Viva!Life Issue 68 | Summer 2018

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Published by Viva! the vegan campaigning group

John Robb’s view of the world

life Issue 68 Summer 2018

Prevention is better than cure

Says Tony Wardle

We know who you are

Moo Free May

Results of our mega survey

Mouth watering dairy-free cookery…

Review of nationwide street action

and fish & chips you won’t believe

Death by chocolate

Magical interview with Evanna Lynch

Viva!’s latest shocking dairy exposé

(Harry Potter’s Luna Lovegood)

VIVA! VICTORY KAN

GAROO M EAT DISAPPE ARS FRO M ALL SUPE RMARKE TS

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ƍƇĈ UžńÝōā Gŕŕāž iƇāɚ ɫ ­Ĉńɔ ʔɂɂ ɧȾɨ ȿɅȾȾ ɃȾɃɁɃɅ

sŕ ÝŸƇĭƼûĭÝń ûŕńŕƍŸž ŕŸ ŴŸĈžĈŸƣÝƇĭƣĈžɚ i Ý û Ƈ ŕ ž Ĉ ğ Ÿ Ĉ Ĉ ɫ ( Ý ĭ Ÿ ƪ ğ Ÿ Ĉ Ĉ ɫ I ń ƍ Ƈ Ĉ ō ğ Ÿ Ĉ Ĉ ɫ " ĩ ŕ ń Ĉ žƇ Ĉ Ÿ ŕ ń ğ Ÿ Ĉ Ĉ

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Viva!’s fight is a fight for life – for animals and ourselves. Through effective campaigning, we take the brutal reality of intensive farming to the people who can effect the most change: consumers. Our wide-ranging campaigns promote veganism as the best way to save animals from suffering, protect the environment and improve health.

We have cleared most shelves of so-called ‘exotic meats’; our campaign against the factory farming of pigs, turkeys and ducks saw deaths dive; we are closer to a foie-gras free Britain and meat and dairy consumption are down in the UK thanks to Viva!, in part, and you. Viva! is a registered charity (1037486). viva.org.uk

Contents 8 16 8 EVANNA LYNCH Harry Potter star tells all

11 DEATH BY CHOCOLATE Shocking undercover exposé

14 LIFE SCIENCE 16 MOO-FREE MAY Nationwide street action

Viva!Health is a section of Viva! that promotes the health benefits of a vegan diet. The diseases that kill many of us prematurely can mostly be prevented by consuming a plant-based diet – Viva!Health explains why. We provide accurate information about healthy eating to the public, health professionals, schools and food manufacturers.

We campaign on important issues including the harmful effects of dairy foods, heart health, how to help combat obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and breast cancer and the dangers of eating dairy, eggs, fish and meat. vivahealth.org.uk

HOW TO GET THIS MAGAZINE Join Viva! to get your copy of Viva!life magazine three times a year for only £15 (£12 unwaged).

You’ll also receive a supporters’ card – giving you discounts at hundreds of shops and on services and holidays (see myvegantown.org.uk/discounts) – plus a free car sticker. Call 0117 944 1000 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm) or join online at viva.org.uk/join.

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Cover photo © Toby Shaw

WHO WE ARE

21 JOHN ROBB 23 WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE

27

Viva!’s survey results

24 SANCTUARY IN POLAND Home to hundreds of animals

27 LIP SMACKING RECIPES …and no dairy in sight

32 PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE Tony Wardle bites the charity hand

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34 MEDIA LIFE 36 LIFESTYLE Good vegan living

40 MERCHANDISE Heavenly products

43 THANGAM DEBBONAIRE …talks to Viva!

45 KANGAROO VICTORY Supermarkets drop ‘roo meat

47 LIVE EXPORTS 49 RESTAURANT REVIEWS 51 BOOK REVIEWS 57 CLASSIFIEDS

45 viva.org.uk 3

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Welcome

VIVA!LIFE MAGAZINE

With each issue of Viva!life I seem to be saying that this has been our busiest period ever. Well it’s true – we are now making more interventions than ever on behalf of animals, making the word ‘vegan’ commonplace and expanding the vegan revolution. But there is still a long way to go and our undercover exposé of dairy farming illustrates that (see page 11).

For me and my team it was necessary but none-the-less heart breaking to have to witness the suffering of mothers and calves separated from each other; to film the physical ravages of milk production and then to have to call out a vet to euthanize a cow who seemed to have been abandoned to a slow death.

On a more cheerful note, the allure of Harry Potter simply goes on increasing so when one of its leading actors – Evanna Lynch who plays Luna Lovegood – asked to interview me for her hugely popular Chickpeeps podcast, of course I said yes. I then interviewed her and you can read her really honest and open-hearted responses to my questions starting on page eight.

Social media always wants a hook upon which to hang a story and so we created MooFree May. A whole range of mini films and memes reached about 500,000 people and colourful street actions engaged many in numerous cities but underlying the jollity was the reality of our dairy investigation. People could not believe that this scale of abuse still takes place in Britain.

Viva! Poland continues with its amazing work but in this issue we introduce you to our huge, 52-acre animal sanctuary just outside Warsaw (page 24). Its hugely successful rehoming programme ensures there is always space for abused animals to be rescued and nursed back to health. It really is a jewel in the crown of our work in Poland and by adopting one of its lovely animals you will be helping support their work.

It really has taken some time but our unrelenting pressure has finally persuaded Lidl and Iceland to clear their shelves of kangaroo and other exotic meat. If necessary, we will do it all again.

Last year you painstakingly filled in a written questionnaire for our important survey about you and others who support us. The findings make extremely interesting reading (page 23).

Michael Gove is the secretary of state at the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural affairs and farming comes under his control. Despite an avalanche of science showing that animal products are at the heart of the epidemics of ill health, he made an announcement a couple of months ago that was shameful in its inaccuracy: “Meat is essential for good health!” On page 32 Tony Wardle looks at some other institutions that are less than forthright about the Western diet and its devastating ill effects.

But… times are changing and we are witnessing the last hurrahs of many organisations whose days of ignoring science and research are numbered.

Yours for the animals

Viva! Founder & International Director Juliet Gellatley Editor Tony Wardle Campaigns Manager Lex Rigby Campaigns & Outreach Claire Palmer, Siobhan Dolan, Sam Ashman, Laura-Lisa Hellwig Viva!Health Researchers & Campaigners Veronika Powell, Dr Justine Butler Office Manager & Supporters’ Liaison Laura Turner, Nick Hallows, Beata Rzepecka-Wilk, Shelley Bligh-Wall Merchandise, Business, Festivals & Events Liam Nolan, Sophie Delarny, Emilie Lecocq Food & Cookery Maryanne Hall Design The Ethical Graphic Design Company Ltd Web Laura Canfield, Ana Hassel, Johnathan Skinner, Rhiannon Purnell Podcast Presenter Kristian Townsend Database Manager Jeremy Ludlow Editorial enquiries 0117 970 4633 Advertising enquiries 0117 944 1000 Membership enquiries 0117 944 1000 info@viva.org.uk Online viva.org.uk vivahealth.org.uk veganrecipeclub.org.uk vivavegancharity vivacampaigns vivacharity Viva!, 8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QH

Juliet Gellatley Founder & Director Juliet@viva.org.uk facebook.com/juliet.gellatley

General enquiries Contact Viva! on 0117 944 1000 (Mon-Fri 9-5).

Email info@viva.org.uk Write to Viva! at: 8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QH 4

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vegan is a staTe of kind Kind to you, animals and the planet

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lifelines Keep on mocking Thank you to all those who responded to my article on mock meat in the last issue of Viva!life. Almost everyone supported Viva!’s policy statement that novel meat products have the potential to save animals from suffering and protect the environment. I say almost everyone – just two people felt we should not encourage bio meats. Truth is, whatever we say, there is a tidal wave of change beginning to flow through society.

In the first week following its launch, Tesco sold almost 40,000 Dutch-made Vivera steaks and some stores sold out on the first day. Sales across Europe will also shortly take off. In the same month, Tesco launched the Wicked Kitchen line, developed in collaboration with chefs Derek and Chad Sarno.

Fast Company is an organisation that seeks answers to the world’s seemingly intractable problems and reports that Future Meat Technologies, who developed the first burger from animal cells, is predicting that prices for its ‘meat’ will drop to affordable levels by 2020 at about £2 per pound, less than US beef. The first burger made by the company was valued at $325,000. The big US meat boys have invested money in this venture.

Even the New Scientist has got involved with a major feature extolling the virtues of new plant-based burgers – for taste as well as reduced environmental impact.

Dominika’s close shave Visitors to our Cardiff Festival in February just couldn’t resist and gathered around to watch Dominika Paál do the dramatic – have her luscious locks lopped off! It was a celebration of her first vegan anniversary and determination to raise money for Viva!. And she did – a magnificent £320.84 – which makes her a Team Viva! Hero.

You can watch the event in full on Dominika’s Team Viva! Hero page – viva.org.uk/braveheadshave

Julie’s Double-Whammy!

Julie Morris-Smith set herself a goal of how much she could raise for Viva! when she entered the 54-mile cycle ride from London to Brighton. And she smashed it, raising an extraordinary £1369.55! Phenomenal!

But that wasn’t enough and Julie immediately started training for the Brighton Marathon to raise more money. Despite a foot injury, she covered the 26 miles in five hours and 15 minutes. Again Julie smashed her goal, doubling it to another £1016 for Viva! – £2385.55 in total! Incredible!

“Animals are my life,” says Julie. “I’m no athlete, just a regular 43 year old housewife with five chickens, an English Bull Terrier, an amazing husband and very arthritic knees and feet – and I love living a cruelty-free lifestyle”.

Admiration and congratulations to Julie from all here at Viva!.

What a hero indeed!

You too can be one of our Team Viva! Heroes. Go to viva.org.uk/team-viva or contact Shelley on 0117 944 1000.

We’d love to hear from you!

Hi Ho Tinto – for Vegan Chef of the Year Executive Chef Kenny Leary from the Tinto Hotel in Biggar has won Vegan Chef of the Year 2018 at the Scottish Food Awards. His showcase was the four-course vegan tasting menus for the hotel’s dinner evenings – changed for every event.

They cost £25 per person.

“To be recognised for covering a food area that most chefs shy away from is so pleasing for our team,” says chef Kenny Leary.

Tinto Hotel is nestled in five acres of stunning gardens in the glorious border country at 44 Biggar Road, Symington, Biggar ML12 6FT (01899 308454).

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lifelines One Planet – Several Pizzas

Healing of Planet Earth

In 2017, father and son team, Mike and Joe Hill launched the UK’s first frozen vegan pizza company, One Planet Pizza. This independent family business specialise in making artisan, hand-stretched frozen pizzas and are based just outside Norwich, Norfolk.

This May they paid a trip to our offices and their delicious pizzas went down a treat with the Viva! team! You can guarantee theirs’ are the only pizzas that have chia and flaxseeds in their bases! The choices are Three Sheese Margherita, Hawaiian, Exotic Funghi Feast and Mediterranean Roasted Vegetable, all topped with Bute Island’s mozzarella cheese.

You can find a stockist near you at oneplanetpizza.com/where-to-buy

A new, award-winning documentary called H.O.P.E What You Eat Matters has been released. It is fronted by Austrian author and filmmaker Nina Messinger who takes us on a journey through Europe, India and the US to investigate the consequences of our diet. The conclusion is pretty stark – a vegan diet is now vital. H.O.P.E can be viewed on Plant Based News’ YouTube channel.

Some of our old friends are interviewed in the film – Dr. Jane Goodall, Professor Colin Campbell, surgeon Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr, and psychologist Melanie Joy. hope-theproject.com/the-film

Photo © ARIWA

Gove’s Gobsmacking Guff

Ag Gag – Not for Germany Several states in the US have introduced laws to criminalise undercover investigations into farming, no matter what cruelties or illegal practices they unearth. And the clamour for similar Ag Gag legislation is growing in Britain, with Viva! as the main target. But Germany is having none of it! The German Federal Court of Justice has ruled that it is entirely legal to carry out, and publish the results of, undercover investigations.

The case results from a 2012 investigation by the German group Animal Rights Watch (ARIWA) into an organic egg unit in which appalling images of suffering were obtained.

They were shown by TV station MDR and in an attempt to prevent any further showing of the footage, farm owners Fürstenhof GmbH sued. The court decided that even though the conditions inside the farm were largely legal, it was legitimate to expose them. This was a victory for press freedom, investigative journalism – and the animals.

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I don’t know how he’s managed it but Secretary of State for the Department of the Environment Food & Rural Affairs, Michael Gove, has managed to cast himself in the role of Mr Green. You want pigs in proper blankets, I’ll give it to you! Ban live exports?

Of course! Protect our green and pleasant land? Certainly!

This is the man who is killing badgers – pursuing their slaughter with all the zeal of Genghis Khan and who extended the ‘cull’ on the same day a different government department pronounced it as utterly ineffective. He’s now sanctioned its spread to five more areas. Just as bad, he recently announced that “…meat is an essential part of our diet,” denying a mountain’s worth of scientific research.

He is a politician to the corners of his irritating little smile and these crass actions are designed for one purpose only – to bolster the rural electors on whom he and his party depend, supporting their ill-conceived demands without hesitation.

Read This Mr Gove!…

Wholefood vegan diets far exceed expectations!

In April, at the Unite to Cure Fourth International Vatican Conference, Walter Willett – professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard Medical School – announced that according to Harvard scientists, at least one-third of early deaths could be prevented through a plant-based diet. He added that its benefits had been vastly underestimated.

The findings of this hugely influential organisation have yet to be published but Prof Willett added: “We see that a healthy diet is related to a lower risk of almost every disease we looked at. Not too surprising because everything in the body is connected by the same underlying processes.”

His team found that a plant-based diet produced a 35 per cent fall in cholesterol in just two weeks, directly comparable with statin drugs but without the myriad of side effects.

You can read about the power of a vegan diet in Viva!Health’s The Incredible Vegan Health Report (see page 46).

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Pizza? Don’t mind if I do, says Juliet to Mike and Joe Hill

VIVA!’S SHORTS UK hospitals plans to serve certified vegan meals as part of the healthy food initiative, Catering For Everyone.

Following Viva!’s 2017 investigation into Lambrook Pig unit, we are pleased to announce that the place has now officially been closed. viva.org.uk/lambrookclosure Viva!Health attended the UK’s first plant-based medical conference which was crowded with vegan doctors, students and other health professionals.

All those we spoke to reported similar problems to ours of being taken seriously. Our information simply flew out and we’ll need much more for the next conference in Glasgow.

Left: Juliet, founder of Viva! joined in solidarity with West Midlands Animal Save and Birmingham Animal Action on June 23 in Victoria Square, Birmingham, for the Men’s Health magazine recently March to Close ran an extremely positive vegan Slaughterhouses. Juliet feature with great guest spoke of the absolute need contributors. Catch up with it on for slaughter to end, how the podcast Viva! Is constantly campaigning to that soundcloud.com/richroll end and why the Support vegan VBITES recently Viva! with an revolution is analysed the protein instant donation by here – and texting VLPR00 £5 content of its vegan we’re all part (or any amount you like!) fish fingers and found of it, making to 70070 history it to be higher than in (Your data is only shared if you agree to Gift Aid.

Birds Eye fish fingers.

Bottom: a Processed via So much for ‘where do petition of over JustGiving.) you get your protein?’

100,000 signatures VBites claim to be the for a Fur-Free Britain was recently presented to pioneers of plant-based foods the British government at 10 and it was all down, they say, to Downing Street. Several the inspiration of Juliet Gellatley, animal groups, including Viva!’s director. They now have Viva!, joined together for 104 products available in 24 this cause and the number of countries with 80 awards and are signatures ensures the motion will be discussed in a truly international vegan parliament. At the back is company. Check them out on Brian May, front row far left VBITES.com is Viva!’s Laura-Lisa Hellwig

Spring Raffle Results Our biggest ever first prize of £2000 was won by: S Melbourne, West Sussex (ticket 174960).

Second prize of £300: Won by Sarah Miller, Kent (127869) but very kindly donated back to Viva!. Thank you so much Sarah.

Third prize of £200: S Dugmore, Cornwall (112257).

Fourth prize hamper: S Carlo, London (121198).

Fifth prize hamper: C Lamming, Lincs (181361).

Runners-up each receive a £50 voucher from Vegetarian Shoes: B Blaxland, Devon (171501) and J Phelan, Birmingham (132482).

Congratulations to the lucky winners and many thanks to all who entered.

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Evanna as Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Evanna Lynch on the magical influence playing Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter had on her life – and how going vegan changed it for good

BY JULIET GELLATLEY, FOUNDER OF VIVA!

“

bsessed,” was the reply when I asked Evanna to describe her interest in Harry Potter before she was chosen to play Luna Lovegood. I’m not sure why this surprised me as millions of people are fanatical about J K Rowling’s mystical Hogwart’s world! Evanna explains: “My mum brought Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone home when I was eight. My first reaction was, ‘I don’t want to read about a boy with glasses’. Then I overheard mum reading it to my brother and I was hooked! My room turned black because of the Harry Potter posters that covered it and I had some cast autographs from writing fan letters, that’s how bad I was!”

What an amazing story that a child so passionate about a series of books ends up playing a main role in the films. How did she get the part of Luna?

“I followed the Harry Potter fan site, Mugglenet, and saw the open audition announcement in January 2006 – I was 14. I queued for four hours, had no preparation and then they gave me a few lines to read for just a few minutes. That was it! One week later I was called for a screen test and three days later they told me I had the part. It all happened crazy fast!” u

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d a e r p S a li le

a n

ev

Photo Š Faye Thomas

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n l a w a y a s s g a a e v w "I in the mak ing"

n magi

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I’m sat with Evanna in her cosy London apartment, having just been interviewed by her and her close friend and co-host, actor Robbie Jarvis (Harry Potter’s dad in flashback scenes) for Evanna’s weekly, popular podcast, Chickpeeps (chickpeeps.com). She asked me about the egg industry and my founding of Viva!. Puff, her fluffy grey cat, is stretched out by my mic making me feel at home.

Evanna is warm, grounded, bright – a bit dreamy, arty – and very likeable. She talks with a gentle Irish accent which has been infiltrated by an American twang. She tells me she was painfully shy as a child so I wonder how she had the courage to audition for Luna Lovegood.

“I reflect on this a lot,” she revealed, “but how do I tap into the mindset I had then because I just didn’t have any doubts. I feel there are some things in life that you’re just meant to do and the critical voices and selfdoubt is silenced because your purpose is crystal clear.

“I guess it must have been something like your feelings when you investigate factory farms – you don’t want to be there, you don’t want to witness the suffering but your passion and love for animals means that those things are irrelevant. That’s what I felt like. I was a shy child but I loved the character of Luna, I connected with her and I had a sense of her spirit. I felt passionately about wanting to protect the integrity of her character because she had been such a helpful influence on me.”

I have the feeling that Evanna’s teenage years were troubled and probe further about how Luna shaped her life. She was open and clear: “Luna was such an outsider – odd – and so she was bullied. What I loved about her was that she was weird but wore it lightly, not defiantly, and didn’t try to change herself. She was just perfect at ‘being’. I felt out of place, too, but I was hiding from it, self-critical rather than embracing who I am. The most beautiful thing about Luna’s character is that she was completely natural. No matter who she was with, she would never alter herself to please them. I loved that total selfpossession and comfort in herself and I wanted that.

I wanted to feel as weird and awkward as I was – but not bad about it.”

Evanna’s portrayal of Luna is completely convincing and she’s received critical acclaim all over the world but the praise which must have topped it all was from J K Rowling herself. She gave a speech at the world premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in 2011 and said there were seven major cast members in the series and she referred to them as The Big Seven. They included Evanna and J K Rowling revealed that it was Evanna who had the most influence on how her character was subsequently written. Later she said that when writing the final books: “I saw her.

She got in my head. I even heard [Evanna’s] voice when I was writing Luna.”

Aged 11, Evanna developed an eating disorder which she battled with for three years until the physical symptoms disappeared but her negative relationship with food tore at her for longer. She told me that when playing Luna: “I’d get glimpses of the feeling of being her. As me, I would walk into a room and feel self-doubt, like an imposter, whereas playing Luna, I’d be wearing these crazy costumes and had the feeling of belonging, at peace, and I didn’t have to try with anyone. She gave me that and it made me practice it more.

“It was difficult back then because as an actor you go to fancy awards ceremonies, wear fancy dresses and people ask you who you are. The sense of not being

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enough can be very strong and her presence helped me.

I would always try and tap in to my Luna and say to myself, ‘no, you’re here, enjoy it! Don’t miss this experience because you feel unworthy of it’. And over the years, having Luna as a cover, somebody to hide behind, helped me grow into myself.

“Some people would see me as Luna and would thank me for what she did for them. At first I was intimidated and then thought, ‘get over yourself’! If the character of Luna can do for Harry Potter fans what she did to me, then that was an amazing perk. I started talking openly about bullying and eating disorders and people said it gave them comfort. It helped me too – just talking about my eating disorder distanced me from it. I was getting a sense of identity and purpose through what I could do for other people. I know that sounds wanky… it just made the picture bigger than me and that helped me heal”.

Evanna is a petite, pretty, striking young woman with beautiful, big kind blue eyes – and she’s a picture of health. I wondered when and why she went vegan and how that shaped her attitude to food?

CONTINUED ON PAGE 52

Top: Evanna in a scene from her latest movie, My Name is Emily Bottom: Evanna with her cat Puff

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Juliet Gellatley goes undercover on six dairy farms

Death by chocolate Viva!’s latest investigation reveals that dairy is a cocktail of disease, misery and death

BY JULIET GELLATLEY

E

veryone reading this has, or had, a mum – and many of you, like me, will be a mum. The mother-child bond is magnificently fierce and the love unconditional.

The whole process of becoming a mum is magical, miraculous. Throughout the nine-month pregnancy you feel your baby slowly growing and powerful feelings develop for him or her (or them, in my case!) that are hard to put into words. Almost everyone’s instincts, mother or not, is to protect the very young and defend them from suffering.

I began Viva!’s dairy investigations with a heavy heart for the simple reason that the dairy industry thrives on – depends upon – twisting and destroying motherhood, abusing and distorting it.

A drive through the dark, down narrow country lanes led us to Halswell farm in South Devon. Its owners also run neighbouring Younghouse Farm which supplies Arla – the second largest dairy group in the world. Despite being the early hours, there was plenty of activity. A quad bike zoomed past us and then a car stopped nearby… my heart raced and I knew that with so many people around we would have little time to film.

With my brave colleagues I clambered over a gate and then a wall before entering a dairy shed that was divided into two areas – mums and mums to be. The idyllic image of dairy farming that has been purposely fostered was shattered as an emaciated cow, bedraggled and depressed, limped by me, her head hung low, barely able to walk. She was one of the saddest souls I’ve ever met.

Her pelvic bones and spine starkly protruded from her wasting body and she had clearly been a long time in the decline – almost certainly left to struggle on because she

was still producing a profitable amount of milk.

Next to her was a cow with udders so pendulous and unnaturally full that her hind legs were forced apart and she walked with a painful gait. In another shed, a sense of neglect hung thickly in the foetid air. One poor animal had a protruding, bright blue eyeball with no iris, a product of severe pressure which must have produced acute pain. One cow was lying in the straw and I could barely believe it – she was giving birth.

Bitter-sweet feelings flooded my heart as, like us, this mother had gone through a long, nine-month pregnancy and here was its culmination – her baby. I felt a wonderful warmth as I was privileged to witness this miracle as the little calf, perfect and beautiful, appeared from her into the world. And then came the nausea – I knew that within a couple of days, her baby would be stolen from her. u

This poor soul was a wreck, she limped by me, her wasting body wracked with pain. Not some aberrant small farm but owned by a supplier of Arla, the second biggest dairy group in the world

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The awful reality truly hit home – the dairy industry is predicated on stealing babies from their mothers. We have no right to do this; it is abhorrent, shameful, disgusting and I will do all I can to expose it. All farms do it – extensive ‘free range’, zero grazing or organic – it is their modus operandi.

The dairy industry’s business plan is simple and deadly. Impregnate cows through artificial insemination.

Take the calves away almost immediately after birth.

Extract every drop of the cows’ milk for human consumption. Selectively breed cows so that they produce 10 times more milk than is natural. Kill them for cheap meat when they are worn out after just three or four years. Keep female calves to replace their wasted mothers. Shoot male calves in the head at a day old or kill them later for veal or beef.

And there was this mother, lowing at the birth of her baby but only seconds later, a farm worker arrived. As he had his back to me, I was able to climb a gate and hide. That was a close call.

On to the next farm… I had heard that Fairfield Farm in South Devon, which makes Aunty Moo’s ice cream, had calves isolated in hutches. This is not unusual but at

This cow had an eyeball protruding from its socket – a vet told us she would be in acute pain. Farm owned by a supplier of Arla

A Cadbury calf – alone and desperate, suckled my fingers for comfort. Her mum was metres away but they were parted forever so all her milk could be used for chocolate

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I witnessed the four months old, these little girls had been there twice as miracle of birth at long as the law recommends. They should have been Arla – knowing group housed with other calves at two months old unless this baby would a vet had endorsed this protracted, solitary confinement. be taken from her Four calves stood in the tiny, fenced-off area outside mum within their hutches, thick with mud and excreta. None had hours, never to see each other water and they could only just about turn around so again small was the space. I knelt by one and she desperately sucked my fingers.

But there was more to shock me at Fairfield Farm.

On a wet, filthy concrete floor we came across a cow Help Viva! save who was so ill she could not move, not even lift her lives. Donate to this head. Her body was wasting away and revealed campaign instantly by large sores, both old and new. Her hind legs were texting 70070 VLPR00 £5 shackled, like she was some dangerous criminal. (or any amount you like!)

Shackling is a sad and depressingly common sight to 70070 (Your data is only shared if you and usually done following nerve damage during agree to Gift Aid. Processed birth, after which the cow cannot stop herself from via JustGiving.) doing the splits. The pain and suffering was heart-breaking.

…we came across a cow who was so ill she could not move, not even lift her head…

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We called the RSPCA but it was a local vet who, to his credit, turned out even though it was about 3.00 am.

He agreed with us that this poor creature was suffering and used his authority to put her out of her misery. It was deeply distressing for all of us.

In the same filthy shed was another cow, unable to stand. This cow was also clearly near the end of her life – but not near enough in the vet’s opinion and so we had to leave her.

Mile Elm farm, Wiltshire, supplies the world’s second biggest confectionery brand – Cadbury. Again we saw rows of hutches, each with a tiny fenced area and each containing a very young black and white calf. One, just days old, was completely alone – a teetering little thing so vulnerable and so beautiful. She latched on to me for comfort, trying to suckle from my fingers.

The appalling reality was, her mum was just metres away but this baby would never be allowed to suckle from her, never see her again. Is a chocolate bar worth this suffering? In a previous Cadbury exposé, we had filmed a little bull calf being shot in the head – surplus to requirements.

At Arla farm in Taunton, Somerset, the calves were again isolated in hutches. Arla is the second-largest dairy company in the world whose brands include Anchor, Lurpak and Cravendale.

To add to the suffering that all dairy mums experience, yet more torment is being added as the industry industrialises. A large farm I investigated in South Devon never allows the cows to even graze – never! They spend their whole lives in sheds.

In a previous Viva! investigation of Cadbury, all 15 farms we visited zero-grazed. For zero-grazing animals denied their natural behaviour, the result is increased lameness, mastitis, bacterial infections and depression, according to the European Food Safety Authority.

I also filmed secretly at a dairy market. Dairy cows who had so recently given birth they were dripping with milk, were paraded around a ring with humans gawping at them, seeing but unseeing.

Towards the end of the afternoon, mothers with their week old calves were forced to walk the ring – this would be the last time they would see each other. I

almost gave myself away as a cow bellowed for her baby.

Everywhere Viva! points the camera on Britain’s dairy farms we find depression, desolation, deprivation and pain. Dairy farming is an abject abuse of motherhood and whatever aspect of it moves you, please tell your friends and family about it. This is British dairy farming, this is a war on animals.

Thanks partly to our work, dairy sales are falling rapidly and at some point in the future we will look back on today’s abuse with horror. Help to bring that day closer. Going vegan is a positive and powerful solution – it’s the only solution! *We reported Fairfield and Halswell farms to the government’s Animal & Plant Health Agency, asking for instant action and as usual, we have heard nothing.

These cows never see a blade of grass. They are zero-grazed, which causes more lameness, depression and infections

This cow was suffering so much, we called a vet who euthanized her. She provided milk for Aunty Moo’s ice cream

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lifeSCIENCE

Viva!Health unravels scientific research and makes it easy to understand.

Here we update you on the latest findings…

BY VERONIKA POWELL MSC, VIVA!HEALTH CAMPAIGNER

Healthy diet, healthy hearing

Plants don’t make you liverish

A healthy, plant-based diet may have unexpected benefits – a lower risk of hearing loss!

A plant-based diet offers protection against liver damage whilst a meatbased diet can cause it

This original study set out to investigate whether there is a link between healthy diets and the risk of hearing loss. The scientific team gathered data on diet and hearing loss from over 80,000 women between 1991 and 2013. When this impressive amount of research was analysed, the results revealed that the healthier the diet, the lower the risk of hearing loss.

The dietary patterns the researchers

ains

seeds

Curhan SG et al., 2018. Adherence to Healthful Dietary Patterns Is Associated with Lower Risk of Hearing Loss in Women. Journal of Nutrition. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxy058. [Epub ahead of print]

ble

egr

vegeta

considered as healthy were predominantly plant-based with plenty of fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, pulses, nuts and seeds. Women who had the healthiest diets had around 30 per cent lower risk of suffering hearing loss with age.

s

l o wh

t i fru

s e s pul

nuts

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) occurs when fat is deposited in the liver due to causes other than excessive alcohol use. It’s considered to be one of the symptoms of metabolic syndrome, which also includes obesity, insulin resistance (pre-diabetic stage), elevated fat levels in the blood and high blood pressure. It comes as no surprise that it’s been linked to unhealthy diets and increasingly, younger people are developing this condition.

A Chinese study set out to examine dietary patterns of 16-23year-olds and their liver health. As the authors remarked, traditional Chinese diet is changing fast and Western-style foods are becoming ever more popular, bringing with them a host of preventable diseases.

The study analysed data from 1,639 participants, 221 of which were classified as having NAFLD. Their results revealed that people eating a diet that’s closest to the traditional Chinese diet (based on wholegrains, vegetables, fruit, soya and other beans, tofu and small quantities of eggs) were much less likely to have NAFLD than people whose diets would be described as Western (based on refined grains, red meat, processed and preserved meat, seafood, dairy products, Western fast food, snacks and fizzy drinks). In fact, the difference was staggering at almost 50 per cent!

Liu X et al., 2018. An observational study on the association between major dietary patterns and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Chinese adolescents. Medicine. 97(17):e0576.

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Pasta primo!

A new study reveals that pasta doesn’t contribute to weight gain Pasta lovers rejoice! A new study on this often-vilified source of carbohydrates and its effects on our weight and waistlines brought comforting results – pasta does not contribute to weight gain if it’s consumed as a part of an overall healthy diet.

The study looked at pasta as part of low glycaemic index (GI) diets. Glycaemic index is a measure of the speed at which carbohydrates (sugars) are released from foods. Low GI means low speed and a steady energy supply, whilst high GI means high speed with a quick energy release followed by an energy dip. It’s desirable to eat foods with a low or medium GI (fruit, vegetables, pulses, nuts, seeds, wholegrains) and avoid foods with a high GI (sugary foods, processed snacks, refined white flour products).

However, pasta – despite being made of refined flour – has a low to medium GI. According to the Glycemic Index

Foundation, pasta is unique among carbohydrates in that its starch molecules are enclosed in a network of gluten, a type of protein found in wheat. This dense structure slows the release of pasta’s carbohydrates during digestion, making it a steady energy source.

The study evaluated the effect of pasta consumed as a part of low GI diets and found that people who ate pasta had a healthier weight than people who avoided it. Of course, wholemeal pasta is better than white pasta but both can be a part of a healthy diet. The authors concluded that there’s no reason to avoid pasta and that current obsession with low-carbohydrate diets is unfounded.

Chiavaroli L et al., 2018. Effect of pasta in the context of low-glycaemic index dietary patterns on body weight and markers of adiposity: a systematic review and metaanalysis of randomised controlled trials in adults. BMJ Open. 8(3):e019438.

Mamma mia – Italians approve vegan diets!

Italian Society of Human Nutrition have published their position paper – and it’s good news With the rapidly growing popularity of plant-based diets, more and more scientists are looking at their health effects and issuing official statements. The latest is the Italian Society of Human Nutrition who did a thorough probing of scientific studies on vegetarian and vegan diets and published a paper officially endorsing them as healthy and nutritionally adequate for everyone and all life stages.

The paper highlighted that a varied vegan diet provides all the human body

needs and allows us to thrive – but we need to make sure we get vitamin B12. The authors also pointed out that active children and adolescents may need slightly more protein but it’s not a cause for concern. For adequate intake of omega-3 fats, they recommend a regular consumption of walnuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds and their oils.

Agnoli C et al., 2017. Position paper on vegetarian diets from the working group of the Italian Society of Human Nutrition. Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease. 27(12):1037-1052.

Good and bad food taxes Subsidising plant foods and taxing animal foods would transform public health An American study modelled the potential health impacts of changing the pricing of foods. They focused on how these changes could prevent premature deaths from major diseases – heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

The proposed changes were 10 or 30 per cent subsidies on fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, nuts and seeds and 10 or 30 per cent tax increase on processed meat, unprocessed red meats and sugarsweetened beverages. The model scenarios took into account socioeconomic status (people with lower incomes responding more to price changes) and some other important factors. Perhaps predictably, the potential impact of these scenarios was dramatic.

The 10 per cent price change could prevent 23,174 deaths from the three diseases each year, whilst the 30 per cent change could save 63,268 lives. The study didn’t speculate on how many cases of each disease could be prevented but it’s very likely that the numbers would be in the hundreds of thousands.

Peñalvo JL et al., 2017. The potential impact of food taxes and subsidies on cardiovascular disease and diabetes burden and disparities in the United States. BMC Medicine. 15(1):208.

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Viva! Street Actions help people to ditch dairy, pucker up to plants and have a…

The dark side of daiRy

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BY LEX RIGBY, CAMPAIGNS MANAGER

cary Dairy is a year-long campaign but we singled out May as the focus of our nationwide initiative called MooFree May. The aim was simple – to encourage people to ditch dairy and try delicious, dairyfree alternatives.

Throughout the merry month we held a series of fun events across five major UK cities where we offered the public delicious samples of dairy-free chocolates and distributed a range of dairy-free information – from free recipes booklets and health packs to nutritional wallcharts and dairy-free mini guides.

Accompanied by our giant inflatable cow, the streets of London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh were abuzz with the vegan message as we encouraged passers-by to sign our dairy-free pledge.

People were blown away by how delicious our dairyfree chocolate samples were, with one woman declaring: “It’s the best tasting chocolate I’ve ever had!” Can’t say better than that! Many went one step further and vowed never to eat animal products again.

Keen to reach millions more and create a massive awareness of the dark side of dairy, we also ran a huge social media campaign, sharing short videos and infographics from our recent dairy exposé, combined with pictures and information on the latest, tastiest dairy-free products. All are available in nationwide stores. We also raised the negative effects dairy can have

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on our health as well as showing photos and live streams from our Scary Dairy branded Street Action Events.

We know from our past public opinion polling that most people are unaware of the lifecycle of dairy cows – a continual exploitation of the female reproductive system.

This was confirmed by our street conversations, with so many ignorant that a cow is artificially inseminated at a young age, carries her baby for nine months only for the calf to be ripped from her just hours after birth.

This cruel practice is standard across the entire industry and the resulting milk is used to produce all ice cream, milk, cheese, butter and yoghurt. There are no exceptions, whether small organic dairy farms or large, zero-grazing mega-dairies. We wanted people to know this and now many more do!

Viva!’s founder and director, Juliet Gellatley, explains: “In recent years, global sales of plant-based milk and dairy-free cultured products, such as yoghurt, frozen desserts and ice cream, creamers and cheese, have grown rapidly. Kantar Worldpanel, which runs a permanent consumer opinion panel of 30,000 households, reveals that one in three shoppers now buy into dairyfree in Britain. Whether it’s to protect animals

or their health, people are ditching dairy.

“Going dairy-free is one of the most natural changes anyone can make to their diet. Why? Simply because drinking milk past infancy is not what nature intended. We’re the only species in the world to do so and what’s more, we consume the milk of a different species!

“Viva! shows people how simple, delicious and easy it is go dairy-free. MooFree May opened the public’s eyes to the myriad of tasty dairy alternatives available whilst highlighting the brutal realities of the dairy industry, which subjects dairy cows and their calves to a life of misery.”

The support we received from the general public was incredible, as it was from vegan and non-vegan businesses alike. It’s what helped us put together a fantastic prize hamper for a MooFree May competition, which we ran all throughout the month on our social media platforms.

The lucky winner, Joanna Stephenson (right), had this to say: “I can’t believe I actually won! I gave the hamper to my OAP vegan mentor who has been a real rock and total inspiration to me – I’m so happy!”

Watch this space for the next instalment of Viva!’s Scary Dairy campaign!

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moofree goodies

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a l e l v animals… o l

lov e Viva!’s Street Action campaign helps turn Britain vegan

p Nobody can resist giving cuddles to our inflatable cow!

BY LAURA-LISA HELLWIG

e’re helping people to make the connection between loving companion animals and eating farmed animals by asking them to love ALL animals. And one lady instantly joined the dots together and turned vegan on the spot!

Joyful, fun, glittery, positive – that is the aim of Viva!’s new and vibrant Street Action campaign, touring throughout the UK until the end of the year. And it is working.

Our glossy LOVEGAN leaflets, with the cute piggy on the front and details of all the resources you need to go vegan, are flying out.

Children came running excitedly towards our walloping big inflatable cow and the local volunteers who helped wherever we went, beautified themselves with face paint and loved it so much, they didn’t want to take it off when the day was over.

Everyone says that the events are incredibly welcoming and positive, leaving them feeling inspired to continue spreading the message and fighting for change.

Our superb Street Action team, consisting of highly motivated volunteers and Viva! staff, engaged with countless people in one-to-one conversations, discussing all the benefits of a vegan lifestyle. Top of the list, of course, is the unnecessary suffering of animals in Britain’s factory farms whose body parts provide the chicken burgers, bacon sandwiches and sausages – and the milk for milkshakes. But

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there is now a growing range of delicious vegan alternatives.

It is extraordinary how many people we meet who are open to change – who had already been thinking about changing; so many vegetarians who were only waiting for a small nudge to make the next step and become vegan. It is truly gratifying to be able to support them as they move towards a cruelty-free lifestyle.

We know that our undercover exposés and constant campaigning has influenced millions and sown the seeds for a change in society.

Although our Street Action is sparkly and fun, we offer people solutions and guidance on how to take their first steps to being vegan.

One lady watched Viva!’s 3D undercover footage and was so upset about the atrocities of British factory farming that she decided to go vegan that day.

The campaign so far has been to London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Bath and Leicester and will continue on to many more cities. You can help us create a more compassionate world for animals by joining our Street Action network at viva.org.uk/streetaction and come along to our next event in a city near you.

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n v eg a

US IVA!ICIOtour Vice-cream

As part of our Scary Dairy campaign this summer, we are going to do something very exciting – a vegan ice-cream van tour!

A fully vegan branded ice-cream van will hand out taster portions to the public to show them how extremely delicious vegan ice-cream can be. All the joy but without the cruelty!

During our Dairy Week of Action in 2017, Viva! took dairy-free ice-cream to Bristol’s high street. We were inundated with curious passers-by, who couldn’t believe that dairyfree ice cream is as delicious as it is.

Handing out free ice-cream gives our outreach team the perfect opportunity to raise awareness of the suffering in the dairy industry in a positive and relaxed atmosphere. This will involve one-to-one interactions as well as handing out

educational materials, such as Viva!’s Why You Don’t Need Dairy and Everyone’s Going Dairy-Free guides.

The van will be visiting seven cities between July 31 and August 6.

Keep your eyes open for more updates on how to join us on the day. Sign up for Viva!’s Street Action network at viva.org.uk/streetaction to become part of our outreach team.

Viva!licious ice-cream tour dates

Tuesday, July 31 Wednesday, August 1 Thursday, August 2 Friday, August 3 Saturday, August 4 Sunday, August 5 Monday, August 6

Cardiff Blackpool Leeds Southend-on-Sea Margate Brighton London, Camden High Street

t 3D footage from an intensive pig farm leaves passers-by shocked pq Everybody loves our bright facepaint – volunteers don’t even want to take it off after the event

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The last fond farewell

Photo ©Jo-Anne McArthur-We Animals

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Just born, she’ll be taken away from her mother within the next 24 hours. No matter how agonisingly they call to each other across the farmyard, their separation will be permanent.

Not one bad farmer but the industry standard. It’s one reason why the Advertising Standards Authority agrees that dairy farming is ‘inhumane’.

Viva!’s undercover teams have regularly exposed the many cruelties there are in milk – and sales are falling. Please support us and help us to continue fighting for animals.

Donate monthly

online at viva.org.uk/VLdonate or call 0117 944 1000

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Media man, punk-bred John Robb

The rise of the Vague-un Look, I don’t want to sound like a snob and I appreciate that everyone is doing their bit but, the recent Royal Wedding (which everyone I knew managed to avoid despite the avalanche of hype) threw up an interesting conundrum.

Much lauded in the press for her 21st century outlook – which seems very radical in her new world of dusty royals and ancient corridors – Meghan Markle was being much touted for being vegan. As it turned out, she was a part time vegan who ate meat at weekends.

Now I’m happy to applaud anyone who gives up even one meal of pointless flesh and tragic carnage. Every little bit helps after all. But can we have the terms sorted out please. We all know what vegan is but the new massive wave of meatless diet types who waver about joining our ranks – but who we welcome with open arms – need to be termed Vague-uns if they still shunt bits of screaming animal into their gobs. We applaud their first steps but we need to understand what vegan is!

Like every good idea in the history of the human race, the decades of sneering and rubbish jokes have been washed away as everyone suddenly realised it was a GOOD IDEA – and celebrity endorsements have helped.

Very few people I know have made the jump from carnivore to plantivore in one fell swoop. We all know it can be tricky if your mind is programmed to eat small lumps of brown stuff without ever thinking where they came from. It’s a big jump and we don’t mean the term vague-un in a sneery, pompous, put down kind of way.

We are thrilled you are making the first steps to join us but it’s just good to work this thing out in stages. Even if Meghan Saxe Coburgh or whatever her name now is, has her cheat days and awkward trips out with the Royals as they take pot shots at small, defenceless creatures in their vampiric love of blood… it’s a start! And a long way away from Donald Trump and the endless raft of pointless and petty laws he keeps drafting to splatter wildlife in the Americas.

Sometimes it seems the world is accelerating in two directions at once, with some people in a race against crime doing their bit to embrace the wonder of nature and this rare blue dot in a sea of dark; and the other half puffing out their pigeon chests and trying to destroy everything as fast as they can in a misplaced sense of macho. Trump falls into the latter – playing the part of the tough guy surrounded by henchmen with heads swirling with the narcotic of power filling the world with negativity and arrogant mess.

Sometimes it seems like the carnage they are creating is an impossible tsunami of stupidity as they create a new idiocracy – but we can’t let them win!

These are black and white times. We welcome the vagueuns but the sooner you become vegan the better!

Photo © Melanie Smith

Londoners and visitors alike tasted our delicious dairyfree chocolates (and loved 'em), engaged in one-to-one conversations with staff and volunteers and went away wiser with their How to Go Dairy-Free guides and Scary Dairy leaflets.

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THE

BIG

SURVEY results are in

Thank you to everyone who completed our BIG Attitudes to Veganism Survey – a whopping 3,000 of you!

JULIET GELLATLEY AND CHRIS BRYANT ANALYSE THE RESULTS

Three quarters of you are 25% female; most are left or greenmale leaning and almost half are 75% female university educated. This is largely in line with veganism generally, with a few deviations.

You have a very mixed age and income range – in fact, you range across the board which is wonderful as we appeal to all ages and socioeconomic groups.

Viva!’s job is, of course, to promote a vegan diet so that animals are not butchered and the planet not ravished. To achieve this we reach out to meat and fish eaters to cajole, nudge and push their thinking along and open their heart to kindness – and their stomach to vegan cooking!

86%

It’s really interesting that 86 per cent of you who are went vegan first went vegetarian for several years. Almost vegetarian everyone finds vegetarianism an important stepping before vegan stone along the road and any jibes that vegetarianism is hypocritical, it seems, come from people who were once veggie themselves and changed in exactly the same step by step way.

We anticipate that this may now change as a plethora of vegan foods continually explode on to the market.

REASONS FOR GOING VEGAN

Wrongness of killing animals Cruelty of factory farming Barbarism of slaughter Environment

56%

Viva! supporters are vegan

Health We are delighted that 56 per cent of our supporters are vegan and that 46 per cent are not because it means we are not just preaching to the converted. We are even more delighted that our supporters buck the trend of population surveys, where people mostly go vegan in their 20s. With Viva! supporters, you go vegan in almost equal numbers right across the age range – in your 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. It’s not so true for people in their 60s and 70s but you are also willing to change!

What a fantastic, age defying lot you are.

Why did you go vegan or vegetarian?

Animals! Far and away your primary motivation for changing your diet was to save animals. You rank as the most important reason for going vegan the wrongness of killing animals (70 per cent), the cruelty of factory farming (52 per cent) and the barbarism of slaughter (44 per cent). Next in importance is protecting the environment, with 26 per cent rating this your primary motivation, followed by health benefits at 18 per cent.

Despite a time gap on several years, this is entirely in line with the results of previous surveys Viva! and other organisations have commissioned. These results run contrary to claims by some that health is the most effective way of encouraging people to become vegan.

Animal welfare was the number one reason for reducing consumption of animal products across all genders, ages and socioeconomic groups. It pretty well reflects Viva!’s motivation, too.

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A home of

their own

Viva! Poland’s extraordinary and loving animal sanctuary

T

here is quite a history behind Viva! Poland’s 52acre Korabiewice sanctuary, situated in open countryside about an hour from Warsaw.

Currently, it provides a home for 31 horses, 21 pigs, 20 goats, four sheep, four cows and one bull – plus 173 dogs and 20 cats. But it took a bitter legal battle and the purchase of two small adjoining farms to ward off their possible complaints – to provide the spacious, permanent security it now has.

With 10 workers (guardians in Polish – a lovely word) and two vets on permanent call, the place has become famous for its high veterinary standards, careful rehoming scheme, spacious accommodation and large volunteer force of dedicated animal lovers.

It somehow seems appropriate that there is a herd of rescued horses here as it was Viva! UK’s determination to impact on the cruel export of horses overland from Poland to Italy that first brought us to the country. We slashed the trade by two thirds!

Most of our horses have been abused and exploited on farms or in riding schools and came to us as sick and troubled animals. Constant, loving work by our brilliant volunteers has managed to build trust in most of them and their erratic behaviour and fear of humans has slowly evaporated. The senior member of the herd is 30year-old Kajtek; the youngest being two young foals who were rescued earlier this year.

You may remember an earlier report in Viva!life of the rescue of 15 goats who were in a dreadful condition after having no regular access to water, no shelter, poor food and who were all emaciated and sick. Not any longer!

After months of treatment, they are now curious, mischievous and have blossomed into gorgeous creatures – favourites amongst our visitors. They live with the

rescued sheep, who sadly still have no trust of humans.

With seven different enclosures, in whatever direction you look at the sanctuary, you are likely to see pigs. At the moment there are eight adult pigs, twelve one-year-olds and a Vietnamese boar called Bekon. Despite his small size, he is the bravest and most unruly pig in Korabiewice.

There is a band of four adult cows but be warned – you should never enter their enclosure alone! They look charmingly innocent but in fact are capering, horned rascals who love humans, which means they are really, really pushy.

We have a dream that all cows will have such a long and beautiful life We rescued Flora from a petting zoo when she was a calf just a few days old and had to bottle feed her. We spoiled her a lot… Kazia was liberated from a tiny dark cowshed where she had been since birth, standing on over a metre of excrement.

Sadly, this year we had to say goodbye to Paczusia Support who, until her last day, was surrounded by people Viva! with an who loved her and was happy. We have a dream instant donation by that all cows will have such a long and beautiful texting VLPR00 £5 life. We have plans to provide more space to our (or any amount you like!) band of rascals. to 70070 (Your data is only shared if It’s a pleasure to say that currently we have no you agree to Gift Aid. hens. They, our rooster and a duck have all been Processed via JustGiving.)

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Big, beautiful and strong – Felafel is a rescued gentle giant We received a report of a dog in distress and at the address we found him emaciated, chained to the ground and clearly badly injured. The owner was what we call an animal hoarder and said Felafel had been bitten by something a couple of days ago. In fact, we discovered he had a collar with spikes which had grown into his flesh. It was appalling neglect and under our powers of confiscation we took this beautiful dog into our custody. He has been treated, loved and returned to full health and is the strongest dog we have. We are prosecuting the owners and the case is pending.

All new animals coming into the sanctuary and given a thorough veterinary examination and their needs assessed

adopted together in a permanent home. However, I don’t think their enclosure will be empty for long.

Viva! Poland’s sanctuary came about through our manager, Cezary Wyszynski, who once volunteered there. At that time it was owned by a woman who clearly couldn’t cope and he saw the animals decline and suffer. He couldn’t bear it and persuaded her to hand the place over to Viva!. They agreed a purchase price of over £100,000, which Cezary raised but then the owner changed her mind and a court battle ensued.

Viva! won but suddenly was responsible for over 600 dogs, some of whom had been there so long they were exhibiting stereotypic behaviour – a sign of mental collapse. What they all wanted was not an enclosure but a loving, permanent home and so our rehoming scheme came into being.

Many in Britain are familiar with the checks that take place before an animal can be rehomed and Viva!

Poland has adopted similarly high standards, where a whole raft of considerations are taken into account to ensure the right people adopt the right animal. ‘Home’ doesn’t have to be a palace, just somewhere safe and loving. The scheme is handled by a dedicated team who may also carry out post-adoption visits – just to be sure.

Even with such a thorough adoption process, we can say proudly that we have had a high number of successes.

Dog residents at Korabiewice are now down to 173, with animals arriving and leaving on a regular basis.

In 2017 alone, 157 animals were rehomed – 100 dogs, 37 cats and 20 other animals of various species.

Feeding alone is a major operation at Viva! Poland’s sanctuary – the scale of it is enormous. Each month, the animals eat more than three tons of vegetables, over a thousand 2ft square hay cubes, three tons of dog food and more than 1.5 tons of oats. The two vets have different specialities and there is even a mobile clinic that can provide emergency ultrasound and X-rays.

There is a constant review of conditions to see how the lives of our animals can be improved – resources permitting. In fact, we aim to save as many animals as possible; our ideas and dreams for the development of our sanctuary have no limits. Only funds restrict us. The truth is, what they really want is a home of their own.

You can check out Viva! Poland’s sanctuary at: facebook.com/Schronisko.w.Korabiewicach website schronisko.info.pl and schronisko.info.pl/adopcje – where all the dogs you see are currently waiting for a home.

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y r i a d s d e e n Who (or fish)?

Cauliflower Cheese Serves 4 | 30 minutes

Béchamel l 2 tbsp vegan margarine l 2 tbsp plain flour l 200ml (approx) unsweetened soya milk (other plant milks don’t work well) l 2 tsp English mustard l Pinch of grated nutmeg l 1 stock cube dissolved in small amount of boiling water Some excellent reasons why a life without dairy can be abundantly delicious. Viva!’s own kitchen (and photography) wizard, Maryanne Hall, produces some unusual and gorgeous dishes than shun anything from a cow – but you’d never know it. And as for banana fish – yes, seriously – read on and be prepared to be amazed WORDS AND PICTURES BY VIVA!’S MARYANNE HALL

l 2 tbsp nutritional yeast l Large handful of vegan parmesan eg Violife Prosociano or Angel Food l Salt and black pepper to taste Other l 1 cauliflower, broken into bite size florets l 40g breadcrumbs (approx) l Vegetable oil for frying

Béchamel 1 Melt margarine in a large saucepan on low heat.

2 Remove from heat and stir in flour to form a paste.

3 Return pan to medium heat and gradually add soya milk and stock, stirring continuously.

4 Once thickened, add mustard, nutmeg, nutritional yeast and parmesan.

5 Stir thoroughly and set aside.

Other 1 Boil cauliflower pieces for two minutes.

2 Drain and lightly fry on both sides until golden.

3 Empty cauliflower into an oven dish, cover with cheese sauce and sprinkle breadcrumbs over.

4 Place under a medium grill until browned.

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Deliciously light vegan recipes

here c

Beetroot & Vegan Feta Tart

Summer Recipe Guide

Serves 4 | 20-25 minutes

Tart l 2 sheets ready-rolled vegan puff pastry l 2 medium red onions, finely sliced l 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped l 300g/11oz pack pre-cooked beetroot (not in vinegar) l 200g/7oz vegan feta, crumbled (eg Sainsbury’s or Sheese Greek-style – or other melting vegan cheese) l Fresh thyme sprigs, stalks removed

Vinaigrette l 3 tbsp olive oil l 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar l 1 tsp agave or brown sugar l Few sprigs of fresh thyme, stalks removed l Salt and black pepper

1 Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Line a baking tray(s) with crumpled baking paper. Lightly oil it.

2 Fry onion and garlic to soften. Set aside.

3 Whisk vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

4 Slice each pastry sheet into 2. Place these 4 pieces on baking tray(s).

5 Pinch along edges of each with thumb and finger to form a crust.

6 Spread onion/garlic mixture over pastry slices.

7 Slice beets into 1cm/½ inch rounds. Distribute over pastry.

8 Drizzle half vinaigrette over tarts then crumble feta over everything – reserving a little for garnish. Sprinkle thyme over.

9 Bake tarts for 12-15 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden.

10 Remove from oven and drizzle vinaigrette over. Add black pepper and feta garnish.

11 Eat hot or cold.

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This recipe comes straight from our new Here Comes Summer recipe guide! For over 25 deliciously sun-drenched recipes, buy the guide here, only £3! vivashop.org.uk/ summerguide

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Banana Blossom ‘Fish’ n Chips

Serves 4-6 | 75 minutes Banana blossom is the tear-shaped flower found at the end of a banana cluster. They contain a multitude of vitamins and nutrients and are beginning to make their way into Western dishes. Available tinned online or from Asian supermarkets. When battered and fried, they bear a striking resemblance to fish.

Banana Blossom l 2 (565g) tins of banana blossom l 2 tbsp seaweed flakes (eg Clearspring Nori Sprinkles) plus extra for dusting l 2 tbsp lemon juice l 500ml vegetable stock l 200ml white wine (optional) l 2 tsp salt l Hot water

l Small bowl of plain flour l White wine (optional) Batter l 400g plain flour (freeze for 15 minutes before using) l 3 tsp baking powder l 550ml vegan beer (very cold) l 2 tsp salt l Vegetable oil

Banana Blossom 1 Drain the banana blossoms and rinse gently.

2 Place whole blossoms in a large bowl, discarding the smaller pieces for use in salads.

3 Add stock, lemon juice, salt, seaweed flakes and (optional) white wine. Top up with hot water to cover. Set aside for one hour minimum.

Batter 1 Heat a large saucepan half full of vegetable oil on a medium heat.

2 Just before frying, mix baking powder and salt into chilled flour, whisk in cold beer to form a thick paste.

3 Gently squeeze out banana blossom pieces, being careful not to tear. Dip in seaweed sprinkle then dip in plain flour.

4 Cover each blossom completely in batter and lower into hot oil.

5 Cook until golden and crispy, ensuring they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

6 Remove with a slotted spatula and place on kitchen roll to drain.

Tartar Sauce Serves 4 | 10 minutes

l 170g vegan mayonnaise (or make a batch of our aquafaba mayo: veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/ aquafaba-mayonnaise) l 1 shallot, finely diced l 1 tbsp capers, drained l 1 tbsp gherkins, finely chopped l ½ tbsp parsley, finely chopped l ½ tbsp dill, finely chopped 1 Stir all the ingredients together and decorate with sprigs of dill.

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Del i cious l ight vegan recipes

r e m m u S Viva!s

ONLY ÂŁ3

Br imm ming with over o 25 sun-drenched r recipes to co o ok and sha are over the he summer months m ne at Buy onl in

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Three for One (Almost Instant) Soft Scoop Ice Cream Serves 4 | 5-7 minutes These are supremely simple, delicious and refined sugar-free and each takes just a few minutes – but a high-speed blender is essential.

Vanilla Ice Cream l 90ml/⅔ cup Brazil nuts l 60-120ml/¼-½ cup water l 2 tsp vanilla extract

l 8-9 medjool dates, pitted l 10 large ice cubes – use more if necessary

Banana & Chocolate Chip Ice Cream l 90ml/⅔ cup Brazil nuts l 5-10 large ice cubes – l 60-120ml/¼-½ cup use fewer if using water – start with frozen bananas l After blending add: minimum, adding 100g/heaped ¼ cup more only if necessary l 2 tsp vanilla extract chocolate chips l 4-8 medjool dates, l Optional extra: vegan pitted – start with 4 chocolate sauce, eg and add as necessary l 2 medium bananas, Sweet Freedom, Plamil fresh or frozen or Biona

Deliciously light vegan recipes

here c Summer Recipe Guide

This recipe comes straight from our new Here Comes Summer recipe guide!

For over 25 deliciously sun-drenched recipes, buy the guide here, only £3! vivashop.org.uk/summerguide

Berry Ice Cream l 90ml/⅔ cup Brazil nuts l 60-120ml/¼-½ cup water – start with minimum and only add more if necessary l 2 tsp vanilla extract l 8-9 medjool dates, pitted

l 110g/½ cup frozen berries – cherries, blueberries, loganberries or blackberries – avoiding anything with woody bits

1 Choose your recipe and prepare ingredients. Place everything in a high-speed blender and whizz.

2 Stop after each blast, scrape sides and mix with spatula then whizz again. Add water only if needed to thin – a small splash at a time.

3 Serve immediately – or keep in the freezer for a few minutes but don’t allow to harden Add sauces and toppings as desired.

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Prevention

is better than cure‌ Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch humanist and philosopher, 1469-1536 (and Tony Wardle, 2018)

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Y

ou must have seen their TV ads – the big health charities that is. There are several of smiling cancer survivors dressed in purple, running or jumping or telling you how important it is to fund Cancer Research UK (CRUK).

Then there’s the little boy whose spectral dad suddenly appears at his school desk. “What you doing here, dad?” he asks. “I won’t be coming home tonight, lad, look after your mum,” comes the reply. Cut to a shot through a window of the head teacher’s office where the same little lad is being told the sad news of his father’s death. This one is for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Until the punchline, it’s hard to work out who or what the Alzheimer’s Society (AS) ads are about. There are different people staring hostilely at each other in Time to Forget, there’s one where Santa develops dementia and another of well-known footballers talking to camera, headlined United.

The sole purpose of these ads is to ask for money and boy, are they successful!

CRUK raises about £635 million annually; the BHF pulls in about £288 million and AS attracts over £100 million. That’s well over £1 billion – year after year.

Interestingly, they all test on animals and offer long explanations as to why it’s so vital. They’ve jointly been torturing animals for about 200 years.

So, hooray, it must have been worthwhile because all that money, all those dead animals and all that time must surely have produced cures? Well no, actually, they haven’t!

In fact, heart disease and cancer are racing away at such a pace that about 50 per cent of us will now develop one or other or both. With Alzheimer’s, the rate of acceleration is better than a Formula One car and all the ‘cures’ developed from using ‘essential’ animal studies have failed dismally in real life. What the heart and cancer charities have achieved is to prolong survival rates but cures are still as elusive as the rainbow’s golden hoard.

You’d think that after all this failure they’d pause and reconsider. Or could this obsession with finding ‘cures’ possibly be driven by the knowledge that success would produce untold riches as the resulting pill or potion was marketed around the world?

Cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s are all degenerative diseases (as opposed to infectious ones) that include diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and a string of others that together are the main causes of death in all affluent countries. And they are not as separated, one from the other, as these charities would have us believe. Like the mycelium of dry rot that slithers its infection silently from one brick to another, so there are common strands to all degenerative diseases that quietly afflict us over time.

So what about prevention? Well, there’s no dosh in that, is there? To be fair, they all offer some prevention advice (for what it’s worth) but it’s equivocal, lost amidst a welter of other advice and is sotto voce – mealy mouthed. This is CRUK’s riveting contribution: “A healthy balanced diet with plenty of fibre and less red and processed meat and salt can help cut cancer.”

The word ‘less’ is utterly meaningless – less than what?

Less than half a cow or less than half a cocktail sausage?

The words ‘healthy’ and ‘balanced’ are also meaningless without saying what they constitute. And if we do

follow their confused dietary advice can we expect salvation? Not quite, just a possible reduction in risk of five per cent. FIVE PER CENT! In their report, Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention, the World Health Organisation (WHO) disagrees entirely. It states that healthy eating, maintaining a suitable weight and exercise can reduce a whole raft of cancers by between 42-75 per cent. They include breast, bowel, mouth, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus and womb cancers. A good vegan diet is the healthiest you can get and is the best way to maintain an appropriate weight. That just leaves exercise!

Degenerative (chronic) diseases were fairly rare before the start of the 20th century and so their phenomenal blossoming in a little over a hundred years is staggering.

Living longer is only part of the explanation. WHO quotes the island of Mauritius to show how quickly disease profiles can change. In 1940, just two per cent of the population died from heart disease. By 1980 it had exploded to almost half. The main change over that period was the adoption of an affluent diet filled with animal products.

Animal products play a major part in all degenerative diseases ‘It’s all in the genes, mate’, is another explanation. In 1990, the China Study was published – a massive piece of research that started with the health records of 800 million people. It found that the rate of breast cancer in rural China was about one in 10,000 women. Ten years ago, Viva! published a scientific report on breast cancer which we intended to call One in Ten as that’s how many British women would develop it (plus a few men).

As it went to press we had to change it to One in Nine.

We should now retitle it One in Eight as the risk has continued to increase. Ah ha, so the Chinese obviously have good genes! Well, no, they don’t because when they move to Western countries and adopt our lifestyle, their risk increases accordingly. Important point – rural Chinese at the time of the research were eating a largely vegan diet.

Yet still society thrashes around pretending the cause of these diseases is a bit of a mystery. The WHO report (also of 1990), Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases, seemed pretty clear. In its introduction it says that it had reviewed the links between diet and chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, stroke, various cancers, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders and various bone and joint diseases.

“Although a large number of dietary factors have been investigated, those most frequently linked to such diseases are embodied in the so-called affluent diet, a pattern of eating typified by high consumption of energy-dense foods of animal origin and of foods processed or prepared with added fat, sugar and salt.”

Since then, there has been an avalanche of research confirming these findings – that animal products play a major part in all degenerative diseases. So why, until recently, did CRUK encourage people to raise money for CONTINUED ON PAGE 46

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The Viva! Name A There and Every w

Viva!’s media blitz for the animals

BY TONY WARDLE, EDITOR

Daily Mail covers Viva!’s dairy exposé

Victory for Kangaroos We did it once before and we had to do it again – wipe Britain’s supermarket shelves clear of kangaroo meat. The story that Lidl and Iceland had finally given in to our constant pressure to drop the sale of this barbaric produce, got widespread coverage. The Sun, Independent, the Scotsman and the I gave good space to it and repeated our explanation as to why the trade is cruel, barbaric and unacceptable. Other titles who similarly splashed it were The Grocer, Plant Based News and Families Online as well as some regional titles.

With a combination of print and online editions, the Daily Mail has the largest readership of any title in Britain, running to nearly five million people.

That is why getting any of our stories published by it is hugely important. Our shocking exposé of dairy farming was picked up by the Mail and given big coverage in print and online – taking the cruelty suffered by cows on British farms to an important audience of mostly women, who are still largely responsible for food buying decisions.

Whatever you think of its politics, it is still a very important publication and one of its journalists in particular has often been brave when it comes to publishing our undercover investigations. Over years of working with him, he knows that when we provide affidavits, sat nav co-ordinates and evidential stills photography they are accurate and whatever threats the meat or dairy industries hurl at him, he adopts the old maxim – publish and be damned.

The same, in this instance, cannot be said of a different daily paper who were the first to pick up the story and spent three weeks holding back from publication at the last minute each time. They had done all the background research of seeking statements from everyone involved but in the end, dropped the story because the farms we exposed refused to comment.

This is the oldest trick in the book to kill a story. They The number of vegan had even obtained confirmation from the vet we called magazines seems to be out to euthanize a dying cow – one of the most shocking multiplying in the dead aspects of the whole investigation. It could have been run of night. It started with with the simple statement that all the farms involved and Vegan Life, which was the dairy industry refused to comment but they didn’t. followed by Vegan Food & Living, Plant Based and Simply Vegan. Our We are frequently faced by this and it is deeply health team of Dr Justine Butler and Veronika Powell is now writing frustrating. articles for all of them, with senior campaigner Claire Palmer and The Mail coverage produced 26,000 shares on our director Juliet Gellatley also chipping in from time to time. In total, it Facebook page. When shown on The best video you will often amounts to several articles each month. ever see it was viewed 370,000 times.

Team Viva!

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Appears Here, y where

Support Viva! with an instant donation by texting VLPR00 £5 (or any amount you like!) to 70070

Hogwood Lives On

(Your data is only shared if you agree to Gift Aid. Processed via JustGiving.)

Our shocking undercover investigation into Tesco supplier, Hogwood pig farm, produced two different reactions. The farmer, Red Tractor quality (supposedly) assurance scheme and the government all produced a tight-lipped smile and asked: “Hardship? What hardship?” Just about everyone else in the UK threw their hands up in horror and yelled “disgusting!”. It prompted the Ecologist to carry out a detailed enquiry into intensive, factory farming, the conclusion of which was a scathing condemnation. And by the way, we aren’t finished with Hogwood yet!

Dairy – not so scary!

That was the claim of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) when our London bus ads received two complaints – almost certainly from the dairy industry itself. All the claims we made about cows being diseased, calves being taken from their mothers and some being shot and that milk contained 35 different hormones and 11 growth factors were supported. That dairy was linked to cancer was condemned – not because it isn’t linked but that consumers would believe it meant dairy caused cancer! Had we been more specific and said breast and prostate cancer, we almost certainly would have won.

Just about every title in the UK carried the ASA’s ruling but somehow I doubt the dairy industry was celebrating. Most of the reports carried details of the high number of hormones naturally present in milk, which I would guess is not its strongest selling point. Veronika Powell did a great piece on BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours while other interviews were carried out by regional stations.

Festival Coverage Our Nottingham Festival picked up great news coverage, including the Nottingham Post, local TV, Waitrose Weekend magazine and Midlands Zone magazine.

Coventry Telegraph did a great piece on our festival in the town.

Trade Tremors Numerous trade magazines have covered Viva!’s recent campaigns, including a full page in Meat Management in which you can almost feel the tremble in the author’s hand as he tackled our Scary Dairy campaign.

They always start with a few concessions (they can’t do otherwise) that some things we say may have some truth in them – but then comes the defence. This piece finished on the cracking line of who would you rather believe, the people who have spent their lives raising animals or… a bunch of unwashed, crazed vegan hippies who wouldn’t know one end of a cow from the other.

Okay, I made that last bit up; what was actually said was: “Are we more likely to accept the views of animal rights campaigners giving clandestine interviews in the dead of night to scare us into a vegan lifestyle?” Or people who adore their animals to death and give them a TV treat night every Friday? Yes, I did make that up, too.

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Viva!s’ Summer Vibes lifestyle

A handful of tips and products to get you ready for your summer hols – home or away, we’ve got you covered

n e e r c s n u s d n a s m a e r c Sun On a budget: Superdrug’s Solait

Rumours that vegan sunscreen is expensive is a myth. If you’re on a budget, there’s Superdrug’s own brand sunscreen Solait. You can choose from sun creams, sprays and family packs, plus products for sensitive skin, tan-activating, travel size minis and lip protection products, too. They feature the Leaping Bunny cruelty-free logo, have five-star UVA protection and are water resistant. Look out for the ‘Suitable for vegans’ message on the back of the bottle. Available at Superdrug stores and online: superdrug.com/brandshop/solait (RRP £1.99 – £6.49)

Don’t forget to protect yourself from UVA and UVB rays – and ensure your sunscreen is vegan!

Splurge: Lush Splurge out on these fresh, handmade Lush sun care products.

Lush say they combine the latest protection science with age-old, skin-loving ingredients to create divine smelling products that will keep you safe in the sun.

Calamine powder, with high levels of zinc oxide, provide a natural sunscreen – plus sesame and olibanum oils’ high reflective indexes naturally improve the effectiveness. Choose from lotion, sunblock or powder!

Sunblock SPF 50 – jump in the shower and glide this rich, solid blend of organic sesame oil and cocoa butter over your skin. A third of a block is claimed to offer enough protection for your whole body. Pop it in your bag to reapply when on the go. 100g £8.95 Sesame Suntan Lotion SPF 10 – Luxurious sesame sunscreen made with gentle walnut leaf and aloe vera hydrates which softens the skin while keeping it cool. There’s no overpowering scent from the sesame – just soft, subtle, moisturising protection. Available in two sizes: 100g £8.50. 250g £15.95 Powdered Sunshine SPF 15 – picky about feeling sticky? This light, loose powder is said to keep you safe in the sun while giving your skin a subtly shimmering tone. Eliminates perspiration whilst providing you with protection. 70g £6.95 Available in Lush Stores nationwide and online: uk.lush.com (RRP £6.95 – £15.95)

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Only the best: Organii SPF50 Sun Milk

Don’t worry – there’s no milk here! This vegan, all-natural, organic, mineral sunscreen is claimed to give high protection and to be a great choice for the whole family, even babies and those with fairer skin – a one hit wonder!

Mineral sunscreens sit on top of the skin to deflect harmful UVB & UVA rays rather than absorbing. Fragrance free and water resistant. Available from MyPure: mypure.co.uk/brand/organii 125ml £21.56

s e v a h t s u m k c a p k c a B Whity Instant Coffee Creamer For your travels, make sure you’re equipped with lifesaving Whity Instant Coffee Creamer, a readilysoluble powder that is said not to curdle and will survive in the heat! Convenient and easy to use, this vegan creamer has a mild sweet taste when stirred into hot beverages so no need for sugar.

Ideal for when you are on the go. Available from the Viva! Shop: vivashop.org.uk/products/whitycoffee-whitener 150g £2.99

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Bamboo Throwing away your tooth brush every few months is a lot of plastic waste – which we don’t want in our oceans. The Environmental Toothbrush Company based in Australia use MOSO bamboo for its brushes – grown by local farmers. These beautiful brushes are said to be BPA free, fairtrade, biodegradable and compostable (providing you remove the bristles). Even the packaging is biodegradable! Squeaky clean teeth on your hols with this eco-friendly toothbrush. Perfect!

Medium Bristle, Soft Bristle and Children’s. Available from Natural Collection: naturalcollection.com £2.95

Beach reads The Essential Vegan Travel Guide by Caitlin Galer-Unti Ensure your holiday is filled with good times, good food and not blighted by the stress of finding vegan restaurants and options. This step-by-step guide shows you how to research and locate vegan-friendly foods and eateries on your travels.

Going beyond food, it offers tips for connecting with local vegans, where to stay, packing and travelling with non-vegans while keeping the peace! Be prepared wherever you are going in the world with The Essential Vegan Travel Guide!

Available from the Viva! Shop: vivashop.org.uk/books £9.95

Stylish adventure Vintage Backpack Upgrade your street-cred with this gorgeous, luxury backpack from the Matt & Nat vintage collection. With enough room for all your day-trip essentials, the Kiara comes in six colours, including our favourite, Chili. Available from Matt & Nat: mattandnat.com/shop/ handbags/backpacks/ kiara-chili £130

Lovegan Viva!

Embroidered Caps Protect yourself from the summer sun and get the vegan message across with these vintage–wash, brushed cotton caps with an adjustable strap. Available in one adjustable size.

Choose from two designs, Neon or Heart. Available from the Viva! Shop: vivashop.org.uk /collections/ accessories/ type_cap £12

The Awareness by Gene Stone and Jon Doyle A holiday wouldn’t be right without a good book. From the author of the companion book to the documentary Forks Over Knives – about plant-based diets. The Awareness is a powerful novel about a day when all mammals gain human-like consciousness. The tables are turned and the animals have joined together to wage war on humankind. Central characters are a bear in the Canadian Rockies, a circus elephant, a factory-farmed pig and a dog living with his beloved family in New York. An emotionally gripping story where you are hooked to the very end – and which will bring out your compassionate side.

Paperback available on Amazon: amazon.co.uk £8.95

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r w e h e T aRe e g O t

hUge…

In 2017, Viva! supporters brought Hope to massive audiences nationwide and brought vegan kindness into the mainstream.

Giving a monthly gift offers us security and helps us to plan ahead for our vital campaigns – and makes even more of a difference to animals’ lives.

Please consider giving a monthly sum to support the UK’s most active farmed animal campaigning charity.

We’re in this together. Help us make the world a kinder place for ALL animals.

Viva! is at the forefront of farmed animal campaigning: investigating, reporting and publicising cruelty in farming

Dotty and her piglets, who were rescued by Viva! and Dean Farm Animal Sanctuary and now reside happily there

We do it so piglets like these can live free and happily

Donate monthly

online at viva.org.uk/donate or call 0117 944 1000 38

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If you haven’t yet been to a Viva! Vegan Festival, you really don’t know what you’re missing! We conduct a survey at each one and the feedback is almost universally positive – more than that, it’s glowing!

Our 2018 line-up of festivals is guaranteed to have something for everyone and we want you, your friends and family to come to one – be they herbivore or omnivore. All are welcome!

This is our 15th year of running roadshows across the UK so we know a thing or two about putting on funfilled, info-packed and utterly delicious days out.

Come spend a day or a weekend with Viva! and experience first-hand the amazing benefits a vegan lifestyle can offer… l Smoking hot food stalls l Homemade healthy bites and sweet snacks (including doughnuts!) l Expert nutritional advice and takeaway factsheets l Fascinating talks and cookery demos l Tons of ethical products – fair-trade, fashions, cruelty-free cosmetics l All your favourite Viva! merchandise and materials!

Please think about volunteering at one of our festivals and helping us to sell merch and give out literature. They are busy, busy, busy but huge fun.

We’d really love to hear from you! Get in touch with sophie@viva.org.uk or call her on 0117 944 1000.

For everyone – meat-eaters, vegans, those aspiring to be vegan and those who just need a helping hand.

For more information, go to viva.org.uk/festivals

The 2018 Tour SATURDAY, JULY 14 BRAND NEW Viva!City Outdoor Ethical Festival Bristol College Green 11.00-17.00 SATURDAY, AUGUST 4 Coventry Viva! Vegan Festival 10.30-17.00 AUGUST 17-19 Nottingham Vegan Campout SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 Birmingham Viva! Vegan Festival 10.30-17.00 SEPTEMBER 29-30 Brighton Viva! Vegan Festival 11.00-17.00 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8 Bristol Xmas Vegan Festival 10.30-17.00 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2019 Cardiff Viva! Vegan Festival

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Herbivore homewares Signs of the times Grab some vegan-friendly homewares, such as these gorgeous, shabby chic wooden signs with a distressed finish. They’re designed and made by Craf’u, the Engraving Workshop who create signs for every occasion. One hundred per cent handmade in the UK, they are the perfect gift for a friend or family member - or even for yourself! £16

SWEET ON VIVA!

AN ASSORTMENT OF DAIRYFREE DELICIOUSNESS! Our ethical edibles are 100 per cent kind to animals because they never contain them! All chocolate, confectionery and pantry items are suitable for vegans and absolutely delicious.

Use our handy symbol guide to ensure you get what you want fairtrade FT, gluten-free GF and organic products O.

Gifty Gourmet

CHOCOLATE HEAVEN FOR SOMEONE SPECIAL – INCLUDING YOU Vegan truffles and speciality chocolate treats for any occasion.

Bonieri Bella Box. Don’t be startled by the price tag as Bonieri’s classic Bella chocolate selection box is filled with the finest gianduiotti (truffle) from Turin, with classic gianduja, dark chocolate, coffee and pure hazelnut flavours.

These smooth, velvet-textured chocolates simply melt in the mouth. Made using traditional recipes of finely milled Piedmont hazelnuts, blended with cocoa, cocoa butter and sugar and you simply have to indulge. 250g a box. £23.95 GF

2017/18

AMAZING ANIMALFREE GIFTS S IN

VIVASHOP.ORG.UK

Discover

Be a softy

Our huge range of animal-free, and animal friendly, products – homewares, gifts plus heavenly chocolate and confectionary. If it’s here, it’s vegan!

SUPERBLY LIFELIKE CUDDLY TOYS Explore the gorgeous farm and woodland animal toys from Living Nature, the world’s most realistic soft toy brand they say (and who are we to argue?). This exclusive stuffed animal brand of beautifully crafted and detailed plush toy animals has brought many children to love and understand the animal kingdom. Attention to detail is everything to ensure these soft toys look as realistic as possible. Most have a swing tag with facts about the animal’s behaviour and habitat!

Plush Rabbit £9; Plush Mice £7; Plush Black & White Lamb £9

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Perfect Pernigotti Pralines Smooth, creamy, melt-in-the-mouth mini hazelnut truffles.

Long gone are the days when vegan chocolate was bland or boring. Pernigotti’s amazing Italian treats are some of the best in the world. Now available in mini Toblerone shaped praline bars of pure, luxury bliss! Choose from smooth truffle (Gianduiotto) or whole hazelnuts (Nocciolato). 40g. £1.69 GF O

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Smartie Pants

WHETHER YOU’RE AS HUNGRY AS A BEAR OR LIKE TO SHARE! Clarana Bunte Vegan Smarties – yes, you heard it – vegan smarties! Crispy, brightly coloured candy shells with a rich chocolate filling. These tasty chocolate beans can be used to decorate cakes and pies or just to eat straight from the packet!

125g. £2.65 GF

Snack Attack

TREATS FOR LITTLE ONES – OR BIG ONES – THAT HELP TO SUPPORT VIVA! Judy Hedden, founder of Cornwall’s Chocolate Cove, has developed healthy and delicious chocolate in the heart of Cornwall. All these beautiful products are raw, vegan, cane sugar free, soya free – but not taste free!

The company are also working towards making them 100 per cent organic. Great nutrition and great taste is their aim.

Available in seven flavours: Pepper, Sea Salt & Caramel; Raspberry & Baobab; Lemon & Baobab Sorbet; Vanilla, Pineapple and Lemon; Madagascan Vanilla; Fairtrade Fresh Coffee; and Toasted Hazelnut & Vanilla.

The lovely Cornwall Chocolate Cove people will donate to Viva! 25p from the sale of every Salty Cracked Pepper & Caramel flavour. 36g. £3 GF

CONFECTIONERY CORNER Our array of new super, scrumptious vegan sweets!

JOM Organic A ridiculously delicious, sweet candy without compromising on flavour or texture. These sweets are organic, vegan, gluten free and free-from palm oil! They’re so good, there’s always room for just one more… Available in perfectly chewy Wild Raspberry and Fizzy Caramel. 70g £2.29 GF O

Candy Kittens Tingle your taste buds and put a fizz in your step with these mouth-watering sweets. Made using the finest ingredients and no bad stuff to be seen, this gourmet, gummy candy is gelatine free, gluten-free and made with natural flavours, colours and real fruit juices. Choose from: Sour Watermelon; Peach Fizz; Wild Strawberry; and Blueberry Bliss. 138g. £2.49 GF

Shop Kind with the Viva! Shop! To buy the gifts shown here – or see our amazing range of products – go to vivashop.org.uk or call 0117 944 100 (Monday-Friday 9-5).

You can also request our Gifts for Life catalogue. viva.org.uk 41

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WE CHOOSE NATURE T

W Choose Nature is an online platform to crea We ate awareness for a morre sustainable way of life. By giving g global and local initiatives the opportun nity to present themsel es to the world themselves orld d and share ne news, s inforrmation and tips we e insp pire e everyone er one ZLWK UHVSHFW IRU QDWXUH WR VWDUW WR WDNH DFWLRQ :H DUH SURXG WR VD\ WKH ÀUVW LQLWLDWLYH we are supporting is Justdiggit. We Cho oose Nature – A BIOCA ANNA initiative

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A chat with Bristol MP…

e r i a n o bb e D m a g n Tha

BY DR JUSTINE BUTLER

T

hree-quarters of Bristol’s members of parliament are vegan! That’s three out of four – not bad!

First is Viva!’s old friend Kerry McCarthy (Labour, Bristol East) and the second is our new friend and my neighbour, Thangam Debbonaire (Labour, Bristol West), a person who, no matter how busy you are, somehow makes you feel lazy.

She began life in Peterborough in 1966 as Thangam Singh, daughter of an English mother and a Sri Lankan Tamil immigrant father and says: “I am proud to be the daughter of a first-generation immigrant.”

Music runs through her life like blood – her dad was a classical musician, she was a professional cellist and in 2016 married opera singer Kevin Walton.

In 2015, Thangam was elected to parliament with a thumping great majority but before she had barely spoken was diagnosed with breast cancer. Was that the reason she went vegan?

“Actually, Kerry McCarthy tricked me into it! No, seriously, I had been mostly vegetarian since I was a teenager and then when I had treatment for cancer I found I just didn’t want dairy or eggs. By the end, I realised I was 95 per cent vegan. I told Kerry and when we were on stage at Bristol Vegfest, she told the audience, saying: “We’ll get her 100 per cent vegan soon,” which got a big cheer so I thought I have to do it now! Then she introduced me to vegan cake and that was it, done”.

With its stuffy dining clubs and numerous old-school bars, I couldn’t imagine it’s easy to be vegan at Westminster.

“It is becoming easier but I mostly take my own packed lunch. Paula, the cook in one of the cafés, is brilliant at healthy, tasty vegan food – but even Terry, the hard-core meat cook, has started to pride himself on his vegan choices.”

Over and over you hear new vegans say how much better they feel for having made the change – for Thangam, of course, other factors were involved.

“After cancer it’s difficult to be sure what affected what, because chemotherapy and radiotherapy make you feel so ill that you’re grateful just to be alive. But two years on, I can safely say I’ve never felt healthier. I was advised to up my consumption of fruit and veg from five portions to 10 a day and the easiest way is simply not to eat anything other than plant-based food.

“Having cancer makes you re-evaluate your health and try to reduce your risk (not eliminate it, sadly) by eating healthily. And, yes, people do tell me I look healthier and, yes, I do have so much stamina and energy”.

“We’re a small world, with limited resources. We need to use them wisely.”

That’s probably just as well – you can almost see the plates spinning around her as she juggles all the demands on her time. In fact, she seems to have come out of this trauma amazingly well. Thangam is funny, intelligent and very sharp-witted as well as absolutely dedicated – and extremely contentious! Having resigned from the Labour shadow cabinet in the big revolt, she’s now back on the front bench team as a whip.

Thangam’s awareness of the environment and how livestock farming negatively impacts on it goes back some time: “The waste of land for growing grains to feed to animals for us to eat was the reason I became vegetarian in the late 1970s, and now I realise how wasteful dairy is as well. We’re a small world, with limited resources.

We need to use them wisely – and we need to end or slash waste, develop natural responses to insect damage and disease. And have delicious cakes!”

And her other favourites? “My niece Antonia makes a fantastic wrap, with jackfruit in a smoky sauce, with coleslaw and vegan mayo, pickles, the lot. Plus traditional South Indian food – my dad’s side of the family – is naturally vegan, and you can replace paneer with tofu. I’m also proud of my own chocolate mousse, with aquafaba!”

And cakes!

The third vegan MP is Darren Jones, Bristol West

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Supermarkets Drop Kangaroo Meat thanks to Viva!

I

t’s been a long, long battle but eventually Viva! won.

Earlier this year, both Iceland and Lidl conceded and dropped the sale of kangaroo meat from their stores.

They had both dug their heels in but eventually followed in the footsteps of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Somerfield (Co-op). We are now delighted to announce that all British supermarkets are kangaroo-free zones!

There is a common public misconception that kangaroos are farmed animals – in fact they are entirely wild. Tragically, they have been successfully scapegoated by ranchers and farmers as pests and most Australians seem to detest their national symbol. In fact, research shows that they rarely venture onto wheat fields and do not compete with sheep and cattle for grazing. There are clear parallels with our own farmers’ attitude to foxes and badgers.

Populations fluctuate wildly out of necessity as their numbers are impacted by factors difficult to predict, such as drought and disease. Since kangaroos are a slowbreeding marsupial with low reproductive rates, wildlife experts are concerned that turning them into just another commodity is not only cruel but also unsustainable.

Hunted at night in the vast outback with powerful four-track vehicles and mesmerising search lights, the startled animals are shot, supposedly in the head but the reality is that many are miss-shot and die a slow, agonising death. It has become known as the largest slaughter of land-based wildlife in history.

Latest figures from the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy have earmarked 6.9 million kangaroos for slaughter in 2018 – this does not include the millions of baby kangaroos (joeys) who will also be killed as a by-product. Government guidelines insist that these babies should be clubbed to death or decapitated but many escape, only to die from predation and lack of nurturing.

This barbaric slaughter also has serious health implications as independent testing has found dangerously high levels of salmonella and E.coli contamination in the meat. With animals butchered in the wild without any controls this is inevitable. The industry is now advising shooters to spray carcasses with acetic acid in the field but incredibly, Food Standards Australia New Zealand are not monitoring it and have not recommended any maximum limit.

“We are delighted that kangaroo meat has been taken off their shelves due to Viva! pressure,” says Juliet Gellatley, Viva! founder and director. “Meat that was being promoted to British consumers as a little bit of fun hid the brutal reality of this extraordinary massacre of wild animals. We will continue to support Australian wildlife groups in ending this repugnant and thuggish trade”.

For now, the war against supermarkets selling kangaroo meat has been won. But despite Viva!’s victories against some of the big sportswear companies, Help kangaroo leather products still Viva! save lives.

Donate to Viva!’s saturate the football boot campaigns instantly by market.

Photo © Floris Jan-roelof

To find out more go to savethekangaroo.com/ kick-cruelty-out

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texting VLPR00 £5 (or any amount you like!) to 70070 (Your data is only shared if you agree to Gift Aid. Processed via JustGiving.)

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Thank yoxu!

A massive thank you to the passionate and hardworking Viva! Stall volunteers who helped represent Viva! at events throughout the Spring. We § you!

At the London launch of Kangaroo, left to right: Gary Webster, Viva! patron Wendy Turner-Webster, Juliet Gellatley, the film’s co-director Kate McIntyre and Veggie Vision’s Karin Ridgers

Kangaroo:

l Amrit, her daughter and friend – Ealing Animal Charities Fair – £110 l Nigel & friends – Southend Community Wellbeing & Vegan Festival – £385 l Aby & her partner – Worthing Easter Vegan Fair – £450 (top)

l Sonia & Julie – Northern Vegan Festival – £455 (below)

A Love-Hate Story Viva! hosts the premier of a stunning new film The premiere of the much-anticipated film Kangaroo was hosted in Bristol by Viva! on May 26, followed by a London screening on June 4.

Juliet Gellatley, Viva!’s founder and director, held a Q&A session together with the filmmakers – and she also appears in the film as an interviewee.

This award-winning film reveals the unlikely truth about Australia's love-hate relationship with its supposedly beloved icon, revealing shocking scenes behind the largest mass destruction of wildlife in the world.

Each night these unique animals are killed in the wild and sold for profit across the world. Europe is the largest importer of kangaroo parts for pet food, leather and as meat for human consumption.

The film’s release in the US shocked audiences and many are demanding answers from the Australian government.

“A Powerful film. You NEED TO KNOW about the way this iconic animal is being treated” – Peter Singer.

“This PROBING documentary recalls films such as The Cove and Blackfish” – Variety.

It will soon be possible to host your own screening of Kangaroo.

Release date is yet to be confirmed. More – and a full review – in the next edition of Viva!life. kangaroothemove.com/host-a-screening

l Caroline, Andre and Phil – Cornwall Vegan Festival – £330 (right) l Nick & Debs – Salisbury Vegan Fair – £330 l Willow & Bethan – Dorset Vegan Festival – £320 Don’t miss out on the fabulous vegan events taking place throughout the summer and autumn seasons up and down the country! To find out more go to myvegantown.org.uk If you’re interested in running a stall for Viva! or curious for more information, please email merchandise@viva.org.uk

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33

it by holding… wait for it… barbecues? Yes, make a carcinogenic food far more carcinogenic by scorching it on the barbecue in order to raise funds for a cancer charity!

You’ll be pleased to know that the BHF has a ‘healthy’ seven-day meal planner to help reduce your risk. It contains six portions of milk in various forms, three eggs, two cream cheeses, two portions of minced meat, pizza and a portion each of salmon and tuna (more of these later). Sixteen portions of animal products – that’ll do the trick!

In fairness, it does say they should all be low-fat versions. Jolly good – but as the China Study and other studies have established, animal protein is every bit as damaging as saturated fat! Maybe one reason why heart disease just keeps on increasing.

Back to barbecues. The BHF is also a big fan and will tell you which meats are best to use – just about all of them and absolutely no need to give up red meat!

It also says feast on fish but I could find no word about the poisons it contains and the fact that the Food Standards Agency warns that children, pregnant women and those trying to get pregnant should not eat shark, marlin or swordfish at all (huss, a chip shop favourite, is a shark). Why? Because of the mercury, pesticides, flame retardants, PCBs and dioxin they contain, which can seriously damage immature bodies and brains. The rest

In 2015 the WHO said that processed meat causes cancer and red meat probably does too Viva!’s scientific health reports provide chapter and verse on how animal products destroy our health – using sound, peer-reviewed science. the

MEAT THETRUTH

diib ed bl re le cr e nc iin

vegan

health report health report

How and why meat consumption is a major public health concern A review of the evidence

What science and experience say about vegan diets and human health

By Dr Justine Butler, Senior Health Researcher, Viva!Health

Viva! is a reg charity 1037486

By Veronika Powell MSc (Biology), Senior Health Campaigner & Researcher, Viva!Health Edited by: Juliet Gellatley BSc DipDM, Founder & Director, Viva!Health

MEAT THE TRUTH How and why meat consumption is a major public health concern. A review of the evidence. £10

A Viva!Health Report £7

THE INCREDIBLE VEGAN HEALTH REPORT What science and experience say about vegan diets and human health. £7

By: Dr Justine Butler, Senior Health Researcher & Writer, Viva!Health Edited by: Juliet Gellatley BSc DipDM, Founder & Director, Viva!Health

WHITE LIES The findings of over 400 scientific papers linking cows’ milk to human diseases. £5.50

All are available online at vivahealth.org.uk or from Viva!Health, 8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QH. Tel 0117 944 1000.

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£5.50

of us should eat no more than two portions weekly.

Dear god, here we are talking about a supposed health food that can cause irreparable damage if eaten more than once or twice a week – or at all. The only food with a government health warning and yet the BHF claims that fish is essential as only it can provide the right type of omega-3 fats and that vegetable sources simply aren’t good enough. When did they stop reviewing science – about 1980? When did they last look at the massively lower disease rates of vegans and their greater longevity? More importantly, how do they get away with this nonsense?

And they’ve also got a thing about milk. Dairy is the healthiest and plant milks will leave you short of calcium and iodine. No mention of the 35 different hormones and 11 growth factors dairy milk contains and their link with about 16 different diseases, including some cancers.

Incredibly, as part of its milk promotion, the BHF claims that milk sugar (lactose) has no negative health implications compared to other sugars. I think I now need to go and lie down! Seventy per cent of the global population will bloat, burp, fart, get indigestion and feel really unwell if they consume cow’s milk as they’re lactose intolerant – they can’t digest it!

The Alzheimer’s Society’s very first recommendation for a healthy diet is to eat a “high proportion of oily fish”. Pardon – a high proportion of poison? And red meat is fine, too, at low levels even though in 2015 the WHO said that processed meat causes cancer and red meat probably does too.

When you look at the risk factors for Alzheimer’s they’re almost identical to those for heart disease – which is probably not surprising. The latest research shows that the amyloid plaques that clog the brain to cause Alzheimer’s are also responsible for a considerable proportion of heart disease cases. So, if animal products are the primary cause of heart disease…

I find the outdated, inadequate, misleading and often completely inaccurate prevention advice from all three charities shocking. For years I’ve been saying that, alongside their search for cures, they should spend a good part of their massive budgets on prevention – telling people how to avoid becoming ill in the first place. But if the current advice is the best they have to offer, they’d do better to fund nationwide street parties – at least it would make people feel good while they waited to develop one or other deadly disease.

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Live Exports

SHIPS OF SHAME A

ustralia is the world’s largest exporter of animals.

Every year, millions of sheep are transported by sea to the Middle East on brutal journeys lasting up to three weeks. It has been going on for fifty years but finally, something is happening.

This trade is worth $2 billion (Aus) a year and while it’s known that the casualty rate can be staggeringly high, it has been impossible to obtain hard evidence due to the difficulty of infiltrating a ship at sea. This all changed when a whistle-blower took footage inside the fully-stocked vessel Awassi Express in the build up to the Muslim sacrificial celebration of Eid. On five voyages lasting three weeks each, scenes of utter barbarity were revealed where sweltering heat virtually cooked animals alive, according to a vet who later examined their carcasses. On the grossly overcrowded lower decks, many others died from thirst while others were gasping as corrosive ammonia choked and blinded them. The death rate was shocking.

Campaign group Animals Australia passed the footage to top-rated TV programme 60 Minutes and it was shown both across the country and internationally. It was followed by outrage, protests and a clamour for live exports to be banned. The clamour increased when, two weeks later, similarly distressing footage of Australian cattle arriving in Israel during a heatwave was revealed.

This dreadful abuse of animals is magnified by footage of their treatment in the destination countries of the Middle East as well as Indonesia and Vietnam. It can only be described as prolonged torture. The Australian government’s response has been disgraceful – a few weeks’ suspension of exports and the introduction of an ‘assurance’ scheme – a fig leaf that will allow the suffering to continue. Not a single exporter has been fined.

Following the last outrage, the government appointed an independent veterinarian to report on the situation.

Independent? The man had already overseen 65 live export voyages on behalf of eight major Australian exporters and found nothing wrong. The imperative for the Australian government is to keep exports flowing out

and income flowing in and to hell with animal welfare.

Before we sit in judgement on Australia, most governments have done much the same thing, including our own. Britain’s trade in live animals is small by comparison yet official figures reveal that 1.8 million live chickens went from Britain to Saudi Arabia last year, with others going to Israel, Egypt and Jordan. We also export sheep – 20,000 in 2017.

The High Court has consistently ruled against a ban, citing the EU principle of freedom of movement with a maximum transport time of eight hours. However, we are gradually edging towards one and to help it on its way, Viva! took part in International Live Transport Awareness day in Bath this June. We targeted the live transport of animals, both nationally to local slaughterhouses and overseas. In collaboration with local groups – Bath Animal Save and Bristol Animal Save, we urged the British public to go vegan and help end animal suffering.

Help Viva! save lives.

Donate to Viva!’s campaigns instantly by texting VLPR00 £5 (or any amount you like!) to 70070 (Your data is only shared if you agree to Gift Aid. Processed via JustGiving.)

Viva! and local Save Movement groups in Bath on international Live Transport Awareness Day

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Come and spend a day with our residents Registered Charity Number 1122303

A great day out for everyone, with over 100 rescued animals, woodland walks and activities.

We are a registered charity, all monies raised go towards giving our animals a safe home for life at Dean Farm Sanctuary.

Adults £3.00 • Under 16’s £1.00 • Under 3’s free.

CLOTHING GIFTS & MERCHANDISE INDIAN CUISINE PIES AND PASTIES

10:30am-4:30pm both days

PIZZA, BURGERS & HOT DOGS ICE CREAM

SHIRENEWTON, CHEPSTOW, MONMOUTHSHIRE NP16 6AG

www.deanfarmtrust.org.uk

Fre

e

Vegan Sanctuary

DEAN FARM TRUST STALL PICK-N-MIX SWEETS & CAKES

Explore hundreds of vegan-friendly places to eat, sleep and shop – then champion and share your fave finds!

Support

Viva!’s new vegan directory for all things vegan and wonderful MY VegAn Town and help us celebrate kindness

to animals, people and the planet myvegantown.org.uk | viva.org.uk | mvt@viva.org.uk 48

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Restaurant reviews

A Summer Outing to Bath

The beautiful Georgian city of Bath is spectacular at any time of year but in summer its honey-coloured limestone simply glows. It feels special and cries out for a special lunch or dinner – and here are two places that won’t disappoint you

Acorn Right bang in the centre of old Bath, neighboured by Bath Abbey, the Roman baths and the pump room – and just a door or two away from the famous Sally Lunn tea shop – is Acorn. Its gorgeous little and ancient frontage gives no indication of the culinary delights that await you inside.

It is essentially very intimate with what were once small rooms now linked together but still providing a sense of relaxed privacy. There is a sprinkling of vegetarian dishes on both lunch and dinner menus but most are vegan – a kind of vegan the world has been waiting for. This is fine dining!

It’s one of those places that when the food arrives, you can’t help asking, “What’s yours like?” Or, “You just taste this!” as forkfuls of morsels head backwards and forwards across the table. Enough said, these are some of the delights

you might have if you go for the taster menu: Wye valley asparagus, compressed with lemon and served Patron on a bed of spring greens braised in Richard Buckley’s porcini stock and whipped smoked superb recipe book, almond curds.

Plants Taste Batter, Rich mushroom parfait served is reviewed on page 51 with celeriac cooked in its own juice, hazelnut butter, red chicory dressed in hazelnut oil and pickled red cabbage.

Fresh strawberry jelly with strawberry duxelle, fennel bulb cream, thyme and anise meringue and a prosecco surprise. I’ll leave you to savour them. Of course, wine matches are suggested for each course.

Tasting menu costs £45 for five courses while the Classic Dinner Menu costs £28.90 for two courses, £37.95 for three. A two course lunch will cost about £20. TW Acorn, 2 North Parade Passage, Bath BA1 1NX. Tel 01225 446095

Nourish Plantbased Eating Just a 20-minute walk from the town centre, you’ll find a real taste explosion, including the best vegan fish I’ve ever tasted. I can’t get over the texture! If you’ve been missing fish and have never found an alternative, you must try this version: fish based on banana blossom (in fact we have Viva!’s own recipe for it on page 29). Strange as it might sound, it is amazing in both texture and taste and will leave you in awe. It comes as a big portion together with fresh cut chips and delicious tartar sauce.

Nourish’s menu is a great mix of mock meat and fish as well as healthier meals. We chose their Thai

laksa with coconut tofu and it tasted incredible. Tofu, cashews and fresh veg in a creamy coconut sauce. I just couldn’t stop eating it. I have to admit that the duck pancakes came in a quite small portion but the amazing taste of the other dishes definitely made up for this. Prices for mains are all around £13.

All in all, this vegan restaurant is a treat for your taste buds set in a lovely atmosphere and with extremely friendly staff. I’ll be back.

L-LH Nourish Plantbased Eating, Beaufort, 1 London Rd W, Bath BA1 6QB. Tel 01225 422033.

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Moove over!

Show your love for cow kind with our lovely range of Viva! Shop gifts

Living Nature Plush Toys Pair your adoption with one of these adorable cow soft toys Our Highland Cow and Cow Mini Buddy are realistic, plush farm animal toys from Living Nature. They are the perfect super soft and snuggly companion to add to your adopt-an-animal gift. Just let the Viva! Shop know if you'd like your plush toy to be included with your adoption pack at the checkout stage of your order! You can also buy them on their own.

PLUSH HIGHLAND COW £9 COW MINI BUDDY £3

Dekum Dekum Cow Tote Bag Accessorise your activism and show your love for cows with this quirky 3D tote bag This beautiful bag features a cow with protruding 3D flappable ears on a blue background. Lovely and large, this animal-tastic shoulder bag is handmade in the EU and printed with eco inks. Each bag is lined and features a sturdy zipper plus pocket for your mobile and keys. £20

Adopt a Farm Animal Rudy, Jethro and Lucky the Bulls Lucky and Rudy were both dumped in a field alone when they were very young. Jethro was very small and timid when he was first rescued. These beautiful bulls now live at the Lisa James Animal Sanctuary. This vegan sanctuary opened so they could offer a safe haven for horses and farmed animals that had been abused and neglected.

Join our adoption scheme for £25 a year where you will receive a letter about your animal, a personalised A5 certificate and colour photo in a cool magnetic frame. After 6 months you receive an update.

Scary Dairy You cannot ignore the realities of the dairy industry with this statement tee!

This classic cut black t-shirt draws powerful attention to the common practice in the dairy industry – removing new born calves and shooting many of them as useless by-products. It highlights the message using our slogan both on the front and back of the tee. Available in sizes S, M, L and XL. £15

Get your moovellous cow-inspired gifts here:

vivashop.org.uk/cows 50

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n e ch it k g in n in w rd a w a n a m Fro

For the outdoor types

Vegan BBQ Ever thought of barbecuing a pizza, deep dish pie or quesadillas? I thought not! Well, Vegan BBQ covers the basics of vegan burgers, steaks and skewers but with some eclectic (eccentric) additions that leave you eager to get your tongs out!

Nadine and Jörg answer all your vegan barbecue questions, from what type of BBQ and what fancy (and not-so-fancy) utensils you might need, to providing experienced barbecuing advice. This includes making your own firelighters and the right way to barbecue tofu, tempeh and seitan.

After reading the first few pages, you’ll be knowledgeable enough to become an expert pitmaster!

Mouth-watering photographs accompany the easyto-read layout plus handy tips and accompaniments such as sauces, salads, breads and more. A particular favourite being the trio of flavoured butters!

Nadine Horn & Jörg Mayer. Hardback. 223pp. £20

Plants Taste Better It’s finally here! The first gourmet, plant-based cookery book of its kind, with stunning recipes that celebrate vegan dining, from root to fruit. And, of course, it comes from awardwinning chef Richard Buckley, owner of the Michelin-listed Acorn in Bath.

This is the book where plants get the recognition they deserve and take centre stage. Richard delves into the sophisticated cuisine and advanced culinary techniques that are his trademark and introduces you to 70 top-notch recipes that take vegetable cooking to a new level and highlights specific techniques that will enhance your cookery skills.

Richard has designed many of his recipes specifically for home

cooking and they sit alongside ones especially adapted from his award-winning kitchen. They include snacks, Sweetcorn soup with Curried Popcorn, Burnt Summer Bean Parcels for a light lunch, a magical main of Smoked Cashew Croquetas with PortGlazed Red Beets and Orange Emulsion and the show-stopper dessert of Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart and Macerated Strawberries with Pine Nut Parfait & Thyme Meringues.

There are sections on fermented foods, breads, oils, butters and milks. If people aren’t persuaded to go vegan by the mouth-watering recipes, they will be by the beautiful food photography.

Richard Buckley. Hardback.

224pp. £25

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

to cook”, he says.

His favourite recipe is the Cashew Croquetas mentioned above, in which the cashews thicken the sauce rather than having to make a roux. “And the smoking gives a depth and sophistication that’s often missing from plant-based dishes”.

Where did the devotion to plants come from? “I’ve always been vegetarian so that was easy. When I fell in love with food, it didn’t occur to me to make anything other than with plants. I simply don’t think of animals as food!”

Richard Buckley is a self-confessed food geek – he really is! He understands the science of plantbased cookery like no one else and takes vegetables to entirely new places… you could say he was the Heston Blumenthal of veganism!

Warm, funny and self-deprecating, Richard effortlessly draws you into the world of plants and allows you to see them in a whole new light.

He reckons that most vegan cookbooks are aimed at the health or junk food markets, which leaves a massive hole for a book that uses gourmet and classical techniques. “I wanted to write the book that I wanted to buy when I was learning

All Viva! Vegan Book Club recommends are available to buy from vivashop.org.uk/books viva.org.uk 51

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

“I went vegan when I was 21” she tells me enthusiastically. “First I was vegetarian for 10 years. Even though my parents accepted me being veggie, every time I got a cold my mom would blame it on my diet! But a few months after I went vegan, I realised how much healthier I felt and – even better for an actor – my acne cleared up!”

So, was health the trigger for Evanna’s veganism?

“No! It was an unexpected bonus! I became vegetarian and then vegan for the animals. I’ve always loathed violence and am highly sensitive to it. I have this small but sure voice deep inside me that says ‘no’ every time I witness violence and I don’t ever want to stifle that voice with apathy.

“I was always a vegan in the making but it wasn’t nurtured so it took me a long while to make the connection. I went vegetarian because I was viscerally repelled by the idea of eating animals and didn’t want someone to kill them for me. But I was in cloud cuckoo land with dairy and ice-cream, believing cows were having a grand old time. I didn’t know that their calves were stolen from them. I read Eating Animals and then I understood that my vegetarian lifestyle was inconsistent with my beliefs so I decided to go vegan.”

At first Evanna kept quiet about her new diet for fear of slipping up in some way and being criticised by the ‘vegan police’ on social media. But she then had a change of heart.

“Going vegan and shouting about it opened up my whole world socially. I’ve found that the more I hung out with vegans, the more I felt this is who I am. I felt a sense of belonging and loved it – I didn’t have to explain that part of myself to people. I found my community – so many friends that I’m inspired by. I love their work and I love hanging around them because it motivates me. It’s brilliant.”

Evanna’s veganism has healed her relationship with food. “My eating disorder was all behind me but my messed up relationship with food was absolutely the same. As a vegetarian, I ate a lot of packaged and junk foods but when I went vegan I learned how to cook, using loads of vegetables and pulses. I experimented, my taste buds changed and that’s when I became a real foodie – I actually get really excited about food!

“The reason veganism made good my relationship with food is because what I am now eating represents what I believe. It’s about something much bigger than me and that accidentally healed my relationship with food.”

To my delight she mentions that she saw me give my Why you don’t need dairy talk and this helped her vegan resolve: “Robbie and me went to see your talk in Bristol and loved it. You told us to ‘eat the rainbow’ and that’s what we’ve been trying to do. Viva!’s wall chart What I need each day for good health was on my fridge when I lived in LA for five years – and it’s still there!

“I love Viva! and I’m so inspired by the undercover investigations you do – but I don’t think it’s something I could do – I would be crushed emotionally, I don’t have that toughness that you have. It’s brilliant that you do do it so we can show people, especially things that surprise people like your Happy Eggs investigations and now your Scary Dairy Face Off. It’s so helpful to have proof of what farming is really like.

“The other thing I really like about Viva! is that you are the most approachable – which is why I like giving your stuff out to vegetarians and meat eaters. You don’t alienate people.”

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"whartepIraesm now eating ents what I believe"

It’s wonderful to see Evanna using her celebrity and passion for animal rights. She has more invitations than she could ever accept and so has decided to focus on helping animals. I watched her deliver a speech to Trinity College’s Debating Society, using Luna as a way of bringing the audience closer to veganism. She is an excellent, natural public speaker – intelligent, engaging and funny.

“People love Harry Potter, they also love Luna. She’s a very kind, sweet, loving character and people want to be liked by Luna so if I’m talking about veganism I feel they’re a lot more open to it.”

Evanna also uses social media (with over three million followers between Instagram and Facebook) to promote her favourite causes. And then there’s her weekly podcast series.

“I started Chickpeeps in November 2017 with Robbie Jarvis. I was very excited because I’m a big podcast fan and while there’s lots for experienced vegans there’s nothing for young people who love animals, who are possibly vegetarian or wanting to go that way but feel resistant or just don’t know enough. Every week we do a different topic and educate people bit by bit so they can go vegan gradually.”

I highly recommend the podcasts – guests vary from Ingrid Newkirk of Peta to Derek Sarno of Wicked Healthy (and now me!). So who’s been Evanna’s favourite guest so far? Diplomatically she smiles and say: “I like the OG vegans like you.” (I had to look it up – I’m flattered (I think) to be referred to as an original gangster!).

I feel like the last words should be about Luna, the ‘anti-Hermione’ of Harry Potter. As Rowling has often said – Hermione is “inflexible and logical,” as opposed to Luna, “who could believe 10 impossible things before breakfast”. I can’t resist asking – is Luna a vegan?

“We did a whole episode on this (Podcast 9¾ at chickpeeps.com). I definitely think she’s vegetarian at the very least. She’s a naturalist and I think she’s vegan in her soul but you have to have a lot of passion and conviction to be vegan and Luna’s energy is very floaty. I think she’ll be vegan most of the time but if she’s at a wedding, say, and they don’t have a vegan option, she’ll eat vegetarian.”

I counter – Luna is floaty but she knows what’s right and doesn’t budge just because it’s inconvenient or she’s in a minority. Evanna beams her warm smile: “That’s true and she does have that real and soulful energy. I think her connection would be the spiritual side – that everything has a soul and an energy and she wouldn’t want to eat animals who had been filled with suffering and terror. On that point, she would be vegan.”

I suggest that Evanna knows Luna more than almost anybody, apart from maybe one other person… “I really would love to but I don’t think I should ask J K Rowling because she might break my heart. If I found out she wasn’t even vegetarian I would be distraught – but I think she is. Let’s say she’s vegan. I can say that. I can make that decision. She’s vegan to me!”

Order of the Phoenix is available on Blu ray or DVD; My Name is Emily is available on Vimeo

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Honesty, truthfulness and huge porky pies!

BY DR JUSTINE BUTLER

‘Love Pork’ said the TV adverts promoting pork medallions – after all, they’re low in fat! So what qualifies something to be ‘low fat’? The Government reckons food must contain 3g or less per 100g to boast that health-conscious claim.

Viva! immediately leafed through Public Health England’s 2015 Composition of Foods dataset, which lists over 100 pork items, and could find only one which qualified as low fat and it wasn’t medallions. We complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) saying that pork is NOT a low-fat food and it was highly misleading for the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), who placed the ads, to claim otherwise.

“Those figures are outdated”, said the advertisers, pork medallions are a new, low-fat cut of meat. Well I never, a new part of a pig’s body that’s only just been discovered!

Incredibly, the ASA accepted their claim. We didn’t!

We checked the fat content of pork medallions from several big supermarkets and most ranged from 6-10g of fat per 100g and only one qualified as low fat. The ASA rejected our research and found in favour of the ‘Love Pork’ adverts.

So how did the advertisers swing it? They had already done their own testing and Buckinghamshire & Surrey Trading Standards accepted this ‘research’ – and, subsequently, so did the ASA. Just a minute – the advertisers were allowed to select their own samples for testing. Like Goldilocks, how many did they reject before they found ones that were ‘just right’?

The ASA refused point blank to show Viva! details of the tests but following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request the advertisers revealed that they had chosen 27 medallions from nine named supermarkets. They hadn’t, however, recorded which brand names were on the packs. So, the source of these low-fat medallions remains a mystery. This is appalling scientific practice as no one can double check.

Trading Standards rejected our FOI request for the

test results because: “…it would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the authority and that it is not in the public interest”. We asked Trading Standards Manager, David Pickering, to explain what that meant!

Eventually he replied in words so convoluted they could have been in Serbo-Croat. However, we managed to decipher that as the test information provided by the advertisers was voluntary, they retained the rights to it.

“It is therefore not ‘evidence’ in the traditional sense and not ours to release”. He added that the advertisers paid Trading Standards’ expenses and if they were to grass them up to us, it might jeopardise this cosy relationship (I paraphrase).

So, Trading Standards are quite happy to allow an organisation to selectively choose their own samples for testing and issue them with ‘evidence’ to promote their product to the public (even though it isn’t ‘evidence’). In this case encouraging people to eat a food that could potentially damage their health. And all so they can save a bob or two!

Compare this with another recent brush we had with the ASA. They told us we couldn’t say “cow’s milk is linked to cancer”, when it appeared on one of our bus ads. “People will think that anyone who drinks milk will get cancer”, they said.

As it happens, people who drink lots of cow’s milk do tend to have a higher risk of certain cancers, including breast and prostate (a bit wordy for an advert!). Had we said “Cows’ milk increases the risk of prostate cancer,” we probably would have won the case. The ASA clearly think that the public is clever enough to understand that ‘Love Pork’s low-fat claim applies solely to medallions – but only after they’ve cut off all visible fat (which isn’t even mentioned).

ASA’s motto should be changed from ‘Legal, decent, honest and truthful’ to ‘legal, decent, cods and wallop’.

To find out more about the detrimental health effects of meat see our fully-referenced report: Meat the Truth at vivahealth.org.uk.

viva.org.uk 53

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V for Life is pleased to have released two new film shorts. They aim to draw attention to two serious questions that concern older vegans and vegetarians. Will my lifestyle and beliefs be understood and respected in a care environment? And if I get dementia, will they serve me meat?

We urge you to get informed – if you aren't already – about these important issues. One day, there will be clear policies and regulations about how to support older vegans and vegetarians.

V for Life is trying to make that day come sooner.

For more information, visit vegetarianforlife.org.uk/films or call 0161 257 0887

Registered charity number 1120687

New film shorts‌ If I get dementia, will they serve me meat?

VL68 p42-60.qxp_VL41 redesign new 06/07/2018 11:53 Page 56

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