In 2015, McDonald’s, one of the world’s largest and most iconic fast-food chains, agreed to switch 100% of the eggs that it purchases to only cage-free eggs in U.S. locations by 2025. This announcement followed a decades-long global movement against the extreme confinement of farm animals that the Humane Society of the United States helped spearhead, a movement that continues today. We rejoiced when the company made this commitment, as it had the potential to decrease the suffering of literally millions of hens every year. Having worked closely with McDonald’s on its animal welfare commitments, we were heartened this week by the company’s announcement that it had reached this goal early, at the end of 2023.
The impact is nothing less than astronomical, as McDonald’s purchases nearly 2 billion eggs each year from agricultural supply chains for its U.S. locations.
A calorie of vegetables takes almost eight times less water to produce than a calorie of beef, and a calorie of cereal takes 20 times less! Better yet, crops use around 80% less land and emit 85% less greenhouse gas. Not to be outdone, plantbased meat, milk, and eggs use up to 95% less water and 91% less land than animal proteins and generate up to 92% less planet-warming carbon. Win. Win. WIN.
Excerpt from How to Eat Veg, a Mercy for Animals project.
From Amaretto Sours to Tempura Veggies and Pancakes, aquafaba, or bean brine, is that fabulous ingredient that makes your vegan recipes pop!
Excerpted from One Green Planet
Aquafaba is trending, but what exactly is it? For a four-syllable word, it’s actually quite simple. Aquafaba is bean brine that possesses very similar characteristics to egg whites. Traditionally taken from chickpeas, aquafaba whips up into a meringue-like consistency and provides a gentle, airy lift to various baked goods. Bakers have seen stunning results using aquafaba to recreate delicate pavlovas, tender cakes, and gooey vegan marshmallows, but it can be a bit more finicky to work with compared to your standard vegan egg replacer. Here is how to master the art of aquafaba and impress your co-workers, family, and friends with your newfound vegan baking prowess. They’ll never guess your secret is a can of beans.
Why use aquafaba instead of eggs?
While traditional baking recipes often call for chicken eggs, many elect to use a vegan alternative, like aquafaba, because of the ethical and environmental issues associated with the egg industry.
Most chickens are raised on industrialized factory farms where the conditions are cramped, dirty, and unhygienic. The birds have little room to express their natural behaviors, or even turn around. According to many reports, most hens on factory farms have roughly the same amount of space as an A4 piece of paper. But it gets worse. When these hens have chicks, only the females are kept in the industry. As male chicks cannot lay eggs, they are deemed unprofitable and unwanted, and so they are slaughtered. In the US alone, around 260 million male chicks are killed every year.
Lauren Toyota
Animal agriculture is also associated with major environmental problems, including high levels of greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. For example, in 2020, one report concluded that ammonia air pollution from chicken farms contributes 12 million pounds of nitrogen to the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the US, every year. This not only negatively impacts underwater ecosystems but also local communities who rely on the bay for drinking water.
When people tour our New York and California sanctuaries, they’re often most intrigued by the traits and behaviors of chickens—to them, it’s a surprise to learn that they are thinking, feeling beings. But countless studies are calling out the truth: “The evidence that chickens are intelligent and capable of feeling pain and suffering is overwhelming.”
Today marks another milestone in our global campaign to improve the lives of animals in agriculture, with Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, demanding changes in the way chickens are raised for their meat. Nestlé will require a specific set of important reforms from all of its suppliers and will phase out its use of chickens from farms that breed, house, and slaughter the birds in ways that are simply no longer acceptable. Read more…
I come from a working-class family – my father was a winning and hard-charging high school football coach and my mother a part-time secretary when she wasn’t managing a household of six (eight, if you include the dogs). Even though I loved animals, I had only a limited understanding of the depth and breadth of
Last summer, I reported on the launch of one of The HSUS’s biggest and most important campaigns in its 63-year history: an effort to improve conditions for the nine billion chickens we raise and slaughter for food each year in this country. These birds — called broilers — represent nine out of every 10 animals . . .
The announcement made today by Restaurant Brands International (RBI), the parent company for these two iconic brands, will positively impact the welfare of
I have not yet watched the video in the below link but as a longtime member of organizations like PETA and WSPA I have seen many and I’m enraged that this is still going on with suppliers of iconic fast food companies such as KFC. It really has to stop not to mention the damaged once-human beings that factory farming is breeding as fast as the livestock. Who knows what heinous acts people like this can carry out not only on animals, but people too. Please sign the petition and pass it on.
Pretextul acestui blog este mica mea colecție de fotografii vechi. În timp s-a transformat în pasiune. O pasiune care ne trimite, pe noi, cei de azi, în lumea de altădată, prin intermediul unor fotografii de epocă.
Pensamos demasiadamente e sentimos muito pouco. Necessitamos mais de humildade que de máquinas. Mais de bondade e ternura que de inteligência. Sem isso, a vida se tornará violenta e tudo se perderá. Charles Chaplin.
Funny, exciting and sometimes action-packed vegan-friendly children's comics, stories, picture books and nursery rhymes, FREE TO READ HERE and available in paperback from our bookshop.
Lauren Toyota
A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS 