Hey, it's Callee, and you're listening to a special episode of the Hippie Haven Podcast. If you haven't already, be sure to hit that subscribe button so that you automatically get each new episode right when it comes out.
While it's important that we always continue to strive for substantial change in the world around us, constant research, lifestyle changes, and/or activism can be overwhelming and exhausting, so I wanted to do another edition of good news in the sustainability field to remind us all of the progress that's already been made.
IN VEGAN NEWS:
Del Taco will be releasing vegan tacos made with Beyond Meat on April 25th at all 580 US locations. Taco Bell now has a dedicated vegetarian menu, with many options that can be veganized, including the Crunchwrap Supreme. Subway just released a vegan sub at participating UK locations. Burger King is testing vegan whoopers at 59 locations in and around St Louis Missouri in the US.
Following Canada's recently updated dietary recommendations, the French government just changed theirs as well, telling French citizens that they should eat less meat, sugar + salt, and more fruits, veggies, whole grains + nuts.
Virgin Atlantic Airlines is removing beef + palm oil from their in-flight menus.
A new study shows that almost half of coffee drinkers in the UK ask for vegan milk when ordering coffee at a cafe. This is on par with reports that about half of Americans now regularly purchase non-dairy milk at grocery stores. In fact, experts predict that the dairy industry could completely disappear in the next 10 years. They've already lost over $1 billion dollars in revenue last year compared to the year prior, whereas the vegan milk market is booming, with sales excepted to exceed $34 billion by 2024.
IN ANIMAL WELFARE NEWS:
Madrid, Spain just banned wild animal circuses, citing that the needs of animals cannot be met in a circus environment where they are confined in cages for long periods of time. Madrid is the 64th municipality in Spain to ban wild animal circuses, and Spain is one of 26 countries around the world that have enacted this type of ban.
Sharks near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia can no longer be shot dead. Shark attacks are incredibly rare, but when they did occur, authorities would try to kill any sharks seen in the area, though this inhumane practice was not found to actually reduce the likelihood of a shark attack.
Following public outcry, the US department of agriculture has announced that it will stop testing on kittens. For 37 years, they'd secretly been feeding 2 month old kittens raw meat infected with toxoplasma parasites to study foodborne illnesses. The infected kittens were studied for 2-3 weeks, then unnecessarily killed, even though this illness is easily curable and the kittens could have, and should have instead been put up for adoption. Over 3,000 baby kittens were subject to these taxpayer-dollar-funded horrors, but luckily it's finally come to an end, and the USDA will be releasing it's last 14 kittens to be adopted by USDA employees.
Germany's last fur farm just closed down, following a national ban in 2017, thanks to heavy campaigning by PETA.
The state of New York is considering a bill to ban pet stores from selling dogs bred at a puppy mill. All pet shops would be required to obtain their animals from rescue shelters or humane societies only. If you live in New York, please call your local state rep and encourage them to support this legislation!
The California Horse Racing Board banned the use of riding crops so that horse jockeys can no longer whip their horses during a race. This comes after 22 horses have died in the last 5 months at the Santa Anita horse race track alone, though it's not clear how many of those deaths were directly related to whipping.
There's currently a bill in the Canadian Parliament that would fine any new park or aquarium in Canada up to $200,000 for holding captive any dolphins, whales or porpoises.unfortunately This