinkedIn profile, Vince said “The blind spot of many who care about climate, nature, and the environment is our diet. Nature is in decline not because of urban development, the climate crisis, or the fossil fuel industry, but because of what we choose to eat.” 

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“Farmland takes up 75% of our country,” he said in the speech. “And we use it overwhelmingly to feed animals to feed ourselves. And that is such an inefficient system.“

“A cow is the worst example,” he continued. “We put 10 times more protein into a cow than we get back out. A chicken gives us half back what we put in. The decline of nature is about taking land from nature for farming for an inefficient food system. And the great news is if we all stop eating animals today, tomorrow, whenever, in our country, we can free up 75 percent of that farmland, and that’s 75 percent of 75 percent. That’s half of our entire country that we can give back to nature.” 

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A post shared by Dale Vince – Zerocarbonista (@therealdalevince)

Vince expressed that he was worried about discussing something people at the march “didn’t want to hear,” but people in the crowd could be heard chanting “Go vegan” in response. 

An empowering message

Vince ended his speech by emphasizing that this is a change people can make without relying on corporations or governments. “The great news is it’s in our power, the food we all choose every day. We can choose to chew differently. We don’t have to wait for governments. We don’t have to wait for big corporations. If we stop buying that stuff (meat, dairy, eggs, etc), they stop making it and for me, that’s an empowering message.”

Vince signed off with a joke saying: “Remember, if you leave here today and get a Big Mac, the sparrow gets it.”

Read More: WWF Warns Too Much UK Land Is Used To Grow Livestock Feed

This article was written by Adam Protz on the PBN Website.