WAV Comment: More proof of how cruel the ‘dairy’ (animal milk) industry is.

Watch the video on the Independent link below.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/goats-milk-st-helens-farm-yoghurt-hit-kick-animal-cruelty-video-a9639021.html

Goats punched, hit, kicked and ‘left lame’ at farm supplying milk to Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose and Ocado, video shows

Animals were subjected to a string of brutal attacks at a farm that sells goats’ milk to Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and other supermarkets, footage from hidden cameras has revealed.

Goats were seen on video being punched, kicked, hit with a pole and slammed onto their backs at a plant that supplies St Helen’s Farm, in east Yorkshire.

The animals were also filmed crying in pain as they were held by their necks, had their ears tagged or their tails twisted.

Goat milk, yoghurts, cheese and ice cream sold by the St Helen’s Farm brand are the best-known goat milk products in the UK and are stocked by major supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Ocado. Demand has risen amid a switch away from cows’ milk in recent years.

Tesco immediately suspended the brand when shown the footage by The Independent. Waitrose and Booths, which has grocery stores around the north of England, followed suit.

About an hour’s worth of video was passed to the Surge animal rights group, which then showed it to a vet and to lawyers at Advocates for Animals, who it said “highlighted many serious issues”.

People filming using secret cameras told Surge that at one supply farm, they saw goats being:

• Kicked and punched
• Hit with a pole
• Held by the throat
• Having their tails twisted
• Shoved and roughly handled
• Left lame and struggling to stand or walk after the rough handling

Goats were also slammed onto their backs on a conveyor belt before their hooves were roughly trimmed, the video showed.

One was seen being dragged by one leg along the ground while struggling.

Animal suffering was also prolonged when injuries went untreated, the witnesses said after reviewing the footage.

The people behind the footage also reported seeing workers letting goats fall off an operating bed and become stuck between fences. In one case, a worker “played the drums” on a goat’s stomach after a procedure. The footage also shows farm employees dragging dead animals away in front of live ones, and Surge was told that dead and dying animals had been seen around the farm.

St Helen’s, which is a brand rather than a single farm, also buys goats’ milk from other farms in Yorkshire and the midlands. A spokesperson confirmed the footage was taken at one of St Helen’s supply farms, and as soon as the company was alerted by The Independent to the treatment of the animals, it cut off the supplier.

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 states animals, including farm animals, must be protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease.

Ed Winters, the co-founder and director of Surge, said: “St Helen’s is the most prominent and well-known goat company in the UK. They are regarded as being the best of the best when it comes to goat farming. But that means nothing to the animals.

“Goats are sensitive, curious and gentle animals, but the animal-farming industries treat them as commodities they can exploit for profit.

“St Helen’s say on their website the milk is a reward for looking after the goats and that their staff have a genuine interest and love for the animals. But it is obvious that the opposite is true at one of their supplying farms.”

He added: “These animals are thrown around and dragged and when they’re no longer producing enough milk to be considered profitable, they’re killed.”

Surge says about 50,000 mostly male dairy kids are slaughtered each year.

Cows sexually abused and hit at farm owned by NFU deputy chief

St Helen’s Farm told The Independent it was supplied by farms that were expected to comply with a rigorous code of conduct and that it had several animal-welfare accreditations, adding: “Today we have been made aware of allegations that one farm has infringed animal welfare standards, which we would find totally unacceptable if true.

“We have immediately ceased all milk supply from this farm and launched a full investigation to determine the facts of this matter.”

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We require high animal-welfare standards from all brands sold at Tesco, so these claims are deeply concerning. We have immediately suspended supply whilst we investigate the matter further.”

A Waitrose spokesperson said the chain was suspending St Helen’s after reading this article.

The Independent has also asked the other supermarkets to respond.

A spokesperson for the British Retail Consortium (BRC), representing supermarkets, said: “Our members take their responsibilities to animal welfare very seriously and work closely with trusted suppliers so that high welfare standards are upheld.

“They have strict processes in place and will thoroughly investigate any evidence of non-conformity to ensure that any problems are immediately addressed. The BRC continues to support unannounced audits on farms to ensure compliance with all farm standards, particularly animal welfare.”

https://www.plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/plant-based-food-market-worth-74-billion-by-2027

Researchers Predict Plant-Based Food Market Will Be Worth $74.2 Billion By 2027

Drivers for the increase include a larger vegan population and ‘increasing incidences of intolerance for animal protein’

LIAM GILLIVER

JUL 26, 2020

Market researchers have predicted the plant-based food market will be worth more than $74 billion by the year 2027. 

In a new report conducted by Meticulous Research, the plant-based market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.9 percent from 2020 for the next seven years. 

Drivers for the increase include an ‘increased’ vegan population, ‘significant investments in plant-based product companies, and ‘increasing incidences of intolerance for animal protein’.

‘Unprecedented demand’

“[COVID-19] has led to some best practice models for plant-based products industry as the pandemic has conveyed to the forefront the connection between public health and animal meat consumption, which provides consumers a ground to go for a plant-based diet,” the report states.

“From a manufacturing and distributing point of view, this industry has faced unprecedented demand from manufacturers as well as consumers, particularly for some products such as meat analog and plant-based milk. 

“Many companies in the space of alternative protein products have already started changing their strategies, owing to the sudden growth in demand.”

COVID-19

Recently, U.S vegan meat sales skyrocketed by 280 percent amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The crisis, which has resulted in meat shortages and temporary closure of slaughterhouses around the world, is said to have boosted the sales of plant-based meat as more people are afraid of ‘animal-borne illnesses’.

Many high-profile experts and celebs have also warned of the link between factory farming and zoonotic disease outbreaks. 

You can read the full report here

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jul/25/uk-demand-for-new-vegan-food-products-soars-in-lockdown

UK demand for new vegan food products soars in lockdown

Trademarks registered double in a year as supermarkets and restaurants eye fast-growing sector

The number of trademarks registered for new vegan food and drink products in the UK more than doubled to a record high last year.

Latest figures reveal that companies successfully applied for 107 trademarks in 2019 for everything from ice cream to meat-free burgers – a 128% increase on the 47 recorded in 2018 – as consumer demand for vegan alternatives continued to soar.

They were filed prior to lockdown, but supermarkets have meanwhile reported strong sales of plant-based ranges since the coronavirus outbreak began, highlighting the fragility of the traditional food chain.

The vegan halo: how plant-based products are transforming British brands

Read more

The ongoing trend reflects people paying closer attention to their diet during lockdown, increasingly adopting “flexitarian” diets – cutting down on meat and dairy while eating more plant-based foods.

The new trademark figures are compiled by law firm EMW, which says the fast-growing vegan food category is now attracting interest from large multinational businesses with the resources to invest heavily in branded products.

Among them are consumer goods giant Unilever, which has trademarked vegan ice cream for its Magnum and Ben and Jerrys brands.

With further innovations in the pipeline, two manufacturers – Upfield and Beyond Meat – have trademarked product names based on variations of “Beyond Butter”, “Beyond Cheese” and “Beyond Mince”. Upfield, the owner of Flora, bought the vegan cheese producer Violife for a reported €500m (£455m) earlier this year.

Daisy Divoka, an associate at EMW, said: “There are now more vegan products on supermarket shelves than ever before. Multinational corporations have identified this as a fast-growing sector and are competing to register their trademarks with the aim of capturing and defending a share of the market.”

Discount supermarket chain Lidl has trademarked a range of vegan products including pastries and baguettes, while restaurant chains Honest Burger and Leon also entered the fray for meat substitutes and plant-based condiments. The furniture chain Ikea will next month start selling “plant balls”; versions of its eponymous meatballs made from pea protein.

Sainsbury’s, which has trademarked its mushroom-based “shroomdog”, reported double-digit growth of its plant-based and meat-free range. Rosie Bambaji, plant-based buyer at Sainsbury’s said: “We expect to see this area continue to grow as we emerge out of lockdown.”

Tesco said it had launched more than 30 new plant-based products across its Wicked Kitchen and Plant Chef ranges in June, including BBQ, Asian-inspired and meal kits. Plant-based barbecue options had proved very popular during the recent hot weather, it said.

Companies can also apply to use the Vegan Society’s sunflower logo, for which they pay a licensing fee based on turnover. A spokeswoman said: “We have only recently starting reporting by category but the number of fashion products registered has doubled so far in 2020. Drinks, household and toiletry products are our next biggest growth categories.”

https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-pandemic-spanish-bullfighting-f464d851-cd26-4b41-865e-aaf4917f13f5.html?utm_campaign=organic&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_source=twitter

The coronavirus pandemic could wipe out Spanish bullfighting

The coronavirus pandemic has affected sports across the globe, and in Spain, it could wipe out the age-old sport of bullfighting altogether.

Why it matters: For years, an increasingly vocal contingent of Spaniards have been pushing for the end of what they see as “torturing animals as a form of spectacle.” Now, the economics are such that the bullfighting industry could die out regardless of the opposition.

The backdrop: As countless fights and festivals were cancelled, many breeders were forced to sell their bulls for slaughter, which only recoups about 10% of the investment required to rear a fighting bull.

• With that math failing to add up — a month ago, industry losses were already estimated to be ~$800 million — bullfighting supporters have staged protests across the country to demand government subsidies.
• “We want them to treat us as they would any other cultural industry,” said breeder Victorino Martín, who also heads the Fundación del Toro de Lidia, a group charged with defending the industry.

The other side: Over 160,000 people have signed a petition aiming to block any subsidies, hoping the pandemic can serve as a form of natural selection for an industry they’ve tried to squash for decades.

The big picture: Spain officially began reopening bullfighting rings over the weekend, but it remains to be seen what the long-term fallout of the past three months will be.

• The industry is still furious over the government’s lack of financial support, and the restrictions in place as the country tries to responsibly reopen will make it impossible for them to meaningfully recoup what’s already been lost.
• Meanwhile, those who oppose bullfighting see a unique opportunity to rid Spain of something they view as a “national shame” and a “barbaric cruelty.”

The bottom line: The centuries-old tradition of bullfighting may need to find a way to evolve with the times, or else it could meet the same fate as the nearly 10,000 bulls each year that die in the ring.