Every month the news presents further reasons to take up plant based diets. Here are some articles that have recently caught my attention.
Matilda and the Brave Escape, April 22nd
A Vegan film is the Webby’s People’s Voice Winner 2025 in the animation category
https://winners.webbyawards.com/winners/video-film/general-video-film/animation
Based on the true story of Matilda the pig, the film was released in November 2024, https://www.matildaandthebraveescape.com
“Matilda and the Brave Escape is an uplifting and empowering short film based on the true story of Matilda, a pig who escaped from a farm in the UK and gave birth to her piglets in a nearby woodland – saving herself and her piglets from certain death”
Ed Winters, https://www.surgeactivism.org
Antarctic Krill Supertrawler Kills Humpback Whale : the trail leads to Scottish Salmon, April 18th
https://seashepherd.org/2025/04/18/antarctic-krill-supertrawler-kills-humpback-whale
The whale, which feeds on krill, was caught in the net of the Chilean Antarctic Endeavour which was fishing for krill in the same place.
Why are krill being fished?
“But krill are increasingly being fished by multinational companies to supply food for farmed fish in Scotland and around the world. A rich source of protein, they are also marketed as pet food and as human health supplements”
https://theferret.scot/antarctic-krill-fishing-boosted-fish-farming
This is not the only way that the animal feed industry is harming wildlife …
Sand eels
Good news. Britain banned Sand eel fishing last year in an effort to protect and sustain the numbers of puffins, auks and kittiwakes that eat them.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/eu-sand-eel-fishing-ban-brexit-b2683464.html January 21st
Bad News. Danish fishing vessels want to continue to fish them for animal feed
https://eurofish.dk/sand-eels-the-little-fish-with-huge-economic-importance
Good News. Plan for Norfolk megafarm rejected over environmental concerns, April 3rd
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/03/plan-for-norfolk-megafarm-rejected-by-councillors-over-environmental-concerns
The application, submitted by Cranswick, would have created one of the largest industrial poultry and pig units in Europe
Book : A Climate of Truth by Mike Berners Lee, published March 19th
“We have most of the technology we need to combat the climate crisis – and most people want to see more action. But after three decades of climate COPs, we are accelerating into a polycrisis of climate, food security, biodiversity, pollution, inequality, and more. What, exactly, has been holding us back? Mike Berners-Lee looks at the challenge from new angles”
Good News. How the Meaty Danes embraced a World-first Plant-Based Diet, February 2nd
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/31/more-carrot-less-stick-how-meat-loving-danes-were-sold-a-plant-led-world-first
Focus on what we want more of, not what we want less of. More carrot, less stick
“presented plant-based food as a business opportunity”
However, the Plant-Based action plan did not set targets for cutting meat consumption or livestock numbers. So only time will tell how successful it is. And when it comes to the climate crisis we are running out of time. And will sand eels still be stolen from endangered puffins to feed their livestock?
And yet another way that fish farming harms wildlife …
Humpback whale entangled in rope at Skye fish farm, January 30th
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy8p407d4vgo
Fortunately in this case the whale was freed
But other humpbacks have been found dead in East Lothian and Caithness following entanglements
The Government’s “Let’s Eat Balanced” Campaign is Unbalanced and Unhealthy, January 28th
The government campaign promotes consumption of red meat which is associated with coronary heart disease, some forms of cancer and type 2 diabetes. Another case of balancing Truth with Error. What would Mike Berners-Lee have to say about this?
https://feedbackglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/AHDB-Jan-2025.pdf
A group of environmental organisations have written a critical letter to the government about The Let’s Eat Balanced campaign : “The Let’s Eat Balanced campaign flies in the face of the government’s own public health and sustainability goals”
https://philiplymbery.com/why-are-we-still-being-told-to-eat-more-meat
For reference, here is the government board website
https://ahdb.org.uk/WeEatBalanced
Interestingly, the ‘H’ in the name, AHDB, is disingenuous. It stands for ‘Horticulture’. But the horticulture and potato sectors withdrew from the AHDB in 2021
