Day: December 3, 2021

Fur and Fur Farming

Armani says NO to Angora-we think it’s great!

We have some exciting news for rabbits!

Following talks with PETA, the Armani Group – whose iconic brands include Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani, EA7, and Armani Exchange – has confirmed that it has banned the use of angora in future collections.
The company implemented a ban on fur in 2016.

Today’s socially conscious fashion consumers want nothing to do with an industry that rips the hair out of fully conscious rabbits.

As more and more Italian designers and fashion houses are saying no to fur, angora, and other materials stolen from animals, it’s time for Italian legislators to catch up with the changing times and ban fur farms.

take action to make it happen: https://secure.peta.org.uk/page/64561/action/1

A few things about it: Around 7,000 minks a year are still imprisoned on Italy’s six remaining fur farms. It’s time to shut these facilities down.

Investigations into Italian mink farms have found that animals spend their short, miserable lives inside wire cages, with no access to grass or water to swim in.
Many are left with severe injuries, and some are driven to self-mutilation or cannibalisation of their cagemates by the stress of captivity.

The minks are killed when they’re only about 6 months old – crammed into a box and gassed to death.

These fur farms are putting public health in jeopardy, too. When it comes to the risk of spreading disease, they’re no different from the live-animal market in which the novel coronavirus is believed to have originated.
It’s very easy for infectious diseases to spread on fur farms through the exchange of urine, excrement, pus, and blood.
Minks with infections, sores, and festering, open wounds are a common sight.
Fur farmers and handlers are among those who most commonly suffer from the zoonotic bacterial disease tularaemia.

Following reports that minks tested positive for COVID-19 on fur farms in the Netherlands and that workers are believed to have contracted a strain of the virus from the animals, the Dutch parliament voted by an overwhelming majority to bring forward the implementation of a fur-farming ban in the Netherlands.

Such bans are already in place in Austria, the Czech Republic, Israel, the UK, and several other countries.

A meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council was held in June 2021, and the European Commission was called on to end the breeding of animals for the production of fur in the European Union.

Italy’s Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies Stefano Patuanelli showed support for the ban, declaring that “the breeding of animals for fur is no longer justifiable and Italy will give its maximum support to reach the European ban on this form of breeding”.

PETA is celebrating this progress and has written to Italian government officials, thanking them for taking the right steps forward.

Italians know that fur belongs in the history books, not in our wardrobes.

Over 90% of the country’s population is against fur farming; iconic Italian designer brands such as Armani, Gucci, Elisabetta Franchi, Prada, and Versace are all fur-free; and over the past 30 years, the number of fur farms in Italy decreased from 125 to six.

We must urge the Italian government to stay true to its word by ending all fur farming in Italy now – minks can’t wait any longer.

take action to make it happen: https://secure.peta.org.uk/page/64561/action/1

Amd I mean…The rabbit with the lush, delicate white fur is fixed on a rack.
The front legs are tied up and stretched far forward, the hind legs backwards.

A worker sits down over the rabbit and begins to tear out the fur from the small animal.
The rabbit screams, louder and louder, until his voice cracks in pain … Later the angora rabbit – with fleshy skin, the body covered with wounds – is put back in a narrow lattice cage.
(That immediately reminds me of the down “production”)

Up to 60 percent of the animals that are plucked die in the first two years. Also from hypothermia, because pneumonia can occur without fur
This is the reality behind angora wool.

90% of the angora fur comes from China, even if the finished product was made elsewhere.
Right now at Christmas time we appeal to all people not to buy an angora.

Leave Angora products in the closet and use herbal and synthetic alternatives.
Small things that you don’t pay much attention to can cause a lot of suffering.

My best regards to all, Venus

General News, Uncategorized, Vegan Recipes

This Vegan Chicken Factory Has Glass Walls For A Reason.
This Vegan Chicken Factory Has Glass Walls For A Reason
Planted recreates the textures, tastes, appearances, and nutritional value of chicken, pork, and beef. Credit: Planted Foods

This Vegan Chicken Factory Has Glass Walls For A Reason

Seeking to revolutionize how meat is perceived and consumed globally, Planted aims to trigger a fundamental rethink about the food we eat

by Leigh Venus26th November 2021

“If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian.”

In 2010, Sir. Paul McCartney lent his face and this famous quote to a PETA film that took viewers behind the opaque walls of slaughterhouses and factory farms.

Although one of the most well-known quotes in the animal rights movement, it took the team behind Planted Foods—a Swiss food tech company dedicated to ending animal suffering through tasty plant-based alternatives to meat—to run with the idea.

Convinced the food industry needed to be more transparent about ingredients and processes, Planted made this literal by building an enormous glasshouse around their production in the heart of their Switzerland-based factory.

Slaughterhouses are often miles away from urban centers, guarded by impenetrable walls and perplexing laws. To date, the primary means of drawing attention to the non-transparency1 of the industry has been through activists sneaking out footage of terrible conditions and practices. 

“We built our production under a greenhouse with glass walls and glass ceiling because we want to be transparent in the way we make meat today,” said Planted’s Co-Founder Pascal Bieri. “Unlike the animal meat industry, we have nothing to hide.”

Open, airy, and entirely transparent, the factory and ethos is a sharp contrast to the efforts of meat manufacturers to hide the horrors of their production processes from consumers. 

As Planted goes from strength to strength, the team invites everyone to visit their glass-walled factory to take a closer look at what they do. 

Beginnings and success

While working in the USA in 2017, Bieri became excited by the potential of plant-based meat replacement products coming to market and ​​saw an opportunity to challenge the status quo of the animal meat industry.

Initially collaborating with his cousin Lukas Böni who was completing a doctorate in food process engineering, financial specialist Christoph Jenny and Lukas’ fellow Ph.D. student Eric Stirnemann later rounded off the founding team of Planted Foods. 

United by a love of food, environment, and science, the co-founders spent 2018 deep in research and development at Lukas’ research university, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

Their goal was clear from the beginning: create plant-based options that could win over carnivores and vegans alike with clean, 100 percent natural ingredients and transparent processes.

In 2019, Planted received a Pioneer Fellowship, awarding access to infrastructure to fast-track small-scale production and create an early prototype of their first product, planted.chicken.  

Fuelled by new technology and a drive to provide ecologically friendly alternatives that could satisfy the cultural desire for meat, the team was thrilled by how close their plant-based product came to replicating the taste and texture of chicken.

Off the back of their initial success, Bieri and the team founded Planted in July 2019. The same year, dozens of restaurants across Zurich, Lucerne, and Geneva put Planted’s chicken on their menus. 

An injection of seven million Swiss francs powered construction of a production plant and offices in Kemptthal, Switzerland, and in 2020 Planted launched at one of Switzerland’s largest retail and wholesale companies.

Bieri believes the rise of Planted Foods is thanks to strict adherence to four core principles—natural ingredients, animal welfare, taste, and sustainability—nurtured by a team with complementary skill sets and a drive to change the world for the better.

Recently winning the top prize at the TOP 100 Swiss Startup annual awards2, Planted employs over 140 people and welcomes scores of consumers, schools, and groups to their production facility every month. 

Planted is now available at restaurants and retailers across Germany, Austria, France, and Switzerland. 

In the UK, products are available from the Planted webshop, and the company is rolling out its products at a range of venues, including the Elite family of pubs in Kent and Sussex. 

In October, Planted received the Best Artificial Chicken Product award at the Plant-Based World Europe Expo in London. 

“We’re super-excited about our launch into the UK market; consumer feedback has been fantastic,” Bieri enthused, “and winning the Award at the Expo makes our whole team proud too. We know that we’re on the right track and developing great-tasting products.” 

Continued on next page

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Environmental, General News

Scotland: Shell Pull Out of Cambo Oilfield Project – Breaking News 3/12/21.

This is a very quick post, with links, to inform you of the current situation with Shell.

WAV Comment:  We have covered articles recently on the site regarding Shell.  Here are some inks:

NL / UK: Shell; Eco Destroyers, Pull the Plug on the NL and Ready Instead for the UK. Watch the Environmentalist Girl Do Her Bit With the CEO On Video – Welcome Mr CEO to the UK ! – World Animals Voice

UK: Trick, Or Treat ? – On The Halloween Eve of COP26; Some New Revelations. Shell and BP Paid ZERO TAX On North Sea Gas and Oil for Three Years. – World Animals Voice

UK; Twas The Night Before COP26 – British Comedian Joe Lycett Holds ‘Shell’ (Oil Giant) To Account For Their Green Sales Techniques. He Literally Talks Shit ! – World Animals Voice

Today, 3/12/1; news has come through that Shell ae pulling out of their involvement with the Cambo filed off of Scotland.  Here are some news links just through to verify thia:

 

Shell pulls out of Cambo oilfield project | Oil | The Guardian

Shell pulls out of Cambo oil field development – BBC News

Shell shuns Cambo (theecologist.org)

But, regarding Shell operations in South Africa, we have had the following news:

 

Shell plans underwater explosions during peak whale mating season

Shell is planning to search for oil and gas on the South African coastline, a move that will threaten whales during mating season.

The oil giant is going to conduct underwater explosions to locate deep-sea oil and gas reserves, with vessels at sea for five months starting 1 December. They will travel between Morgan Bay in the south and Port St Johns – an area known as the Wild Coast.

These explosions generate loud shock wave emissions which penetrate through three km of water and 40 km into the Earth’s crust below the seabed, harming marine life in the process.

Although the survey will not involve drilling at this stage, it raises broader concerns around sea pollution, climate change and South Africa’s national energy policy. As well as fears about the future development of the region if Shell were to discover commercial quantities of oil or gas off this coast.

Kickback from activists on the ground

But the exploration plans are being met by fierce opposition by environmental activists in South Africa, some hailing from Cape Town’s branch of Extinction Rebellion.

A petition by Oceans Not Oil Coalition was started to try and get Barbara Creecy (South Africa’s Minister for the Environment) to revoke Shell’s permit and currently has nearly 363,000 signatures.

It says the explosions will leave whales, dolphins, seals, penguins, sharks and even crabs “panicked and damaged”, adding that the ship will work around the clock, firing air guns every 10 seconds.

“At a time when world leaders are making promises and decisions to step away from fossil fuels because climate science has shown we cannot burn our existing reserves (let alone drill for more),” it adds, “offshore oil and gas Operation Phakisa is pushing ever harder to get its hands on a local supply of gas.”

Happy Khambule is Senior Climate and Energy Campaign Manager for Greenpeace Africa. He calls Shell a “climate criminal”.

“Shell’s activities threaten to destroy the Wild Coast and the lives of the people living there. South Africa’s problems do not require violent extraction nor destruction of the environment and community livelihoods.

“The best and most immediate solution is a just transition to renewable energy, ensuring safe and decent/work jobs, and energy access for all,” he explains.

Tracy Carter describes herself as a concerned South African citizen, whose family come from the Wild Coast in the Transkei. She also spoke to Euronews Green about how devastated she would be if the Shell exploration goes ahead.

“To give you an idea about the Wild Coast, where my family come from, it is the most incredibly breathtaking place one could ever dream of. The ocean is lush and abundant with sea life in all shapes and sizes,” she says.

“I was honestly shocked that after the COP26 summit Shell had the gall to go ahead with the seismic surveys when the world is meant to be moving away from fossil fuels. There was absolutely no public notice given to South Africans about this matter.”

Tracy stresses that it’s important to make as many people as possible aware that this “heinous act” is going on.

Whales in South Africa

South Africa is one of the best destinations worldwide for watching whales and dolphins. Annual visits from humpback and southern right whales and the presence of enormous pods of dolphins all year-round provide amazing viewing opportunities both from land and boats.

Southern right and humpback whales migrate to southern Africa’s warmer waters between June and December, to mate and rear calves.

The whales’ annual visits from Cape Town to Mossel Bay are in fact so predictable that the south coast is also known as the ‘whale route’ and a whale festival is held every year at Hermanus.

Shell’s disruptive surveys will begin just as these whale families start making their way back to icy feeding grounds in Antarctica this year, meaning many could be harmed or killed along the way.

“Having grown up in one of the most unspoiled areas left on this planet and watching the migration of whales over the years, it means a lot to me to fight for the protection and conservation of this area and the sea life that will be affected if this seismic survey goes ahead,” adds Tracy.

In response to concerns about how underwater blasting would affect the marine environment, a Shell spokesperson told New Frame, “the impacts are well understood and mitigated against when performing seismic surveys. This is supported by decades of scientific research and the establishment of international best practice guidelines.

“There is no indication that seismic surveys are linked to (whale and dolphin) strandings,” they conclude.

Regards Mark