Viva!Life Issue 70 | Spring 2019

Published by Viva! the vegan campaigning group

Viva!’s th Magical 25ry Annivaet wrse’vae

life Issue 70 Spring 2019

Channel 4 Dispatches …the hit that missed

…wh d achievedwaen where go next

RedLaugh Tractor assurance

Meet the caring…

MP Henry Smith Culture Club The people

Envirocidal Viva!’s new environmental report

developing clean meat

Revealing interview with BBC’s

Sarah Jane Crawford

g n i r p S f o e ł s a t A Great new recipes

Photo © Jay Mawson

Viva!

Poland Fighting on all fronts

who we ARe

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

12 8

8

BBC PReSenteR (AnD VegAn) SARAh-JAne CRAwFoRD

11 DiSPAtCheS the hit job that missed Viva!health (a part of Viva!) really is the authority on everything to do with vegan diets and health. Staffed by qualified professionals, for over two decades it has championed vegan diets for what they really are – the key to a healthier way of living, a lower risk of killer diseases and a longer life. And it has done it with sound science. it publishes fully-referenced scientific reports on such important subjects as breast cancer, obesity and diabetes – but it can also tell you the difference between potassium and selenium; manganese and magnesium. in fact, its brilliant website gives you the complete A-z of nutrients, the A-z of Diseases and how the two are linked. everything you want is there. vivahealth.org.uk

life 70

12 ReD tRACtoR LonDon DeMo 14 ReD tRACtoR exPoSeD Assurance scheme with no assurances

28

15 ViVA!CCino Vegan coffee goes to town

16 25th AnniVeRSARY CoMPS Celebrate by joining in!

18 MAgiCAL BiRMinghAM our great celebratory festival

20 ViVA ReView oF 2018 Another year of saving animals

22 CuLtuRe CLuB

46

Juliet gellatley interview with ‘clean’ meat scientists

28 SPRing ReCiPeS

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.

Light and lovely cookery

32 LiFeStYLe good vegan living

40 A MAD MAx FutuRe Viva! launches envirocidal report

42 MeDiA LiFe Viva! in the headlines

46 ViVA PoLAnD Fighting on every front

24 26 27 39 45 48 54 55 57 58

LifeScience 30-Day Vegan App Moo-Free May Vegan energy John Robb Viva!’s Festivals V-Biz Restaurant Reviews Book Club Classified

51 henRY SMith MP tory with a heart viva.org.uk 3

Welcome

ViVA!LiFe MAgAzine

It all started in a makeshift office attached to our garage in rural Cheshire with its uninterrupted views of the countryside. Every evening saw a madcap, 20-minute dash to catch the last post in Crewe, and volunteers had to be put up in our house.

I had energy and a belief that I could build an effective organisation saving farmed animals, the main source of animal suffering. I’d already campaigned for about a decade and wasn’t ignorant of the grindingly hard work that lay ahead. One person who had faith in me was Audrey Eyton, author of the book The F-Plan Diet. Her generous donation to Viva! ensured we were able to come into the world kicking and shouting – and we’ve never stopped.

So here we are, 25 years later, the largest campaigning vegan charity in Europe, and that’s without including the outstanding work done by Viva! Poland, which I founded in the year 2000. It has subsequently become the pre-eminent vegan and animal group in the country and for its latest campaigns, see page 46.

Was it all worth it? Reviewing that impact we have had and the campaigns we have launched over the last 12 months alone confirms to me that it was (see page 20). But there have been 24 other years of successful campaigning and that is well worth celebrating. Please see page 16 for how you can help us mark Viva!’s 25th anniversary.

Then there is our magical Birmingham festival with so much going on, including talks from Evanna Lynch (of Harry Potter fame) and our inspirational patron, Heather Mills.

Giving a cookery demo will be the ‘hard man’ of Dirty Sanchez, Matt Pritchard. See page 18 for details.

The culmination of our celebrations will be a magnificent, three course vegan dinner aboard the majestic Elizabethan as we cruise gently past London’s iconic landmarks.

Speakers will include our patrons, Michael Mansfield QC and actor Wendy Turner Webster, as well as actor Peter Egan. It really does promise to be a magnificent evening. See page 19 for details.

How attitudes have changed since our launch campaign, Convert a Parent. It provided teenagers with all the information they needed to persuade their parents that giving up meat was the right thing to do on every count. It was seen as highly controversial but hugely successful and since then, Viva! has pushed veganism ever forward until now we have a vegan revolution on our hands. My interview with ‘clean meat’ developers in Holland reveal just how dramatic and cruelty free the future will be if we keep up the pressure.

Yours for the animals

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

Viva! Founder & International Director Juliet Gellatley Editor Tony Wardle Campaigns Manager Lex Rigby Campaigns & Outreach Roisin McAuley, Sam Ashman, Laura-Lisa Hellwig, Claire Michalski Viva!Health Researchers & Campaigners Veronika Powell, Dr Justine Butler Office Manager & Supporters’ Liaison Laura Turner, Nick Hallows, Beata Rzepecka-Wilk, Ash Bligh-Wall Merchandise, Business, Festivals & Events Liam Nolan, Sophie Delarny, Dani Lawton, Alice Short, Jem Adéola Food & Cookery Maryanne Hall Design The Ethical Graphic Design Company Ltd Web Satyadarshin Perry, Mark Schiller Podcast Presenter Kristian Townsend Database & IT 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

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

lifelines the dairy and meat industries rig scientific studies with the sole intent of fooling you. they’ve done it before and they’ll do it again. here’s how it works. one classic meat study claimed that adding beef to the diet reduced cholesterol levels and therefore the risk of heart disease. this flies in the face of mountains of studies that have established the opposite. how? they got their study group to cut out all dairy, all meat, eggs and fish, which slashed their cholesterol in half. Beef was then introduced into the diet but in limited quantities, ensuring that although their cholesterol increased it didn’t reach the levels at the start of the study.

An international dairy study found that a high-fat meat diet, a high-fat cheese diet and a low-fat carbohydrate diet all resulted in the same amount of saturated fat in the body. they did it by adding to the low-fat diet massive amounts of coconut oil and sweet biscuits. And bingo, they got their result. the most outrageous industry study of all compares cow’s milk cheese with a vegan cheese containing one third the amount of saturated fat and found that they both produced the same saturated fat levels. Simply done – stack the vegan cheese diet with loads of palm oil. even more blatant was a meat industry study that compared meat to tofu and found they also produce the same sat fat levels – they stuffed the tofu diet with lard! this is scientific lying.

Studies such as these are all dressed up in the scientific garb of objective research but the truth is there, somewhere, hidden amongst the impenetrable scientific language – if you bother to look. Most journalists don’t bother and hence we have constant headlines supporting meat and dairy – the two biggest killers in our diet.

Launched over 20 years ago, Ethical Consumer is the uK’s leading ethical and environmental magazine. they rate everyday products and services on their environmental and ethical performance and Viva! Shop was recently nominated as a Best Buy for ethical online retailers. hooray and thanks! vivashop.org.uk Anonymous playing Viva!’s footage on their laptop at street outreach in Lanzarote, Canary Islands

Help us keep doing all this amazing work in 2019. Call 0117 944 1000 or donate online at viva.org.uk/ donate

For Viva!’s Elders Just imagine that you’ve been vegetarian or vegan for years and then it becomes suddenly necessary to go into care. You make clear your food preferences but what happens down the line if your memory gives way and you no longer remember that you made a principled decision to be veggie or vegan? Could you suddenly be served meat or unwittingly choose it from the menu? it’s a horrible situation to think about – in so many ways – but it can happen. our friends at Vegetarian for Life have proudly announced the launch of a Memory Care Pledge that care homes in the uK will be encouraged to take up. it will ensure that residents with memory issues are offered food and drink that upholds their ethical beliefs.

Richard horsfield (79), has been vegan since his 20s and perfectly sums up the importance of the pledge. “Being vegan may not be a religion but we are as passionate about our pathway through life. we need to keep being given plant-based meals and be reminded of that as we grow older.”

To find out more go to vegetarianforlife.org.uk/pages/pledge

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Photo © Vegetarian for Life

You will be fooled again

Viva! Awarded ‘Best Buy’

lifelines Door to Door Gummies

Celling fish On page 22, Viva! director Juliet Gellatley takes a look at the growing interest in cellular meat – and it seems that fish are heading in the same direction.

BlueNalu, based in San Diego (US), says that its fish flesh produced from cells will be more sustainable and humane than traditional fishing. The big boys are taking it very seriously with its board members including representatives from Campbell Soups, Nestlé, The Food Network and the Monaco Foundation USA, among others. CEO Lou Cooperhouse is upbeat, saying that these industry leaders are excited “at the sheer scale and positive impact that we can have on our planet’s health”.

two of Viva!s supporters have opened an amazing new online shop – Vegummies. Looking at their selection of 32 different gummie sweets is like a trip down memory lane. Cola bottles, pear drops, rhubarb and custard – they’re there. Strawberries and cream, flying saucers and banana foams, they’re there too. You can pick and mix to your heart’s content and they will all be sent to your door. And by the way, five per cent of Vegummies’ profits will be donated to Viva!. thank you and best of luck, chaps. go to vegummies.co.uk

Keswick B&B Supports Viva!

Rosie and Mike generously raise funds for Viva! from their vegan Air B&B in the Lake District. if people want a full brekkie it’s suggested they make a donation of £5 to vegan charities. the last donation we received was £217.

A sincere thank you Rosie and Mike. Look at Air B&B Luxury Vegan ‘Rest wing’ in Keswick, Cumbria.

ChRiS thAnKS ViVA! When Chris Packham announced he was going to try Veganuary, we gave him a helping hand and he replied: “Been reading through a mass of interesting and informative material I got from Viva!

Campaigns well worth a visit to their website to catch up on post Channel 4 Dispatches action re animal welfare”.

You’re welcome, Chris.

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Cheesy Ads For the first time, vegan cheese ads will appear on mainstream British tV and will be seen by millions of viewers.

Fantastic Violife making it easy to go vegan.

Raffle results

Festivalgoers views

we asked people attending our recent Cardiff festival some questions about it. Most heard about it on Facebook. our talks and cookery demonstrations were very well received – talks scoring 8.4 out of 10, demos 8.3. Many wanted an even greater variety of food which, considering how many food stalls there were, really shows that vegans like their grub. of the non-vegans who attended, 71 per cent said they would make positive changes to their diet, including 18 per cent who said they would go vegan! that’s just what we want to hear!

Dairy Gets the Jitters

Berrio picks Viva! they’ve been producing olive oil since 1867 in the province of Lucca, italy, and you’ll see their distinctive bottles in every supermarket. in fact, they’re one of europe’s largest olive oil producers. when they decided to develop a vegan meal plan to complement Veganuary, it was Viva! they turned to, choosing recipes from our Vegan Recipe Club.

At the recent Semex annual dairy conference in glasgow, alarm bells were ringing everywhere. headline speakers were clear about the threats posed to the industry from the rise of veganism and animal activism (i think they meant Viva!) but no one had any ideas on how to combat it. they even highlighted what we should be attacking next. “they’ve consistently put a question mark about the meat and dairy industries in consumers’ minds”, said Ash Amirahmadi, Ceo of global giant Arla, “and they’re not going to stop because they really believe they’re on to something. we haven’t yet been exposed on antibiotics and we could be – it could be the next one coming down the line.” what a good idea, thanks Ash! nFu president Minette Batters called for ‘zero tolerance’ of the animal rights movement and we know that the nFu has held seminars about what to do if you find an animal rights activist on your farm. wouldn’t say no to a cup of tea!

the winners of our Christmas fundraising raffle are as follows l 1st Prize of £1500 goes to T Goulding from Lincolnshire (ticket no. 103750) l 2nd Prize (£500) to S Daisley from Cornwall (200580) l 3rd Prize (£300) to M Rawlinson from norfolk (165299) D Lewis from Lincoln is the lucky winner of the unique ceramic brooch by Alexandra Symons (ticket 147041) Viva! hampers are on their way to D Davies from Co. Durham (141731), S Baker from essex (104879) and L Evans from Surrey (185690).

Congratulations to the winners, and many thanks to all who entered. For more details, see viva.org.uk/raffle

Child’s Play Page 14 exposes the utter futility of the Red Tractor so-called assurance schemes but it’s not just us who think they’re rubbish. This is what an arable farmer had to say about it in an online chat forum: “…had farm assurance inspection today – its a bloody joke, primary school children could do it.”

Vegan by Gove Sarah Vine is the wife of Michael gove and she announced at the start of the year that she intended to give veganism a go for Veganuary. now, Mr gove is Secretary of State at Defra and has publicly declared that meat is essential to human health and has vociferously supported farmers against vegan ‘extremists’. Can you imagine the raised voices in the gove household when she made her announcement? unless…

Surprise, surprise, Sarah abandoned her efforts because of bloating and wind but then

went one step further and launched an attack against veganism with outdated warnings over its nutritional inadequacies and accusing companies of only promoting veganism to line their own pockets. Forgive me if i’m wrong, Sarah, but isn’t that the essence of toryism – spotting a gap in the market and making profits from it? of course she was never going to support veganism but her objections will gain her old man a few Brownie points from his rural constituents. wind was certainly the problem!

viva.org.uk 7

e n a J h a r a S

the cool and caring

BY VERONIKA POWELL

S

arah-Jane Crawford is one impressive woman – TV and radio presenter, red-carpet events host, DJ, model and founder of the vegan app, Viappi. I knew her velvety voice from radio but had no idea what she was like as a person. Happily, she was all smiles, warm personality and charisma. She leafed through the latest issue of Viva!life with genuine interest, asking lots of questions about our campaigns and research.

Naturally, we started talking about veganism in general and of course I wanted to know what it was that first changed her. And it’s not your usual story!

“It was May 2015, I was doing a weekday radio show at the BBC and it was very music focused. My producer and I would brainstorm every day, thinking up ideas for what to talk about on air… and then he said there was a big announcement from Beyoncé - she’d gone vegan.”

“I got the connection between beef production and environmental degradation” Sarah-Jane decided to follow suit and give veganism a go. Inspired by Beyoncé and a programme she’d collaborated on with Challenge 22+ (an Israeli organisation promoting veganism for the animals) she decided to test its claim that it takes three weeks to make or break a habit.

“At first I thought it was gonna be a fun thing to trial on radio but what was really interesting was the reactions I got from listeners. On Radio 1, there’s quite a lot of young farmers who tune in and then on 1xtra the audience is younger. The feedback I was getting was way more positive on 1xtra. Then, the grime MC, JME,

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a staunch vegan, came on the show and there was no going back.”

And it was JME who told Sarah-Jane that dairy cows are forced to become pregnant in order to produce milk, their babies are taken from them and many of the male calves are shot – and this opened her eyes to the true cost of dairy. He also sent her a video about veganism and it was a true life-changer. She says she was embarrassed to admit her ignorance but is now happy to open up about it and educate others.

During her three-week challenge, she met many young vegans who grew up in housing estates and are a part of the urban music scene. Her stereotyped view of who vegans are slowly began to change.

Sarah-Jane Crawford is now 35, was born in Clapham and so is a total Londoner. As it’s my specialist area, I wondered if, before she became vegan, she’d known much about the health issues linked to animal products.

“I was clear that heart disease, cancer and some other diseases were potentially down to the consumption of meat and dairy.

And I remember watching Forks Over Knives a year or two before (a US lifestyle film advocating wholefoods) and thinking I would give veganism a go at some point – but I was too busy and then forgot about it!”

Remarkably unfazed by the personal nature of her explanation, Sarah-Jane continued: “And then, just a year before becoming a vegan, I had two operations in the space of six or seven months – one to remove a breast lump and the other to remove a massive uterine fibroid. I know it’s not a given but both were likely to have been caused by high levels of oestrogen in the diet.”

So, already clued up on some health aspects of veganism, Sarah-Jane still had no idea of how animals were farmed.

When she found out,

Crawford restaurants and recipes.

“I really wanted it to celebrate vegetarian and vegan food and get people excited about visiting these new places.” On the recipe side, she collaborated with professional chefs in order to create meals that would appeal to a whole range of different people.

Back at the heart of veganism, Sarah-Jane shared a tender memory of visiting a sanctuary: “I met this cow called Fiona, and bless her – she was different to the other cows, not able to bond with the young. She’d been traumatised by having so many babies stolen from her. It really opened my eyes to what’s going on.”

Naturally, I told Sarah-Jane about our rescued cows, Thelma and Louise and their babies. It delighted her: “For all the horror stories we see, we really do need some good news and good feelings to balance it out.”

I didn’t want to end the interview without thanking her for the great job she’s doing in destroying the myth that veganism is a white, middle-class ‘thing’. She rattles off names of vegan people she’s interviewing for a podcast series called The VWord by Sarah-Jane Crawford – sportspeople, musicians, chefs and – a vegan truck driver.

Veganism needs as much zeal, enthusiasm and positive energy for the animals as it can get. Sarah-Jane has them all in spades – and with a 2.1 degree in marketing from Anglia Ruskin University, who knows where she’ll take us.

‘The V Word’ Now available to subscribe to on iTunes/Spotify and Stitcher.

Head to viappi.co.uk for vegan videos and content helping you on your vegan journey

All photos © Jay Mawson

there was immediate empathy and a bit of a reappraisal – she’d always felt strongly about human rights but had somehow never extended that compassion to animals.

And she’s not alone in that!

“I used to wear fur, I really didn’t care, but then I watched some videos and the film Earthlings (about how animals are treated – music by Moby, narration by Joaquin Phoenix). I sold all my furs, leather bags, some clothes and donated the money to a charity.”

Sarah-Jane has a history of supporting charities, including Teens Unite, a teenage cancer charity, and I knew she’d done a sponsored bike ride to raise money for climate refugees. How did that come about?

“I was in Covent Garden and walked into a pop-up store that was selling t-shirts, done in collaboration with famous people to support the Environmental Justice Foundation. I started chatting to the girls and ended up working with the charity.”

For the bike ride, she was given grim warnings about the ‘one big hill at the end’. “There’s loads of hills!” she laughed. “And I do remember them banging on about Meat-free Monday but I couldn’t see how that was relevant, even though I was doing the whole thing for them. The understanding came when I watched Cowspiracy (a documentary by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn on the global impact of animal agriculture – executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio). Then I got the connection between beef production and environmental degradation”.

I asked her what kind of reactions she’s had to going vegan and her eyes lit up.

“You’d be really surprised – people are supportive, interested, fascinated. Food is like football, religion or politics – quite an emotional subject. Some become defensive about it but mostly they’re supportive. I gave up drinking over a year ago and people were really annoying in trying to get me to drink again. No one dares try and get me to eat meat”.

Sarah-Jane went vegan ‘cold turkey style’, as she describes it, and says she didn’t find it that easy at first when eating out. And then she started going to new and different places catering for vegans, places she’d never heard of and was bowled over by the amazing dishes on offer. She’s clearly one of us vegans who’s happy to make a trip to find a great meal! And that’s when the idea for her app, Viappi, was born. It helps people to find

viva.org.uk 9

PlantBased

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plantbasedmag.com/daily-recipe

The truth about

Dispatches Documentary attacking Viva! backfires Publicity is central to saving animals! So, an approach by Channel 4 TV’s Dispatches has to be taken seriously – and cautiously.

Having been set up in the past, the first telephone interview with the programme’s producer (it didn’t have a name at that point) set alarm bells ringing. He was interested only in our undercover investigation of Hogwood pig farm.

He requested a filmed interview with director Juliet Gellatley but the questions he intended to cover – allegations – were entirely negative so we were convinced he intended to do a job on us. That was confirmed when we looked up the programme’s trail on Channel 4’s website – it was about ‘vegan extremists’. It was eventually called The Truth About Vegans – one hell of a claim!

We were also able to establish that the programme had already been shot, apart from Juliet’s contribution, which would obviously be a little bit tacked on somewhere near the end. We got them to put their allegations in writing and considered them long and hard.

Juliet agreed to the interview only if she was given advanced notice of the questions and we could film it to ensure we would have proof if she was misrepresented or misquoted. They refused and therefore so did we.

We did however send a long and detailed letter, forcefully countering their allegations with proof, and it seemed to work as some were not included in the programme. It essentially blew a hole right through the middle of this shoddy little production.

They did, however, portray Hogwood’s owner, Brian Hobill, as a poor victim – harassed at his home at the farm (he lives elsewhere in a mansion), upset by having a skeletal pig skull dumped outside his farm (they omitted to say it was one of the many pigs he’d dumped in nearby woods) and a man who cared for his animals (he was never asked about the RSPCA’s accusation of him having low animal welfare standards).

Hobill’s denials sounded entirely hollow when set against the extensive footage of his farm taken from our website. The result of this hatchet job was the opposite of what was intended. However, to ensure our story was heard in full, I filmed an interview with Juliet to correct the programme’s bias and this went public at the same time as the programme. It cab be viewed here viva.org.uk/hogwood/dispatches.

After transmission, we were inundated with messages – as was Channel 4’s complaint line.

TONY WARDLE

Just wanted to message to say, as biased as the Channel 4 documentary was, I believe it will actually help you in the long run. I have watched your videos defending the issue and you’ve defended your organisation eloquently and professionally. Your work is amazing and I am just about to donate which I probably wouldn’t have done before watching the documentary.

Keep up the good work!

That vile excuse for a man that runs #HogwoodHorrorFarm has inspired me to make a donation to @vivacampaigns.

They do such amazing work exposing the barbarity that these poor creatures endure.

Also remember, farmers have a tendency to lie! #thetruthaboutvegans #VIVA #GoVegan Just paid up to become a supporter. Huge fan of Juliet & Viva!. You do difficult but effective work to expose the horrors of factory farming.

Agree sound like @Channel4 @C4Dispatches were trying to stitch you – and all vegans! – up for ratings. Hope they’ve recruited 4 u instead x I’m shocked to see a charity doing a better job of investigative reporting than professional journalists. @C4Dispatches has lost its credibility after #thetruthaboutvegans as far as I’m concerned.

Goodness me this #Dispatches documentary is some awful attempt at journalism. I’m not even vegan and the level of bias and unbalance on display is nothing but unnecessarily divise in a current climate that needs no further divisions #thetruthaboutvegans Speaking as a non-vegan, that was extremely poor and unbalanced journalism #dispatches. If I didn’t know any better, it was almost like there was an agenda to discredit the entire vegan movement by what a small minority of vegan ‘extremists’ do. Poor show #thetruthaboutvegans

viva.org.uk 11

Don’t trust the

Tractor After Channel 4 TV aired their Dispatches programme, The Truth about Vegans, at the beginning of January, Viva! received incredible support from vegans and meateaters alike. Almost everyone saw through their biased reporting of ‘vegan extremists’. Dispatches focused on Viva! Campaigns’ undercover investigation into Hogwood, the horror pig farm in Warwickshire, and footage of our expose was shown on prime time TV, opening people’s eyes to pig farming in Britain and negating attempts to portray the farmer as a victim.

The whole focus of the programme was supposedly to expose extreme tactics used by some vegan activists in general, and Viva! in particular. The overwhelming opinion of those viewers who contacted Channel 4 and Viva! was that our tactics are not extreme but necessary in order to expose what is happening behind closed doors on British factory farms. This hidden suffering usually carries the welfare approval stamp of Red Tractor’s quality assurance scheme, as at Hogwood. Some might think this is a sick joke.

BY LAURA LISA HELLWIG

12

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More than 50 activists came together for Viva!’s Red Tractor demonstration and Tesco Day of Action in London

We’re creating the future of veganism – and factory farming is on the defensive. Viva! is you – and we couldn’t do this amazing work without you.

Call 0117 944 1000 to donate. (9am – 5pm weekdays).

p Red Tractor rebranded: “Red Tractor approves cruelty” t Vegans standing side by side against animal cruelty { Juliet giving a speech outside Red Tractor HQ  Follow the tractor to discover the truth

One reason why Tesco is still buying meat from Hogwood, despite Viva!’s tireless efforts to persuade them otherwise, is because they can point to their Red Tractor approval and claim that everything must be alright and we must be lying. Simply by watching our undercover footage it is screamingly apparent that the Red Tractor’s so-called assurance scheme is nothing more than a cynical marketing ploy to fool consumers (see page 14).

Over 50 activists came together on a Friday in January to stand in solidarity with Viva! outside Red Tractor’s headquarters in Central London. We had a real, full-sized red tractor that bore the slogan ‘Red Tractor Approves Cruelty’ and our giant video van showed never-before-seen undercover footage from Hogwood Horror Farm. Shoppers were appalled to see that these cruel conditions are approved by Red Tractor.

Their eyes were opened to the absolute worthlessness of this so-called assurance scheme.

After a photocall and speech from Viva! Founder and Director, Juliet Gellatley, the demonstrators moved on to the busiest Tesco in London at Trafalgar Square. Our video van parked up in the middle of a roundabout and thousands of people watched the footage. Viva! volunteers spoke to passers-by and educated them about the truth of the Red Tractor sham assurance. It requires few words when scenes of abject suffering are juxtaposed with claims of good animal welfare.

Like most other people, they were unaware that Red Tractor is owned by industry bodies such as the National Farmers Union (representing farm owners) and Dairy UK. Their first and only priority is to boost sales from their members’ farms and have no interest in exposing the horrendous

conditions in which farmed animals have to live and die.

Our eye-catching red tractor turned many heads and attracted lots of beeps from car horns on its tour around London. Our video truck displayed footage taken inside Hogwood.

The Day of Action was a great success and clearly made the point that the only way people can change the situation is by changing themselves. It’s time to go vegan!

viva.org.uk 13

Red Tractor

Assurance Stamp

‘…barely worth the label it’s printed on’

RU

Y

RED TR

TOR AP C A

OVE S

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 The so-called ‘highwelfare’ standards of Red Tractor – piglets in ‘battery cages’

PR

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we are ignored by Government and Red Tractor.

Recommendations have no legal bite.

There are two forms of cruelty – farm workers kicking, beating and burning animals – and institutional cruelty, where the whole infrastructure imposes cruelty throughout an animal’s life. Red Tractor scores badly on both and at least Sainsbury’s has seen through it and dumped them.

The purple prose and Disneyland rhetoric that Red Tractor uses to present itself as a cross between Mother Teresa of the animals and Saint Christopher would be funny if so much suffering wasn’t involved. It exists to defend its 78,000 farm members and promote their products, which is why only one in every 1,000 inspections is unannounced – and the farmer can choose the inspector. It is largely a box-ticking exercise and there are no sanctions for transgressors other than a nasty letter and, in extremis, suspension from the scheme.

Self-regulation by any industry does not work as it always puts that industry’s needs first. Be warned, the more we demand, out of absolute necessity, an end to livestock production, the greater will be Red Tractor’s cynical flights of fancy.

C

By the year 2000, Viva! had been exposing cruelty on British farms for six years. The farm owners body, NFU, had a bonzer idea to regain the public’s trust – and it wasn’t to improve welfare standards. Instead, they launched Assured Food Standards, along with the British Retail Consortium, extolling the high standards of animal welfare it now demanded and its logo was the Red Tractor. The only problem was, these new standards were almost exactly the same as the old ones.

It approved zero grazing for dairy cows, vastly overcrowded broiler sheds, caged hens and de-beaking; it had no problem with the de-toothing of piglets or slicing off their tails without anaesthetic and no bedding, concrete and slatted floors and farrowing crates were all okay for pigs. Of course, farmers flocked to join a scheme that looked like it might be capable of polishing a turd.

Investigative food journalist and writer, Joanna Blythman, wasn’t hoodwinked: “When are British farmers going to stop taking consumers for fools”, she wrote, and added, “These assurance schemes are marketing gimmicks whose role is to pat consumers on the head and say, ‘There, there, don't you worry’.” She pointed out that broiler chickens were allowed even less space than before.

Ah, but that was then and they have improved.

Government recommendations for broiler chickens are that you can cram 39kg of them into a square metre – that’s 20 birds! Oh no, but not the Tractor, it allows only 38kg of birds, each entitled to a piece of floor measuring a little over 7in square – that’s half a bird less.

But for pigs it’s luxury. A large 80kg animal (180lb) is allowed a massive 0.55 of a square meter in which to canter around.

There is understandable confusion in people’s minds about what laws there are to protect farmed animals.

The answer is almost none! There are lots and lots of recommendations – most of them scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of animal welfare but camouflaged by constant claims of ‘the best animal welfare in the world’.

This is why when Viva! exposes shocking abuse at Red Tractor farms, as we did at Hogwood and at a Morrison’s supplier where newly weaned piglets were kept in wire ‘battery’ cages similar to chickens –

BY TONY WARDLE

E LT

n i o c c ! a v i V

wake up and

BY LAURA LISA HELLWIG

“I’ve never tried vegan cappuccino before! It tastes better than cows’ milk!”, said one delighted sipper. “I’m veggie but now thinking of going vegan!”, said another.

“That’s it, I’m doing 30-Day Vegan!” These were the kind of comments we heard over and over again at our Viva!ccino tour of major UK shopping centres. it became glaringly obvious that Brits are more open than ever before to try animal-free products and move towards a vegan diet.

Viva! took a beautiful, all-vegan coffee bike to Bristol, Birmingham and Leeds to hand out free vegan cappuccinos! Long queues, curious shoppers, positive conversations and a lot of interest in Viva!’s campaigns made the events a big success. it was the simplest way possible to show shoppers how easy it is to save cows by swapping to plant-based milk. the truth is, it has never been easier to veganise your favourite cappuccino with tasty, cruelty-free oat, soya, almond or coconut milk. Many people didn’t realise just how available milk alternatives are in high street coffee shops or how delicious they taste. we

smell the…

we go from town to town awakening people to the delicious taste of coffee with plant milk

certainly helped to change those views! ellie, a young woman from Birmingham, who went vegetarian at the beginning of this year, tried our Viva!ccino and was surprised that it tasted even creamier than cows’ milk. when we told her more about the dairy industry she got it and summed it up perfectly: “Cows’ milk is for cows and not for humans!” She pocketed our Everyone’s Going Dairy-Free guide to help her with the next step towards veganism. our coffee tour not only impressed shoppers but Viva! volunteers, too. Sue, who helped on one of the days, told us it was her first outreach event and she loved its encouraging nature: “i’ve had so many positive conversations. i love how everyone is so up for trying dairy free and very thankful for Viva!’s successful campaign. time flies by when you’re enjoying yourself by helping to save animals”.

if you’d like to get involved with Viva!’s positive and friendly outreach events, please join our Street Action network at viva.org.uk/streetaction

viva.org.uk 15

l a c i g a M s ’ Aspiring photographers wanted!

Be a part of our crucial work by entering this competition to celebrate the animals we are fighting for. we want high-quality photos of farmed animals – in any setting. images taken at home, a sanctuary, outdoors or in intensive indoor farms – anywhere. Sad or uplifting, amusing or enraging, it’s the animals we want to see. email us as many photos as you like, colour or black and white. if you use a phone camera, send it at the highest resolution.

Age the competition is divided into three age categories: under 11, 11-17 and 18 and over.

Prize overall 1st prize: your photo will be on the cover of Viva!life – plus £50 of Curry’s gift vouchers.

Plus, there are plenty of runner-up prizes.

Entry and closing date Send your entries as hi res jpegs to photo@viva.org.uk by october 30, 2019.

Viva! Vegan Comedy Night!

Saturday, October 26, 2019 We are hosting our first ever comedy night exactly 25 year after we were founded in 1994!

Taking place smack bang in the middle of Birmingham’s lively city centre, at the Glee Club popular comedy venue. Fantastic vegan comedians to be announced soon. Come along for a cheeky tipple and a good laugh to celebrate in style with Viva!.

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Viva! is completely dependent on YOU, our lovely, loyal, animal-saving supporters! So we have an abundance of activities, events and competitions for you to join in. All to celebrate our 25 years of campaigning for animals and veganism. We hope there is something that you enjoy.

Our biggest events are our Magic-themed Birmingham Festival (see page 18) and a fundraising dinner on a beautiful boat, the Elizabethan, on the river Thames (see page 19).

But there are many other ways to celebrate our 25 years.

See viva.org.uk/25 for more info and how to book for all our 25th anniversary events, plus terms and conditions for our comps.

viva.org.uk/25

Viva! Tee-Design Comp Produce a design that encompasses what Viva! means to you. the winner will receive their artwork proudly emblazoned on an ethical, hand-printed tee-shirt, coverage in Viva!life magazine and the opportunity for the design to be sold in the Viva!

Shop (vivashop.org.uk).

Plus other prizes!

Create your masterpiece and send as a digital file to ash@viva.org.uk by April 30, 2019. winners announced in May.

your design here!

25th Anniv ersary Cake Bake Comp

Vlog Comp we’re calling on our supporters to celebrate Viva!’s 25th Anniversary with a short vlog. it can be about your journey into veganism, your personal experiences with Viva! or even looking forward to what the next 25 years might bring! the competition will run throughout July 2019. Your vlog must be no more than five minutes long. Simply share it on Youtube and send the link in July to press@viva.org.uk. the winning entry will be shared on our social media accounts and featured on our website.

what would our 25th Anniversary celebration be without some delicious vegan cake! we have two fantastic prizes up for grabs – one for the winning bake and one for… well, the cake which doesn’t quite hit the mark (the worst!). the concept is simple: we give you an elaborate, magical 25th Anniversary cake recipe and you re-create the masterpiece. the best entry will win a beautiful 25th celebratory cake and a gift box of vegan cookery books. we will also reward the best #NailedIt bake too.

Meme Comp Put your talent and social media know-how to good use and create an original vegan meme. encapsulate a Viva! message or belief and have your work showcased to over 100,000 people through our social media accounts. Your meme can be funny, ironic, outrageous, sarcastic, timely or even a little bit heart-breaking. the competition will run in november 2019. to enter, post your meme on instagram, Facebook or twitter and tag Viva! in the post during that month.

Make sure to share the post in a message for confirmation that we have received your entry. (More info to follow).

Kids’ Poster Comp Running through the summer hols, we want kids who care to send us a poster entitled ‘Viva!

– Voice for the Animals’. there is no right or wrong so let your artistic side take over!

Age there are two age categories: under 11 and 11-17.

Viva!’s 25th Anniversary Awards

to celebrate Viva!’s special anniversary, we are giving Awards for excellence and innovation. the results will be announced at our 25th anniversary dinner on September 21, 2019.

Please vote online at viva.org.uk/awards by July 8, 2019.

Choose the ones you feel strongly about): Í Best vegan caterers Í Best vegan restaurant Í Best hotel/B&B for vegans Í Best pub for vegans Í Best new vegan product (launched in 2018 or 2019) Í Best vegan meat product Í Best vegan cheese product Í Best vegan dessert Í Best vegan confectionery product Í Best vegan snack bar Í Best vegan drink Í Best vegan toiletries/ cosmetic products Í Best food shop for vegans Í Best vegan footwear Í Best green energy company Í Best blogger and best vlogger

Viva!’s Action for Animals Awards these Awards will be given to people who have turned words into ACtion and represented Viva! in exceptional ways on a local level! nominate your choice for a Viva! Action for Animals Award online now!

viva.org.uk 17

You’re invited to…

Viva! have been campaigning tirelessly since 1994 to end the suffering of farmed animals. By spreading the positively vegan message, we have encouraged millions of people to go vegan and have pushed the vegan revolution forward – saving countless numbers of animals.

Photo © Toby Shaw

we think this is worth celebrating… As part of our 25th anniversary celebrations, we’re hosting our biggest vegan festival yet – come along for a huge celebration of everything vegan!

Viva! was organising vegan festivals long before they were cool so we know a thing or two about putting on a good show! our events are all about showing eVeRYone how easy, delicious and beneficial it is to follow the vegan lifestyle. there will be an amazing array of more than 100 exhibitors, offering everything from hot vegan burgers to cold, refreshing, dairy-free ice cream. indulge your senses with botanically scented soya candles, luxurious cruelty-free beauty products and check out the latest ethical fashion.

Celebrate 25 years with Viva! and special guest star, evanna Lynch

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SAT 18TH MAY 2019 10:30 to 18:00 the new Bingley hall, 1 hockley Circus, Birmingham B18 5PP viva.org.uk/birmingham /BirminghamVivaVeganFestival BUT THIS IS NO ORDINARY FESTIVAL… we’re adding magic into the mix! Join in with our magical themed fancy dress competition, be mind-blown by magicians and listen to our special guest star, evanna Lynch (harry Potter star Luna Lovegood, vegan activist and host of vegan podcast Chickpeeps).

Come along in fancy dress – anything that the theme of ‘magical’ inspires in you and enter our fancy dress comp for fantastic prizes! optional – normal dress and muggles allowed!

Juliet gellatley, founder and director of Viva! will be giving inspirational talks – come along to meet her and show your support for Viva!. we are also launching our celebratory 25th anniversary film! with other fantastic guests to be announced soon, plus top notch guest chefs whipping up wonders in live cookery demonstrations, this is a festival not to Be MiSSeD! we can’t wait to see you all there – in Birmingham!

An inspirational talk from Heather Mills, vegan athlete and entrepreneur, founder of the plant based food company VBites and patron of Viva!

Matt Pritchard, formally part of Dirty Sanchez, author of Dirty Vegan cookbook and presenter of the BBC’s first vegan cookery show, will be giving an incredible live cookery demonstration!

Celebrating

w i s t r h a V e i y v a!

5 2

Anniversary fund-raising dinner on the thames with Patron Michael Mansfield QC, wendy turner webster and actor Peter egan

Saturday 21 September 2019, 6.30pm-11pm PUSHING THE BOAT OUT… When I founded Viva! back in 1994, I promised we would campaign tirelessly to save animals lives to the best of our ability and in the most effective way possible. I truly believe we have kept to our word and hope you feel the same. It is your dedicated support that has enabled Viva! to achieve so much for animals and the world!

Therefore, I really hope you will be able to join me, Viva! staff and other supporters at our 25th anniversary dinner celebration. Pushing the boat out for this extra special celebration, Viva! have hired no ordinary venue… you will instead be dining on a spacious riverboat call The Elizabethan. Boasting beautiful interiors and stunning views of the Thames as it cruises past the London Bridge and other spectacular London landmarks.

We have a special evening planned, starting with champagne on arrival then a talk by me. You will be served a three-course vegan meal of top gourmet quality.

There will be an auction, a raffle and after dinner speakers. Winners of our special Viva! awards will also be announced and our 25th anniversary film will be shown.

With your loyal support, Viva! has helped people across Britain, Poland and many other nations become vegan, saving countless animals’ lives. We’ve influenced the thinking of millions of people through our high profile campaigns; the world’s first vegan cinema ad featuring Hope and her babies; our undercover footage of factory farmed pigs; the UK’s first vegan YouTube ad revealing how baby male calves are treated as ‘trash’; billboards reaching millions; undercover investigations of the dairy industry featured in national newspapers; the exposé of one of Britain’s largest pig farms featured on the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.

Viva! Dinners are very special. As supporter Paul Divall says: “Gina and I have attended seven Viva! fund-raising dinners. They are the most amazing opportunity to celebrate with like minded people the wonderful work of Viva! They represent a real highlight of our social life – eating excellent vegan food, drinking, and chatting with old friends and making new ones. Updates on Viva! campaigns and successes give us all the heart and energy to continue to fight for the well-being of our world and all living creatures. We come away feeling uplifted and renewed. ” Please join us to celebrate our achievements and raise funds to achieve more successes. This will truly be an evening to remember and we all look forward to sharing it with you.

Juliet Founder & Director

GUEST SPEAKERS:

l Michael Mansfield QC, top criminal defence barrister (Viva! patron) l Actor and animal activist, Peter Egan l tV presenter & producer, Wendy Turner Webster (Viva! patron) others tBA

Book now

tickets cost £130 and are first come first served. Book online at viva.org.uk/dinner or phone 0117 944 1000

viva.org.uk 19

2018 the year reviewed We are about to embark on our 25th year of campaigning at Viva!. Before we do so, let’s take a look at some of our achievements over the last 12 months – none of which we could have done without your support, so thank you!

BY JULIET GELLATLEY Viva! Campaigns Kangaroos We began 2018 with two victories for kangaroos.

Having ended the sale of kangaroo meat in most supermarkets, Iceland and Lidl had refused to stop selling ‘exotic meats’, treating them as ‘just a bit of fun’. Finally we won and both removed them from sale nationwide. We are now able to say that ALL British supermarkets are kangaroo meat-free.

These successes were followed by the national chain Pets At Home dropping sales of dog-treats containing kangaroo meat and a Bristol-based, gourmet burger chain removed kangaroo burgers from their menu.

In June, Viva! hosted the premiere of a shocking new film which features Viva!, Kangaroo – A Love Hate Story, in Bristol and London and I participated in a Q&A with the film-makers.

Dairy We relaunched our Scary Dairy campaign to expose the cruelty and suffering behind every glass of milk or slice of cheese.

In March, the Daily Mail exclusively published undercover footage taken by Viva! Campaigns investigators of depressing cruelty on farms supplying some of the country’s biggest brand names – Cadbury, Arla (Cravendale, Lurpak, Anchor) and M&S.

. .

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GoOd Babbyy! e

It was followed by MooFree May – a month of online calls to action and five Street Action Events, from London to Edinburgh, to show the public how delicious a dairy-free diet can be. Our supporters helped us with a Door Drop campaign where they distributed our new anti-dairy leaflet, Goodbye Baby.

With summer coming, we kept up the momentum by taking the UK’s first vegan ice cream van on a Viva!icious tour to seven British cities where the Viva! crew handed out complimentary, dairy-free ice cream from our spectacularly designed vegan ice cream van, along with our giant inflatable cow! We engaged everyone and talked about dairy-free diets with them.

A highlight of 2018 for me was Viva! and Lisa James Animal Sanctuary’s rescuing of two pregnant dairy cows, Thelma and Louise, whose names resulted from a naming competition. Both were about to be slaughtered but now they know real freedom and have their babies with them – unique for dairy cows. Both gorgeous boys have been given names, also by a competition – Charlie Enfys (means free man and rainbow) and Tomos Two Sox (two white sox and a Welsh home).

Months in the preparation, October saw the launch of our new Scary Dairy website – all you need to know about dairy and going dairy-free. A month’s action followed, raising awareness about the forgotten victims of the dairy industry… male calves.

At its heart was our TRASH campaign. We positioned two giant billboards, one on a busy stretch of the M5, featuring a young calf and the text 95,000 male calves shot in a year – the dairy industry’s trash. It reached an estimated 1.6 million people over a two week period. A similar billboard appeared in London, reaching a further 7.1 million people.

We also commissioned the UK’s first ever vegan YouTube advert. The short emotive video received an average view-throughrate (people who watched it all the way through) of 28 per cent, almost double the typical YouTube ad – seen by 250,000 people!

Pigs

In the news and on the air

You may remember that in 2017 we visited the giant Hogwood pig farm in Warwickshire, one of the worst places I have ever visited. We complained to everyone – RSPCA, Red Tractor, Trading Standards and Tesco (who the farm supplies) and handed in nearly 50,000 signatures of complaint to the government. Nothing happened.

Tesco said they would work with their suppliers to improve conditions and so, a year later, in July 2018, we revisited Hogwood to test their claim.

Investigators for Viva! Campaigns walked with trepidation into the same shed, down the same corridor and opened the same door. What they found shook them to the core. Little had changed and we were confronted by cannibalism.

Again, the Daily Mail ran an exclusive and we went to town with nationwide action – door dropping, vigils outside Hogwood Farm, a Day of Action outside more than 150 Tesco stores and overwhelming numbers of social sharing. A second Day of Action featured a giant video van. We also attended a posh pig industry dinner to hand over 77,000 signatures of complaint.

The good news is that the disgusting Lambrook pig unit which we exposed in 2017, linked to the Good Energy Company, was closed down.

Our media coverage continues to grow as the years roll by. In 2018, I debated veganism with Antony Worrell Thompson on BBC Radio Manchester, discussed how veganism protects the planet, on Radio 4.

On Three Counties radio, Juliet conducted 16 back-toback interviews on the launch of our TRASH campaign and over 20 on our Hogwood investigation.

The Viva!Health team remained incredibly busy, debunking ‘fake news’ and promoting the vegan health message with an array of articles and features in most of the vegan magazines. Tony Wardle, Viva!life editor, kept Viva!life its usual informative self with three issues during the year. In the world of podcasting, I interviewed Evanna Lynch (of Harry Potter fame) and appeared on her increasingly-popular ChickPeeps Podcast. Kris Townsend kept our voice ‘out there’ with the Viva!Podcast.

Turkeys To end the year, the Viva!

Campaigns team called for consumers to bring peace to all during the festive season with a new turkey door dropper leaflet, undercover investigations and video and street action events in Southampton, Leicester and Swansea.

Veganism on the rise Many giant food firms are clambering onto the vegan bandwagon and launched their new plant-based food ranges, thanks to increased demand from compassionate consumers.

Supporting these dramatic changes, we launched our Vegan Recipe Club and 30 Day Vegan mobile apps, new recipe guides (Christmas, Winter and Going Dairy-Free), a free online vegan directory – My Vegan Town – and hosted another eight Viva!

Vegan Festivals. We also brought a new outdoor ethical life festival to Bristol called Viva!City.

The Viva! sponsored event, Vegan Camp Out, was a huge success, attracting 5,000 people. Campaigns manager, Lex Rigby, spoke alongside Viva! Patron and VBites business owner, Heather Mills, and other big names in veganism. In 2019 we’re continuing to support Vegan Camp Out.

life life life Issue 68 Summer 2018

Published by Viva! the vegan

campaigning group

Prevention is better than cure Published by Viva!

Published

by Viva!

the

John Robb’s view of the world

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Ocean vandals

Moo Free May

The scou

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Issue 67

Spring

2018

TO LIGHT LIFESTYLE

Mouth

watering Billboar ds to savedairy-free calves cookery…

Changin

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Meet the King of Quorn

and fish & chips you won’t believe

Magi ical nterview with Evanna Lynch

Death tivzze acpizza eetwith Str ate chocol Outreach in wonder ck2017 Viva!’s latest shocking dairy exposé ok ba Lo ! did in What Viva Delic

Issue 69 Winter 2018

Envirocidal – new website

Results of our mega survey

TRASH

Mock the meat

Viva! d lantry Po g a coun

with Dancer

group

We know who you are

Review of nationwide street action s t analogue Are meafor animals? good

ye Phoebe Ra

the vegan campaigning

Says Tony Wardle

SUPERB PRODUCTS UP YOUR

(Harry Potter’s Luna Lovegood)

Meat, dairy and disaster

Rescued Thelma and Louise Viva!’s gorgeous (and– pregnant) dairy cows

Hogwood Horror Farm

We go undercover

once more

Trust Me

VIVA! VICTORY

I’m a meat industry

Cookery KANGAROO MEAT DISAPPEARS FROM ALL SUPERMARKET

Delicious recipesS from our two new guides

doctor

A-Z

ALL YOU EVER WANTE D ABOUT TO KNOW NUTRIE NTS

es yday recip ious ever

Viva!Health Two plant-based medical conferences held in 2018 continued the advance of veganism and our team attended along with our extensive range of literature.

To ensure your vegan n -rich food My iroremin s der diet is a healthy one, um -rich foods My calcireminder My protein -rich f oods reminder Viva!Health’s senior researcher, Dr Justine Butler, and senior campaigner, Veronika Powell, released a comprehensive A-Z of nutrients. Find out if bananas really are a great source of potassium and why Popeye loved spinach (the answer is not what most people think!). We also published new Protein, Iron and Calcium wallcharts and published the first four of a series of new mini fact sheets (heart health, vitamin B12, fat and iron).

Apricots (dried)

Almonds

Apricots (dried)

Artichokes

Baked beans (haricot)

Black-eyed beans

Bread (wholemeal)

Asparagus

Almond butter and almon ds

Breakfast cereals:

Shreddies, Weetabix, Sultana Bran, Ready Brek and Muesli

Baked beans (haricot)

Blackberries

Blackcurrants

Bok choy

Brazil nuts

Bread (wholemeal)

Broccoli

Chickpeas

Cinnamon

Edamame (soya beans)

Fennel

Mung beans

Pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds

Figs (dried)

Kale

Kidney beans

Oranges

Rocket

Sesame seeds (eg in Tahini and Hummus)

Soya milk (fortified)

Spring greens

Tofu (calcium-set)

Walnuts

Watercress

Spaghetti (whole wheat)

Swiss chard

Swede

Top tip!

Vitamin D is made by sunlight on the skin and is needed for calcium absorption. If you live in the UK, take a vitamin D supplement over winter

Top tip!

How high is high?

Some examples of our super-calcium heroes contained in medium-sized servings:

Tofu (calcium-set) 400mg of calcium per 100g; Soya milk (fortified) 240mg per 200ml; Figs (dried) 150mg per 60g; Kale 150mg per 100g; Tahini (sesame seed paste) 130mg per 1 tsp; Almonds 100mg per 40g (small handful); Bread (wholemeal) 80mg per 2 large slices; Bok choy 70mg per 100g; Watercress 70mg per 40g; Baked beans 70mg per ½ can; Brazil nuts 70mg per 40g; Chickpeas 40mg per 90g; Mixed herbs 50mg per 3 tsp; Oranges 40mg per 160g

Cumin, turmeric and thyme

Chickpeas

Asparagus

Avocado

Baked beans

Blackstrap molasses

Edamame (soya beans)

(and other seeds)

Cashew nuts

How much should I eat a day?

700mg

viva.org.uk | vivahealth.org.uk | veganrecipeclub.org.uk

Vitamin C massively increases your absorption of iron

Figs (dried)

Parsley

Prunes

Spinach

Tofu

Bok choy

Kale

Brussels sprout s

Peas

Chickpeas

Mushy peas/p

Walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds

How high is high?

Some examples of our super-iron heroes contained in medium-sized servings:

Sultana bran 4mg of iron per 50g; Tofu 3.5mg per 100g; Whole wheat spaghetti 3.1mg per 220g; Muesli 3mg per 100g; Baked beans 3mg per ½ can; Red lentils 2.9mg per 120g; Figs (3 dried) 2.5mg 60g; Edamame 2.3mg per per 100g; Curly kale 2mg 100g; Kidney beans 1.8mg per 90g; Pumpkin per seeds 1.2mg per 12g

eas

Spring onions

Red kidney

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Watercress

How much should ISunflo eatwer seeds a day?

8.7To mg (men) p tip!

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(women up to age 50) adding or any tinned beans/

viva.org.uk | vivahealth.

Edamame

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(unsalt ed) to salads mg , curries (women

over , soups 50) etc and org.uk | veganrecipeclub.org.usnack k on a small handfu l of unsalt ed mixed nuts once daily

Muesli, Porridge, : Ready Brek, Shredded Wheat and Weetabix

Chapatti & soya

(soya beans)

Peanut butter and peanut s

Rice (brown

Tempeh and

Breakfast cereals

meal)

Cashew nuts

Pine nuts

Raisins and sultanas

Spring greens

Bread (whole

Lentils (all types)

)

Tofu

How high

Chia seeds

Lentils (all

nuts

Quinoa

Sesame seeds (in Tahini and Humm us)

Walnuts

is high?

Some examp contained les of our super-protein in mediu heroes

m-sized serving Tofu 18g of protein s: Peanuts per 100g; 13g per Lentils 18g 50g Edamam e 12g per bag; Bok choy 13g per 200g; 100g; Tempeh Pistachios in one head; 10g Baked beans per 50g; Almond 10g per 50g; s 10g per Kidney beans 10g per ½ can; 50g; 7g per 100g; Mushy peas 9g per ½ can; Chickpe as 7g per 100g

viva.org.u k | vivahealth .org.uk |

flour

Hemp seed

Pistachio

Spaghetti (whole wheat )

Watercress

How much should I eat a day?

On averag e, men should eat 55g and women 45g of protein daily.

(Physically active people may need more, 1g of protein about per kg of veganrec ipeclub.o body weight.)

rg.uk

Without your support none of this would have been possible and so our achievements are your achievements! As ever, we thank you all for everything you do to help Viva! and our campaigns.

For the animals,

Juliet Gellatley Viva!’s founder and director

Help us keep doing all this amazing work in 2019. Call 0117 944 1000 to make a donation or online at viva.org.uk/ donate

viva.org.uk 21

Broccoli

types)

Special feature

Lab meat

miracle or mire?

Juliet Gellatley, Founder of Viva!, visits Mosa Meats to discover the potential of lab-grown meat for saving animals and the world – and to examine the ethics he primary reason for my keen interest in lab meat is its astounding potential to save animals. While Viva! has worked incredibly hard to spark a vegan revolution in the UK, it is important to remember that over one billion land animals are killed on our island.

Veganism has, however, now hit the mainstream and will continue its extraordinary growth. In 2018, the number of vegans, vegetarians and non-meat eaters skyrocketed to almost one third of the population (Waitrose survey, 2018). But we have a way to go before convincing the world to be vegan.

World? A staggering 74 billion land animals were killed last year worldwide for their flesh. In China, meat consumption has increased five fold since the 1980s from 13kg per person to 64kg – fuelled by rising incomes rather than urbanisation. There are about 1.4 billion people in China and an almost equal number in India, where meat consumption is also rising.

Alarmingly, in the USA, meat consumption was at its highest on record in 2018 with its 333 million people eating an average of 100kg of meat each.

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So, back to lab meat. It’s an incredibly long lever to pull to quickly reduce the numbers of animals slaughtered worldwide. It may be the only way to dramatically reduce the number of animals – and I mean by tens of billions – in our lifetime. But what of its ethics, its production, is it really close to being commercially viable and who will eat it?

Chris Bryant is a psychology researcher at the University of Bath who specialises in people’s acceptance of cultured meat – also known as in vitro, cell-grown, lab or clean meat. Together with him and Dr Justine Butler of Viva!, I visited Mosa Meats at the University of Maastricht, Holland, to try and find some answers.

Mosa Meats was created to try and commercialise lab meat after its founder, Mark Post, unveiled the world’s first ‘slaughter-free hamburger’ to a packed press conference in London in 2013. It was grown from cow cells after years of research at Maastricht University and cost €250,000. It was funded by Sergey Brin, the cofounder of Google.

So how is cultured meat produced? And what are the main ethical issues? I contacted nearly all the companies in the race to produce commercial lab meat and only two answered in any detail – Mosa Meats and Aleph Farms in Israel. I was impressed with their openness.

At Mosa Meats, cells are being cultured in two very average-looking labs and I was taken aback by the small scale production – it’s clearly nowhere near ready to launch. However, Anon van Essen, an experienced lab meat technician, told us that the company is moving to bigger premises and commercial production is only three to five years away. Closest to launching is Memphis Meats, backed by US meat distributors Cargill and Tyson Foods, venture capitalists DFJ and Atomico, and Bill Gates and Richard Branson. They have already created meatballs, chicken strips and duck meat.

The Achilles heel for lab meat is the serum in which the cells are grown – Foetal Bovine Serum (FBS). It is a topic that gets little attention, partly because those that use it are, ironically, trying to create a more humane world – those involved with lab meat and researchers using it to grow human tissue cultures rather than live animals in vivisection.

Lab meat starts with stem cells which originated from a farmed animal. And for these cells to grow, they have to be nurtured in a serum that mimics the environment inside the living animal. The extracted cells are fed

sugars, salts and amino acids so they can grow and multiply via hundreds of cell divisions. The cells created can be of different types such as muscle cells, fat cells or tissues, so that different types of meat such as steak or chicken burgers can be produced.

But biology is complex and there are lots of additional factors required for cell metabolism and growth.

Traditionally, researchers have used foetal bovine serum to supply a variety of growth factors, hormones and other components needed for cell survival. Horse serum, chick embryo extract and other sera types are also sometimes used.

What is Foetal Bovine Serum?

FBS is as bad as it sounds – actually, worse. Serum is blood without cells, platelets or clotting factors but is a rich source of nutrients. It is cruelly derived from the foetuses of dairy cows found to be pregnant at slaughter.

Every year, about half-a-million litres of FBS is produced worldwide from up to two million calf foetuses. After a mother cow has been slaughtered and eviscerated, her uterus, containing the foetus, is removed. A needle is inserted between the foetus’s ribs directly into his or her heart and blood is vacuumed out.

Only foetuses over three months old are used otherwise the heart is too small to puncture.

Whether or not the foetus has already died from deprivation of oxygen (anoxia) is highly contentious.

Nevertheless, no anaesthesia is given.

Perhaps it’s not surprising that other labs were reluctant to discuss the issue with me. They all need to produce a viable vegan medium to avoid the public’s revulsion and they don’t want to give anything away.

They are not cooperating, they are competing!

Encouragingly, Didier Toubia, Co-Founder and CEO of Aleph farms (Israel) told me: “We already use a serum-free growth medium but it is not yet suitable for commercial production but we are developing an improved version that is. We do not hurt animals and expect our product to be regarded as vegan but your point of view is of interest to us! Our first release (beef steak) will probably be in three to four years, starting with restaurants and food services.”

Uma Valeti, CEO of Memphis Meats, wouldn’t discuss whether or not they have created a viable vegan medium but he has stated on Twitter: “We will never sell products that use FBS. Our products will be grown

t R&D team at Aleph farms, using a vegan medium to create cultured meat p Memphis Meats clean meat chicken strips, launched in 2017

Stem cells come from animals so even when a vegan medium is used, lab meat won’t be vegan in media formulated from animal-free components.”

Anon of Mosa Meats candidly revealed: “Serum is the biggest challenge and it needs to be replaced by an animal-free medium before we can go commercial. It is difficult because cells need the proteins in FBS – it contains thousands of components and it’s hard to know which are the most vital. We have done trials with serum-free mediums but they contain human platelet protein – animal-free but not human-free!

Also the cells do not grow as well as when using BFS.” So, will they launch commercially without a vegan serum? “No! It is not an option, we have to use an animal-free medium.” The other ethical issue, of course, is that stem cells come from animals so even when a vegan medium is used, lab meat won’t be vegan.

There are several ways to extract the cells, including surgical biopsy.

They can even be extracted from the feather of a bird, according to Isaac Emery of The Good Food Institute, a non-profit organisation that helps companies develop clean meat products.

CONTINUED ON P38

THE FOUR ELEMENTS TO PRODUCING LAB MEAT

1 2

3 4

Cells – taken from an animal.

Scaffolding material – for muscle cells to adhere to, mature and become muscle fibres. Pig gelatine or mouse cells traditionally provide the scaffolding but non-animals versions are being researched.

Medium – in which cells grow and divide. Foetal Bovine Serum was the main source but vegan versions have been created but not yet commercially viable.

Bioreactor – industrial machinery in which cell growth takes place. It controls the temperature and acts like the body that is no longer provided by an animal. Labs are trying to develop bioreactors that eliminate step 2.

viva.org.uk 23

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

Plant protein is best Vegan diet achieves effortless weight loss and improved blood sugar control Type 2 diabetes usually follows obesity, going through several phases – impaired blood sugar control, prediabetes and then the dreaded diagnosis. This original study investigated the effects of a plant-based diet on weight loss but also its effects on blood sugar control.

After four months on a low-fat vegan diet with no calorie restriction, participants lost weight but, more importantly, their visceral fat (that surrounding vital organs) reduced and their blood sugar control greatly improved. The authors attributed some of these positive effects to the impact of replacing animal proteins with plant proteins as these contain a more favourable proportion of essential amino acids (protein building blocks). And, of course, the reduction in animal fat also played a big part in the results.

Kahleova H et al., 2018. A plant-based diet in overweight individuals in a 16-week randomized clinical trial: metabolic benefits of plant protein. Nutrition & Diabetes. 8(1): 58.

Healthy vegan hearts Scientific review shows vegan diets are truly the best for your heart An extensive analysis of studies spanning 50 years and numerous countries was undertaken in order to assess the impact of diet on heart disease risk factors. The diets compared were vegan and omnivorous (meat-eaters). When the scientists looked at the average food intake of each, they discovered that vegans consumed slightly fewer calories but the main difference was in saturated fat – meat-eaters’ saturated fat intake was double that of vegans! In line with this contrast, the heart disease risk factors were much less or non-existent in vegans. The study found vegans were lighter and slimmer, had less cholesterol and fat in their blood, lower blood sugar levels and lower blood pressure. Even though vegans had lower total and

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saturated fat intake, they consumed more polyunsaturated fats, which are associated with beneficial heart effects.

The only set of studies included in the analysis that didn’t show favourable effects of vegan diets on heart health was from Taiwan. Upon closer inspection, it became obvious that this may be to do with saturated fat – intake was very similar in Taiwanese vegans and meat-eaters which may explain the aberrant result. The authors also speculated that the difference between traditional and vegan diets is not as marked in Taiwan as it is in other countries.

Benatar JR and Stewart RAH, 2018. Cardiometabolic risk factors in vegans; A meta-analysis of observational studies. PLoS One. 13 (12): e0209086.

Plant powered excellence Plant foods are the fuel of the future for athletes and mere mortals alike?

Feeding the planet Which foods are truly sustainable and are capable of feeding our growing population A duo of scientists undertook the mammoth task of analysing the environmental impact of foods, including their various emissions, land use, soil acidification, water pollution and water use. They also analysed how these impacts may differ from one producer to another of the same foods. They found common traits for certain types of food – beef, for example, always has the worst environmental footprint, whilst pork, poultry and dairy are linked to dangerous soil acidification and water pollution.

Meat, farmed fish and crustaceans, eggs and dairy use 83 per cent of the world’s farmland but they provide only 18 per cent of our calories. Under any scenario, the

environmental impact of these foods far exceeds those of plant foods, even when considering the different quantities needed to provide equivalent amounts of protein.

This is true even for the more ‘demanding’ plant foods such as cashew nuts or almonds, which are still more environmentally friendly than animal foods.

The authors suggested that a global move towards a plant-based diet would transform the world, freeing up land and drastically reducing pollution, emissions and water use.

Can athletes thrive on plants alone and, if the vegan revolution continues, can plant protein be recommended for everyone?

Acknowledging that there are many health and environmental benefits of plant-based diets, this study set out to see if they were good for everyone. The results showed that a vegan diet can not only sustain athletes and provide sufficient nutrition but it also offers additional heart health benefits. The researchers concluded that plantbased diets are perfectly adequate for athletes and may well offer advantages in recovery as well due to their higher antioxidant levels.

Lynch H, Johnston C and Wharton C, 2018.

Plant-Based Diets: Considerations for Environmental Impact, Protein Quality, and Exercise Performance. Nutrients. 10(12). pii: E1841.

Poore J and Nemecek T, 2018. Reducing food's environmental impacts through producers and consumers.

Science. 360(6392): 987-992.

Meaty artery plaques Some component in meat is transformed into a very dangerous compound by gut bacteria L-carnitine is a substance found mostly in red meat, with smaller amounts in chicken, eggs and dairy – and even smaller amounts in beans and avocados. A pioneering study set out to investigate what happens when this substance is digested by vegans and meat-eaters. Because the two diet groups have such different gut bacteria it was assumed this might determine the outcome.

In fact, the difference was astonishing.

When given an l-carnitine supplement, the gut bacteria of both groups processed it into an intermediate substance. But meat-eaters’ bacteria continued processing it to form a compound called TMAO. Vegan bacteria, on the other hand, produced only miniscule

amounts. TMAO is a dangerous substance which, along with cholesterol, builds artery plaques, increasing the risk of thrombosis – where blood supply to an organ or body part is blocked by a torn-off piece of plaque.

This study is the first of its kind to demonstrate how the differences in our diets not only determine what gut bacteria live in our digestive system but also what these bacteria manufacture from the food we feed them. And once again, vegans come out on top!

Koeth RA et al., 2019. L-Carnitine in omnivorous diets induces an atherogenic gut microbial pathway in humans.

Journal of Clinical Investigation. 129(1): 373-387.

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BACK FOR 2019 Scary Dairy’s Moo free May was a huge success last year so we’re after another big month of action this coming May. We will be encouraging the public to ditch dairy and try delicious dairy-free alternatives.

We’ll hold another series of fun events across the UK – offer the public delicious samples of dairy-free chocolates and distribute dairy-free information – free recipe booklets and health packs, nutritional wallcharts and dairy-free mini guides.

And you can help us by sharing the dark side of dairy with a brand new social media toolkit. It is filled with short videos, infographics and product updates and features all the latest and tastiest dairy-free treats, as well as a range of health articles promoting the benefits of ditching dairy completely.

Extraordinarily, our opinion poll shows most people are ignorant of the traumas involved in dairy production. They don’t know of the continual exploitation of the dairy cow’s reproductive system, her artificial insemination and nine month pregnancy. They don’t know that her calf is ripped away just hours after birth nor that this is standard practice throughout the dairy industry whatever the system – organic or zero grazing. It’s all done so humans can have ice cream, milk, cheese butter and yogurt.

And this is what people need to know!

Watch this space for more info coming soon: scarydairy.org.uk viva.org.uk 27

h c u o ł t h g i l Th e

It’s spring, it’s Eastertime and it’s shake off winter time. Here to welcome in the season that everyone loves are some delightful, delicious and undemanding dishes designed by our doyen of the dining room, Maryanne Hall. And just to show off, she has also photographed them brilliantly!

The first is a taster from our 30Day Vegan campaign to help aspiring vegans (see page 26 for full details).

And the Salmorejo soup is from our new Summer Guide (details with the recipe).

Brimming with sundrenched dishes and over 25 recipes. Cost £3

Super-fast Scrambled Tofu

Serves 1-2 | 5 minutes Fast, easy and delicious! Silken tofu is super healthy and full of protein. We also have some suggestions for improvising on this basic recipe. Tofu brands include Blue Dragon, Morinaga, Yutaka, Clearspring and Morinu, all in tetrapacks. Fresh silken tofu comes from Taifun and Pulmuone while oriental stores have plenty of choices. l 1 tsp vegetable oil l 1 clove garlic, crushed OR ½ -1 tsp garlic puree l ½ packet of firm silken tofu (175g) or firm tofu l 1 tsp tahini l 1 tbsp soya sauce l 1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes l ½ tsp turmeric

OPTIONAL EXTRAS: sliced avocado or tomato; lightly cooked cherry tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, chopped peppers or chilli; rocket or kale.

1 Gently fry garlic in the oil until lightly golden (about 30 seconds) – do not burn.

2 Add all other ingredients and mix, without breaking up the tofu too much.

3 Heat to warm through (3-5) minutes and serve immediately.

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Deliciously light vegan recipes

Salmorejo Chilled Soup

ere c es

h Su er Summer Recipe Guide

Serves 4-6 | 10 minutes A traditional chilled Spanish soup. l 1 large slice good quality white bread or a roll l 4 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped l 1 green pepper cut in half.

Remove seeds – roughly chop one half for soup; finely chop other half for garnish and set aside l 2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

l 40ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling l 1-2 tbsp cider vinegar – add 1 tbsp and taste l 50ml water l Large pinch of salt To serve l ½ red onion, finely chopped l Fresh parsley or other herb l The finely chopped green pepper

1 Soak bread in dish of water for 30 seconds each side. Then blend with tomatoes, green pepper, garlic and olive oil.

2 Add cider vinegar, water and salt and blend to a smooth soup consistency. Add more water if necessary.

3 Check seasoning, adding more salt, vinegar or olive oil to taste.

4 Chill soup for at least 1 hour, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper.

5 Garnish with onion, herbs and green pepper.

1

s e p i c e r r E as t e Blueberry Lemon Drizzle Cake A classic cake with a blueberry twist – moist and very delicious!

Dry mix l 250g plain white flour l 2 tsp baking powder l ¼ tsp salt l 100g blueberries

Drizzle l 2 tbsp lemon juice l 3 tbsp granulated sugar, preferably golden l Zest of 1 lemon

Wet mix l 200g caster sugar l 2 tbsp maple or agave syrup l 70ml plain vegetable oil (plus extra for oiling cake tin) l 150ml soya or other plant milk l 2 tsp cider vinegar l Zest of 3 lemons – zest first then squeeze for juice l 3 tbsp lemon juice l 75ml aquafaba (tinned chickpea water)

Icing l 200g icing sugar, sieved l 2 tsp warm water l 1 tsp blueberry jam (passed through a sieve)

Cake 1 Preheat oven to 170°C (fan)/400°F /Gas Mark 6.

2 Lightly oil large non-stick loaf tin and line base with baking paper.

3 Sift flour, baking powder and salt into large bowl and stir well.

Add the blueberries and set aside.

4 In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, syrup, oil, milk, vinegar, lemon juice. Stir in lemon zest.

5 In a glass or ceramic bowl, whisk aquafaba until frothy and light.

Set aside.

6 Pour wet mix into bowl with dry mix. Stir thoroughly but don’t overbeat. Now fold in the aquafaba.

7 Tip mixture into prepared tin, place on middle shelf of oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. It may need longer so cover it with baking paper to stop over-browning. Leave cake in tin until cooled.

Drizzle 1 Mix lemon juice and sugar together.

2 When cake is baked, prick top all over with toothpick. Spoon drizzle evenly over and sprinkle with lemon zest.

Icing 1 Sieve icing sugar into a bowl, add jam and water.

2 Whisk to desired consistency. Add more icing sugar or water as necessary depending on consistency.

3 Cake will last up to 5 days in airtight container and freezes well.

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Cherry Bakewells Serves 15 | 45 minutes A vegan take on these classic cakes! l 75ml refined vegetable or sunflower oil l 140g caster sugar, preferably golden l 1 tsp almond essence l 1 tsp vanilla essence l 200ml soya cream l 100g plain flour l 2 tsp baking powder l 85g fine polenta (cornmeal) l 50g ground almonds l 2 tbsp natural vegan yoghurt – soya or coconut l 1-2 packets of vegan readyrolled shortcrust pastry (eg Jus-Rol) l Cherry jam (or other of your choice)

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Decoration l 115g icing sugar l 1½ tbsp boiling water l ¼ tsp almond essence l Glacé cherries* l 15 mince pie foils * NB Most glacé cherries are vegan. Anthocyanins colouring is vegan, E20 isn’t

1 Heat oven to 180˚C (fan)/350˚F/Gas Mark 4.

2 Lightly oil inside of the foil cases. Cut 15 circles of shortcrust pastry and line the cases generously in case of shrinkage.

3 Add a tablespoon of jam to the bottom of each pastry case.

4 Mix together oil, sugar, vanilla essence, almond essence and soya cream to form a creamy consistency.

5 Slowly add flour, baking powder, polenta and ground almonds and stir continuously until integrated.

6 Stir in the vegan yoghurt.

7 Add mixture into each case until ¾ full.

8 Bake for 30-40 minutes. Check after 30 minutes – they should have risen and be lightly golden.

9 Leave to cool before decorating.

Decoration 1 Sieve icing sugar into a bowl, add almond essence and hot water.

2 Mix until smooth.

3 Add about a tablespoon of icing onto each cake – ideally it will hold its shape but drip down the sides.

4 Finish with half a glacé cherry.

Asparagus, Pea & Lemon Risotto …with sage crisps and toasted almonds Serves 4 | 45 minutes • 50g almonds • 400g risotto rice • 2 shallots or small onions, finely diced • 4 cloves garlic, crushed • 2 spring onion, finely sliced • 250ml vegan white wine • 2 tbsp lemon juice • 150g frozen peas • 200g asparagus, ends removed • 1 litre vegan stock • 1 tbsp black truffle oil (optional) • 20g fresh sage leaves (optional) • 65ml olive oil • Vegan Parmesan, shaved (eg Violife Prosociano) • Salt and pepper, to taste

1 Heat oven to 180˚C (fan)/350˚F/Gas Mark 4.

2 Spread almonds on a baking tray and heat for 5-10 minutes.

3 Blitz or finely chop (but not to powder).

4 For sage crisps, heat the olive oil in a frying pan on medium to high. Drop leaves in for a few seconds, remove and sprinkle with salt.

5 Heat a little oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.

6 Fry shallots and spring onion until soft.

7 Add garlic, stir through and fry for 30 seconds -1 minute.

8 Add risotto rice, stir thoroughly and heat for 30 seconds.

9 Add white wine. On medium heat cook until fully absorbed, stirring.

10 Add a quarter of stock and again cook, stirring, until absorbed.

Repeat with each quarter of the stock. Texture should be loose and creamy and the rice is al dente (has a little bite to it). Add more stock if necessary.

11 Add lemon juice and (optional) truffle oil and stir through.

12 Add salt and pepper to taste.

13 Add peas a few minutes before the end of cooking.

14 Fry (or griddle) asparagus on both side for 1-2 minutes.

15 Decorate with asparagus, sage crisps, Parmesan and roasted almonds.

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Trending up

lifestyle

As this is our first edition in 2019, I thought I’d take a look at some of the product trends that are likely to be grabbing your attention in the coming year. And, of course, here I showcase some of the fabulous vegan options that are available for each!

BY LIAM NOLAN

Coffee cups Enamel Pins

Nobody is quite sure why but enamel pins have had a massive surge in popularity in the last couple of years – and the trend is set to continue this year!

Enamel pins are great and stylish transferable accessories, so I am down for this trend to keep happening. Pictured are Foxsimile Pin (RRP £9) and Goldie Fawn Pin (RRP £9), the newest additions available from the Viva! Shop vivashop.org.uk.

DON’T GET BLOOD ON YOUR FEET

Freerangers are celebrating 20 years of making vegan footwear, satchels, bags and purses by hand. They say they source their materials ethically and even use recycled denim. Shoes are repairable and long lasting and carry a money-back guarantee.

For a catalogue go to freerangers.co.uk

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Everything coffee related continues to increase in popularity – and in 2018 we saw some interesting developments with the rise of plastic-free, reusable coffee cups. We have introduced our very own, plasticfree coffee cups, supporting sustainable living and raising funds for Viva! at the same time! RRP £10.9511.95, available at vivashop.org.uk.

Vegan sneakers Probably the most wanted vegan products in fashion right now are vegan sneakers. European company Veja are leading out the gate in 2019 with their wonderful range but there are also some great options available from companies such as Wills and Collection & Co, plus others! Here are the Campo White Pierre Nautico RRP €125 (approx. £110), and the SDU Tent Miel White RRP €99 (approx. £86) from Veja (more styles are available) veja-store.com/en/190-vegan-shoes.

Charcoal Charcoal beauty products are now truly part of the mainstream, after exploding in popularity in the last couple of years. It’s used in everything – make-up brushes, face masks, face washes, hand soap, toothpaste and more! Pictured is Le Labo Face Mask, RRP £32, available at John Lewis.

And just to show the trend goes beyond beauty, also pictured is the rather gorgeous Elements Earth Diffuser from Tom Dixon (RRP £85), a charcoal reed scent diffuser that promises to create a ‘rich and mossy freshness’. Available from tomdixon.net.

Minimalist Watches Tiny tattoos, the KonMarie tidying method – trends show that we’re looking for small touches to elevate our aesthetics across the board. Minimalist watches are a great way to continue the theme! Pictured are the Classic Mesh from Aubry (aubrywatches.com), RRP £119, and the Moderno Vegan Tweed Watch from Hurtig Lane (hurtiglane.com), RRP £138. Both companies are 100 per cent vegan and ethical!

Square Toes Hear me out – square toed shoes have been a shoe staple for ages, it’s just that this year they’re apparently going to be ‘fashionable’ again like they were in the 90s.

This means, of course, you will most likely be faced with plenty of opportunity to get yourself a pair! As kindness and concern grow, you can now get great vegan shoes in many places – from High Street outlets such as Schuh, or from boutique online stores like Bourgeois Boheme – square toed or not! Pictured are Block Heel Square Toe Chelsea Boots available from M&S, RRP £35, who have launched a huge collection of men’s and women’s shoes labelled ‘vegan’ at very reasonable prices. viva.org.uk 33

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o r f n o i t c A a D y s ’ r e h t Mo Order your pack

by March 26

Mother’s Day is just around the corner – March 31 – and we’re asking you to get active for dairy cows, the hardest working mothers ever!

Being both pregnant and lactating most of the time is utterly gruelling. And every year, their babies are taken from them just hours after birth, never to be seen again. No wonder dairy cows end up almost constantly ill and, by the age of six, are too exhausted to carry on.

Their eventual fate is the slaughterhouse to be turned into cheap beef.

If anyone deserves to be remembered on Mother’s Day – for the milk and babies that have been stolen from them and the mothering they have been denied – it is the dairy cow.

You know it’s horrible, we know it’s horrible so help us to show other people how horrible it is and help them to go dairy free.

Our FREE leaflet packs are just the job for distributing in town centres and neighbourhoods around Mother’s Day. Go to scarydairy.org.uk/mothers-day to order your action pack or call our office at 0117 944 1000 to order a pack over the phone (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm). *If you’re ordering after March 26, call us first to see if we can get it to you in time.

Skin deep men Men’s skincare – not an oxymoron but an £80 million industry. And it’s more than Gillette and it’s more than shaving products. Companies committed to vegan ethics are increasingly championing men’s chops to keep them sparkling clean and with pores unblocked.

UpCircle is just such a company, from London and with a great back story – turning local waste into great grooming products. They collect coffee grounds from cafés and extracting the oil to create face serums, using the grounds in body and face scrubs. Their Organic Face Serum with Coffee Oil is a wonderworker, they say – day-long skin hydration with just a few drops. Oh, and it’s great for women, too! upcirclebeauty.com

Beard of Attraction’s boss, Mustafa, created his own beard oils and balms using only organic and vegan oils, waxes and butters. Classic Beard Balm claims to leave any facial hair conditioned, itch free and tamed.

With Turkish scents of spice, lemon and rose, along with woody aromas and mint. This is a wonderfully fresh smelling company the-beard-ofattraction.myshopify.com

Man Cave reckon their cosmetics contain no nasties but ingredients combine ‘the best of nature and science’. Their usp is their range of classic masculine scents – cedarwood, lemon and oak, whisky, black spice – not just for faces but bodies, too. Olivestone Face Scrub is a great exfoliate for hardy skin. mancaveinc.com

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KIND FASHION KIND LIFE Vegan is a state of kind – kind to the planet, kind to your health and, most importantly, kind to the animals. Shop the range – vivashop.org.uk/ veganisastateofkind

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s g g e , s g Eg

e r e h w y r eve

Get the best vegan Easter treats from the Viva! Shop and spread the sugary joy! vivashop.org.uk/food Moo-Free – Cheeky Orange and Dairy-Free Milk Chocolate Return of a classic! The ever-popular moo-free eggs are great for kids and grown-ups alike. The Cheeky Orange is 110g, and the Dairy-Free Milk is 125g - because of a lovely little bag of choccy drops extra. £4.25

Salted Sticky Toffee and Original flavour Goupie Easter Eggs We’re huge fans of Goupie chocolate at the Viva! Shop so we’re excited to be able to offer these shiny little beauties this Easter. Each comes with 100g of their famous chocolate inside a Faberge-style reusable tin egg. £10

and not a drop of cow’s milk in sight!

Sea Salt & Caramel Moo-Free Egg Enter a new contender! Moo-Free are this year offering a more luxury chocolate egg experience with their Sea Salt & Caramel Egg. Coming in at 160g of their delightful rice milk chocolate, we’re hard-pressed to not scoff the lot – but for you we’ll try to keep some available! £5.99

Cococaravan Caramel Mini Easter Eggs Raw and organic! Each 80g box contains eight softcentre Easter eggs, filled with Cococaravan’s special caramel, made from creamy cashew and coconut. Lovely little treats that are painfully moreish. £6

Montezumas Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Mini Eggs Soft-centred and bite-sized, these are going to be a dangerous addition to your Easter line-up! Each pouch is 150g and is gluten-free to boot! £3.99

See more Easter-themed goodies and shop our huge range of the best and most delicious chocolates, sweets and foodie treats at vivashop.org.uk/food, or call 0117 944 1000 (9am-5pm) to place an order viva.org.uk 37

p Uma Valeti, CEO of Memphis Meats (centre) launching clean meat chicken strips  Chris Bryant and Anon van Essen in a Mosa Meat lab, Holland  L-R, Chris Bryant of Bath University, Juliet Gellatley of Viva! and Anon van Essen of Mosa Meats

CONTINUED FROM P23 One way to avoid using animals is to develop infinite cell lines but to do so means creating cancer-like cells, which would be tough to market! However, Anon says: “You can take a muscle biopsy without causing harm or killing an animal”.

I briefly met Mark Post, boss of Mosa Meats, who made it clear he set up the company to reduce the impact of meat eating on our planet. Most of the CEO’s of other lab meat ventures are vegan and have the ‘bigger picture’ of saving animals and the environment in mind when developing lab meat. The Good Food Institute says that a cell culture the size of one egg can produce a million times more meat than a chicken shed crammed with 20,000 chickens. The potential to save billions of animals’ lives is very real.

Lab meat and the environment Cultured meat produces 78-96 per cent lower greenhouse gas emissions, uses 98 per cent less land and 82-92 per cent less water than animal meat, according to a 2011 study. Energy costs are also much lower as animal parts such as bones, skin and intestines aren’t grown. This opens up huge opportunities for companies developing non-leather materials for shoes, bags, furniture and so on. Vitally, lab meat would greatly reduce the growing risk of antibiotic resistance and diseases such as bird flu, swine flu, BSE, foot and mouth and bovine TB.

Will people accept cultured meat?

Psychology researcher Chris Bryant told me: “People eat meat despite how it’s made, not because of it. Clean meat enables them to carry on eating it without killing animals.

Currently, meat eaters try to validate killing animals but once clean meat is available, their attempt to justify slaughter will disappear and that will mean the end for animal agriculture.”

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‘But meat is natural’ is the old cry and the best way to counter that is to show them Viva! footage of Hogwood pig farm, Arla’s dairy farms or Faccenda chickens – all far from natural but brutally cruel and pitiless. Chris Bryant adds: “I think most people would be much more comfortable in a lab than a factory farm or slaughterhouse!”

My view? The world is in crisis and the International Panel on Climate Change suggests we have 11-20 years at most to tackle global warming before we pass the point of no return and it becomes unstoppable. The UN FAO have been crystal clear – eating meat, fish, dairy and eggs is calamitous at every level, local and global.

It is abhorrent that billions of sentient beings are subjected to extreme confinement, misery and pain before having their lives wiped out every year. The EATLancet commission recently released a report calling for a drastic reduction of meat and dairy for human and planetary health. And yet worldwide, people’s appetite for meat is voracious.

Viva! has done so much to bring these vital issues into the spotlight but it is essential that our campaigning work is more widely and generously supported so that we can reach out to the entire nation. The message that meat is damaging us, the planet and animals is hitting home and attitudes in the UK have changed beyond recognition.

We clearly need urgent global change and it’s crucial that our campaigns on animals, the planet, health and antibiotic resistance hit harder and wider and vegan, plant-based alternatives to meat, fish, eggs and dairy are available worldwide. However, researchers believe that a significant number of people will not change and for them, cultured meat may be a solution.

From a pragmatic stance, and looking through the eyes of a farmed animal, it is better for all earthlings if cultured meat, using a vegan medium, replaces animal slaughter. Do I think it should be labelled ‘vegan’? No, cultured meat isn’t vegan. And its development has hardly been cruelty-free. Obtaining FBS is clearly repulsive. Yet, we need the human race to stop ravaging our world. As peoples’ hearts and minds are changed, the growth of vegan foods and cultured meats will work in parallel and the horrors of factory farming and slaughter will end.

As people evolve, cultured meat will be replaced more and more by vegan foods and we will live in a vibrant world where we protect and celebrate life. That is why, 25 years ago, I chose the name Viva! – it means LIFE.

Vegan energy

for your home

cotricity is the world’s first green energy company and the only official vegan energy supplier in Britain – accredited by both Viva! and our friends at the Vegan Society.

One of the biggest secrets of Britain’s energy companies is that they supply the majority of households with gas and electricity that uses animal byproducts. This is one important reason why we’re joining forces with Ecotricity – to help expose the connection between intensive animal agriculture and energy production and encourage people to go green.

We believe – and we’re supported by the science – that going vegan is the best thing you can do to help the environment, improve your health and end animal suffering. We also believe that the clear and transparent labelling of energy is essential to help consumers make informed choices about their energy supply.

Use of by-products from intensive factory farming are far-reaching and pervasive. Millions of people have unknowingly been powering their homes with electricity and gas made with the by-products of the meat and dairy industries.

There are two main sources of non-vegan energy in the UK, anaerobic digestion and biomass. Either one can and does contain by-products of animal agriculture, including from factory-farmed pigs, cows and chickens, along with slaughterhouse waste and diseased fish parts.

Energy providers have no obligation to declare whether animals are used in their production.

According to Ecotricity, four of the big six energy companies have animal by-products in their supply chains, along with many independent and so-called green energy suppliers. Although the amount of energy produced from these sources is small, it affects almost 60 per cent of the population.

E

There is an alternative and that is Ecotricity, who guarantee that all their energy sources are vegan. Gas generation uses one of the most common and widespread plants – grass. It is turned into biogas using anaerobic digestion and then purified to produce biomethane. It also produces a natural fertiliser which can be used in place of synthetic fertilisers.

This method of gas production presents an almost carbon-neutral alternative to fossil fuels and is a viable alternative to fracking. Ecotricity believes they can generate enough gas to power around 97 per cent of Britain’s homes in their green gas-mills whilst cutting carbon emissions, supporting arable farmers and creating wildlife habitats.

We’re proud of Ecotricity’s campaign for green gas and are even prouder to have partnered with them for so many years.

Together we will turn the ride of environmental destruction and create a sustainable vegan world. Viva! and Ecotricity are a force to be reckoned with!

Ecotricity will donate up to £60 to Viva! when you switch your energy supply to them. Call free on 0808 123 0123 quoting VIVA! For full terms and conditions, visit ecotricity.co.uk/viva

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A Author of Viva!’s superb new environmental report, ENVIROCIDAL, Dr Justine Butler says beware, the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse could be on their way back

I

n the popular Netflix sci-fi series Travelers, people from a post-apocalyptic future are sent back to the present day to try and save humanity. They are shocked to find us eating meat and using cow’s milk in our coffee because everyone in the future is vegan! This is, of course, fiction but a fiction based on fact. Climate change presents a grim prospect, driven by relentless expansion of livestock farming. If we don’t act now, the future looks bleak.

The meat industry says it’s unrealistic to expect people to stop eating meat while scientists say it’s not impossible to imagine a future world in which the consumption of meat is rare. It begs the question why changing our diet has not been a central issue in the climate debate until now. If the warnings are ignored, food-related climate change will lead to a whole new range of health risks, the like of which have never been seen before.

“Particular policy attention should be paid to the health risks posed by the rapid worldwide growth in meat consumption, both by exacerbating climate change and by directly contributing to certain diseases,” says Professor Anthony J. McMichael, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University in Canberra.

These are the indisputable facts – if we don’t control climate change now, sea levels will rise, glaciers will melt, coastal cities will flood, places with lots of rain

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FUTURE

and snowfall will get hotter and drier, lakes and rivers will dry up, droughts will make it hard to grow crops, there will be water shortages, many plants and animals will become extinct and hurricanes, tornadoes and storms will become more common.

In addition to the diseases caused by meat and dairy – obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer – new health risks will emerge from the wide temperature extremes.

Air quality will be affected, the way in which infectious diseases are transmitted will change and food yields may be reduced.

McMichael warns: “The health-risk categories of undernutrition and starvation, infectious disease outbreaks, conflict and warfare are there to see from historical examples in relation to climate”.

These four catastrophic scenarios sound exactly like the biblical disasters engendered by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – famine, pestilence, conquest and warfare!

Mass migration from populations being displaced and from conflict are highly likely because of food insecurity, the spreading of deserts, sea-levels rising and increased extreme weather events. We have already had enough of a taster to know what’s coming if we fail to act. McMichael says: “The urgent task of curtailing global greenhouse gas emissions necessitates action on all major fronts”.

The government’s Stern Report (2008) warned that we face losing up to a fifth of the world’s wealth from climate

change which, if unchecked, will devastate the global economy on the scale of the Great Depression or the 20th century’s world wars. Put simply, we can’t afford to ignore climate change and livestock farming lies at the heart of it.

Diets that contain meat and dairy require more land, water, energy, fertiliser and pesticides and produce around twice as much greenhouse gas as a vegan diet.

Precious resources are limited and the typical Western diet is simply not sustainable.

Researchers from the Institute of Social Ecology in Vienna published a study in Nature Communications revealing that if the world went vegan, in 2050 we would require less cropland than we did in 2000. The projected global population of nine billion by that time could have enough to eat without a single tree being felled – zero deforestation.

In his Keynote Speech at the Stockholm Water Conference, Lester Russel Brown, environmental analyst, founder of the Worldwatch Institute and founder and former president of the Earth Policy Institute, said: “Future wars in the Middle East are more likely to be fought over water than over oil”.

This may sound like science fiction but many scientists say we could be heading towards a world ravaged by drought and hardship similar to that portrayed in the futuristic film, Mad Max: Fury Road if we don’t act soon to curb climate change.

Studies of Seventh Day Adventists reveal the much higher environmental cost of diets based on animal foods, with meateaters requiring three times more water, two-and-a-half times more energy, 13 times more fertilisers and one-and-a-half times more pesticides compared to vegetarians. Similar findings have been published by groups in Europe, Japan, the US and Australia.

Lead author of this study, Dr Hal Marlow, says “Almost everyone has some knowledge that it costs less environmentally or is healthier to be a vegetarian, but there’s no understanding yet of really what that means until you put some numbers behind it”.

In the UK, simply by halving our consumption of meat and dairy – replacing them with fruit, vegetables, pulses and wholegrain foods – we could reduce our total greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth and prevent over 43,000 deaths a year. This would mainly be by reducing the risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, bowel cancer and some other cancers. Of course,

ENVIROCIDAL is a fullcolour, 60-page, fullyreferenced report describing the devastating impact livestock farming is having on the environment. It covers global warming, deforestation, biodiversity loss, land use, water use, desertification, world hunger, overfishing, antibiotic resistance, air pollution and food waste. There are also chapters on palm oil and soya. By Dr Justine Butler (with additional research by Dr Jenny de Lio). Cost is £8 from vivashop.org.uk/envirocidal

going vegan would be even more effective!

A global switch to diets that rely less on meat and more on fruit and vegetables could save millions of lives by 2050, reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions by two thirds, lead to huge savings in healthcare and avoid damage from climate change to the tune of $1.5 trillion.

Dr Marco Springmann’s team on the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food say that following the present official dietary guidelines could save 5.1 million lives a year, a vegetarian diet could save 7.3 million but a vegan diet would save 8.1 million! Springmann says: “The size of these projected benefits should encourage individuals, industry and policymakers to act decisively to make sure that what we eat preserves our environment and health”.

One in nine people in the world today is undernourished yet we feed around a third of our global crop production to animals. Growing food for humans to eat – without first feeding it to animals – could feed an additional four billion people, more than enough for everyone for years to come!

We all know how wasteful old gas-guzzling cars are but how long before livestock farming is viewed the same way?

The environmental benefits of a vegan diet are becoming harder and harder to ignore. The environmental impact of livestock farming is undeniably one of the biggest threats to our future and many animal species. More effective than switching to an electric car or buying energy saving light bulbs, changing your diet is the single most effective thing you can do to help protect future generations. It happens to be the best diet for your health too and you will be saving animals. It’s never been more important – or easier – to be vegan!

The whole report is now available to buy, read online or download as a pdf here: viva.org.uk/envirocidal

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Viva!’s media blitz for the animals

BBC Radio 4 – Farming Today It’s not often you get 25 minutes on national radio to promote your views but Farming Today provided just that – me versus a dairy farmer on her farm in Wales. We know that the farm owners’ body (NFU) has deep concerns about Viva!’s undercover work and have held meetings on how to counter us.

As soon as the recording started I began to get some idea of their new approach towards us. We were frightening and extreme, even sinister – threatening people in their own homes. As we toured the farm and reached the calf pens, aggression turned to defensiveness because they know that their treatment of calves is one of their Achilles’ heels and throws into focus the whole exploitative nature of dairy farming. A big thank you to the listener who sent in a £200 donation for our campaigns.

BY TONY WARDLE, EDITOR

BBC Radio Ulster Turkey Tragedy Viva! was shocked to find that a local city petting farm was to auction nine turkeys for the Christmas dinner table and so we registered our protests and did a piece on BBC Bristol. The story was picked up by various media, including nationals.

The auction was cancelled and Bristol Vegan Action found a sanctuary for all nine of the birds. Job done!

Not quite! Despite this, St Werburgh’s City Farm refused to allow the birds to be bought and said they would be killed anyway. Why would anyone show such intransigence and lack of compassion when lives are involved?

Farming is one of the main industries in Northern Ireland and so we can assume the population is watching the surge in veganism with special interest. Perhaps that’s why Roisin and Juliet have done three good interviews between them on various aspects of veganism, covering the whole of the province.

BBC One TV – Points West Bristol is surrounded by agricultural counties and I was asked to outline what I thought the West Country would look like in a vegan world.

I explained that without veganism, the Somerset levels will disappear completely under water from flooding and sea level rises.

Reforestation of surrounding land and a reduction in global warming might offer hope.

It seemed to be an entirely new concept!

Bristol – Vegan Capital of the World Indy/Life, part of the Independent, reports that most Google searches for vegan subjects, in any language, came from Bristol, beating Portland, Edinburgh, Vancouver and Seattle. Surprisingly, Australia was the most vegan country

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with Britain second.

“There are lots of vegan restaurants, cafes, vegan hair and beauty salons and even an active Bristol vegan community.

It is also home to Viva! animal rights action group, while three out of Bristol’s

four MPs are vegan”.

When Viva! was based in Brighton, it was pronounced the vegan capital of Europe. Seems like we’ve done it again but in spades.

BBC World News

TRT World TV Roisin McAuley, Viva!’s head of PR and marketing, had a television baptism by fire – a long, 26-minute, round-table interview on veganism with three other women – a vegan editor, a nutritionist and an agricultural journalist. British interviewer, David Foster, was belligerent, aggressive and trotted out every anti-vegan myth in the book but Roisin was sure-footed, relaxed and did a brilliant job of communicating essential truths.

Lisa Gawthorne, Viva! supporter, vegan business owner, athlete and writer has a passion for spreading the vegan word. She appeared on the BBC’s Business Live and focused on the rise of veganism, the story of her vegan company’s success (Bravura) and, of course, Brexit and its impact on businesses. Lisa was also on the Viva! February podcast.

TRT is a Turkish international, world-wide news channel that broadcasts via satellite, cable and across digital platforms. On Facebook it has 1.7 million followers and on YouTube, has 316,513 subscribers.

Channel Four Dispatches – Extremist Vegans We have no proof but strongly suspect that the NFU had a hand in instigating this peaktime, 40 minute documentary in which Viva! was the principal focus. Again we were presented as an extremist organisation, threatening people in their own homes (see page 11). In this instance the home under siege was part of a huge industrial pig complex at Hogwood Horror farm. In addition to the peaceful weekly vigil held by locals, we have visited the house, to hand in a legal letter. No one was home, there was no furniture and it appeared to be used by pigmen for tea breaks! In fact, owner Brian Hobill lives in a mansion elsewhere. Criticisms of Viva! were neutered by the extensive

Three Counties Radio Covering Hertfordshire, Bucks and Beds, this station has a huge audience. The now defunct Meat & Livestock Commission was once based here and so vegan debates were guaranteed to rattle numerous cages and entertain listeners.

The MLC might have gone but we haven’t and are still regulars on the station, often giving lengthy interviews, as we have in the past few months.

showing of our undercover footage.

The programme was confused, lacked focus and its presenter, farmer’s son Morland Sanders, ignored entirely the RSPCA’s claim that animal welfare on the farm was poor and failed to ask Brian Hobill, the owner, a single challenging question.

Sanders wrote an article in the Daily Telegraph the following day in which he said: “For me, this intensity of protest is counter-productive, they need to protest against the industry or society as a whole, rather than going after individual, lawabiding farmers.” Sanders finished the programme by saying he was going vegan!

That’s why we do it, Morland!

A loan or a smack in the gob?

When a Bristol vegan woman asked NatWest for a £400 loan to do a nutrition course, the bank employee replied that ‘all vegans should be punched in the face.’ This rather intemperate response was due, he said, to vegans chalking pictures of animals on his pavement along with the words ‘friends not food’. They were forcing their beliefs on him, he reckoned. The anonymous woman didn’t get her loan but an apology and £200 in compensation.

Bristol media went into overdrive and Juliet did a four minute piece on Bristol Drive Time and Breakfast News.

Vegan, Vegan Everywhere There are now so many vegan stories being published it’s impossible to report them all. One worth mentioning is the BBC News’ video Is being vegan REALLY better for the environment? Presented by Frankie McCamley, it seems to have got up the noses of both vegans and carnivores alike as ‘fluff’.

With Victoria Gill, BBC Science and Environment Correspondent saying: “Let me take just a moment to tell you about how if we all turned vegan it could dramatically reduce the impact we have on planet Earth,” it gets my vote. It couldn’t have happened even a year ago. Available on YouTube or the BBC website.

Vegan educator Ed Winters – Earthling Ed – calm, patient and a wonderful ambassador for veganism, was on the Victoria Derbyshire show on BBC2 against the National Sheep Association. As always, he did a great job. And the Jeremy Vine show looked at veganism on the rise.

Wanted – Slaughterers According to Farmers Weekly, British abattoirs are short of some 10,000 staff and it’s not low pay which is the problem but that people simply don’t want to do it. As it is, 69 per cent are made up of EU migrants, many of whom are illiterate. The official Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority reports that criminal gangs are trafficking foreign nationals to the UK to provide labour for the slaughter industry.

viva.org.uk 43

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Piers is on the wrong side of history Can it really be only two years ago when eating vegan was considered a freak diet that only me and fellow weirdos wrestled with?

Forever trying to explain why your body hadn’t shrivelled up into a walnut was fun for a while but seemed a bit daunting if it was going to be spread over a lifetime.

And yet now it’s mainstream – so mainstream that bug-eyed chancers like Piers Morgan, and a clutch of fellow ruddy-faced old hams, are panicking as they find themselves on the wrong side of history. Meanwhile, veganism is surprisingly agile as it leaps into the 21st century driven by social networking and really unlikely celebrities who have grasped hold of the most 21st century of diets.

A recent conference in Manchester called Yfood embraced veganism, with speakers from vegan start-up businesses like Allplants, The Green Gill and Foodomnia. This monthly event, sponsored by local property developers Bruntwood, is an interesting affair that is changing attitudes to food and sustainability. Putting ideas into action, Bruntwood have been surprisingly nimble; not just filling Manchester up with huge millennium towers that you can’t afford to live in but making it feel like a city of the future and not the past.

Of course, I will never live in one of these places – the meagre doubloons earned from writing don’t pay for 40th floor suites but I must admit, controversially, that I do like the high towers as a backdrop to my city centre adventures, whilst living on the eighth floor of a much cheaper old block in Hulme.

Bruntwood are taking their role in reshaping the city seriously and part of this is to create the space and the funding for a variety of projects – like the future of food which tonight, being in Veganuary, is about Future Vegan.

My generation of vegans were very much punk rockers full of ideology and beans – the tail end of the hippie wholefood revolution. The Millennials on tonight’s panel have a very different attitude, mixing the idealism of non-harm with a business thrust. They are ambitious, bright and dynamic and are taking veganism into the heart of our culture – and anything that saves a cow is perfect by me.

This generational shift in vegan culture is fascinating. It was a small scale underground of people who gave a toss but now it’s a runaway juggernaut – a high decibel 21st century culture with very different people pushing the agenda like tonight’s speakers, who come organised and engaged and ready to change the way we eat.

This is the new cutting edge, realising the future of veganism has to be organised to make a difference as they talk about their businesses.

Business is no longer a dirty word. Combined with idealism it is the powerful drive that is changing diets and saving lives and as long as the basic message stays the same then we are winning the war. viva.org.uk 45

Photo © Melanie Smith

Don’t miss out

Media man, punk-bred John Robb

Viva! Poland – fighting on all fronts With its wide remit to save animals, Viva! Poland continues to show why it is the pre-eminent animal group in the country

Viva! write official guide to animal welfare

HauGood – very good!

A cold December evening saw a unique and magical event in Warsaw – hopefully the first of many.

HauGood is a charity auction of items donated by celebrities and companies, backed by top line artistes such as Rosalie, Maria Starosta, and Rasmentalism, who all performed free. All procceds from the show went to support Viva!’s animal rescue teams.

In the auction, the highest bid of £1,100 was for a Juventus FC shirt, signed by all the players. Sixty lots went under the hammer, raising £4,200 and helping us to continue saving and treating animals.

Haugood was the initiative of old friends of Viva!, journalist Gabi Drzewiecka and Adrian Górny, at whose Iskra club the event was held.

Poland’s government improved its animal welfare laws recently and to ensure that judges, prosecutors, and police officers understand them, a contest was held to produce the best practical guide to animal protection law. Viva! Poland won it! Katarzyna Topczewska, a lawyer experienced in animal abuse and who has assisted us on numerous cruelty prosecutions, worked with us.

It is a practical manual on how to understand and apply the regulations, based on first hand experience and court rulings, including cases prosecuted by Viva!.

It will shortly be posted on the Ministry of Justice’s website.

Fish do feel pain!

Traditions are funny things – their origins often lost in time. It is a ‘tradition’ in Poland to buy live carp to eat on Christmas eve and enthusiasts would have you believe it dates back centuries. In fact, it was begun by the Communist government after the Second World War when they supplied carp to a devastated and hungry populace – live because there was no refrigeration or freezers and it was the only way to keep them fresh.

It still continues and in many of the big stores, it is a common sight around Christmas to see writhing masses of fish in tubs with little water, gasping in an effort to find oxygen.

Even worse, the law allows consumers to take the carp home in plastic bags without water, where they slowly suffocate.

Viva! Poland manager, Cezary Wyzinzski, has been battling to change the law for several years. In November, 2018, Viva!’s

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evidence was reviewed by professor Andrzej Elżanowski, zoologist and bioethicist at the University of Warsaw. As a result we demanded that the Chief Veterinary Officer change the guidelines for selling live carp. At the same time, Viva! activists, both inside and outside parliament, extracted promises from politicians to tighten regulations.

This was backed by negotiations with large retail stores and we persuaded Auchan, Piotr & Paweł and Selgros to phase out the sale of live carp entirely. Tesco, Carrefour and Kaufland have so far failed to respond and over the Christmas period, we found Help numerous failings at all of them. us keep doing Numerous demos outside their all this amazing stores made consumers aware of the work in 2019. Call suffering and we filed notifications 0117 944 1000 or go to viva.org.uk/donate of ‘suspicion of committing crimes’ to make a with public prosecutors. donation

New Year’s Resolution – Go Vegan Illuminated adverts in the streets of Łódź city and on public transport urged people to Go Veggie for 30 Days. A video of the campaign was also shown in a local cinema.

Cinema goers saw a video of the campaign right before they started watching their film. Tens of thousands of people saw the adverts and watched the video in January.

Local group, Viva! Łódź, reckons that 130 thousand people across Poland have already taken the challenge using their app email programme, with three quarters staying on a plant-based diet.

Fur – the ugly trade Every year, about 10 million mink, foxes, raccoon dogs and chinchillas are brutally killed for their fur in Poland. There are around 700 officially registered fur farms and each autumn the animals are killed by gassing or electrocution.

Working with the group, Basta, Viva! Poland investigated an American mink farm last November in a place called Modrzewie village. Footage revealed mink being grabbed by their tails and thrown violently into gas chambers. The images will be used to continue our battle against fur farming and provide evidence for charges of abuse of animals.

Animals saved from ‘petting zoo’ Over the last few years, there have been numerous reports circulating of animals in appalling conditions at a zoo park in Kadzidłowo, both a petting zoo and a puppy mill. Numerous groups had tried to intervene but the owner’s good political connections ensured that all complaints were dismissed.

At the end of last year, serious animal abuse was reported to Viva! and we knew we had to do something. When we entered the park we found the conditions far worse than we had expected – filthy cages, large tumours on some animals, hooves so long that animals couldn’t move.

We were able to immediately confiscate 10 of them – four donkeys and six dogs – and publish footage of the abuse in the media. And like magic, the

dominoes immediately started to fall. Institutions that had remained silent suddenly began to take notice and the public prosecutor’s office initiated an investigation.

We reckon we have a two to three year battle ahead of us but it looks like we might have managed to solve an insoluble problem – for the benefit of several hundred animals.

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If you haven’t already been to a Viva! Vegan Festival, you really don’t know what you’re missing! Our line-up of festivals is guaranteed to have something for everyone and we want you, your friends and family to come and see what all the fuss is about. Whether they’re herbivore or omnivore if they like good food, they’ll love our festivals!

This is our 15th year of running vegan events across the UK so we know a thing or two about putting on a good show. Come and spend a day with Viva! and experience first-hand the amazing benefits a vegan lifestyle can offer…. l Delicious hot street food l Homemade healthy bites and sweet snacks (did someone say cakes and doughnuts?) l Expert nutritional advice and takeaway factsheets l Fascinating talks and cookery demonstrations l Huge range of ethical fashion, gifts and cruelty-free cosmetics l All your favourite Viva! merchandise and materials!

For more info and to buy your tickets today, please visit viva.org.uk/festivals GET INVOLVED If you’re interested in becoming a stall holder, giving a talk or cookery demo or volunteering at any of these events please email sophie@viva.org.uk

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2019 SATURDAY 16 MARCH 2019 – 10.30-17.00 Swansea Viva! Vegan Festival Brangwyn Hall, £2 Entry SATURDAY 18 MAY 2019 – 10.30-18.00 Birmingham Viva! Vegan Festival New Bingley Hall, £3 Entry SATURDAY 29 JUNE 2019 – 10.30-17.00 Stockport Viva! Vegan Festival Cheshire Conference Centre, £3 Entry SATURDAY 3 AUGUST 2019 – 10.30-17.00 Coventry Viva! Vegan Festival Coventry Cathedral, £3 Entry

Viva!’s free

Will-writing Service …in your own home We are delighted to announce that Viva! has joined with The Goodwill Partnership so that we can offer you, our supporters, the opportunity to make or amend a simple Will in your own home ABSOLUTELY FREE*.

Leaving a gift to Viva! in your Will allows your passion for helping animals to live on through us and, as we are a charity, your bequest will be entirely free of Inheritance Tax. Most people fail to make a Will and so have no control over what happens to their money when they die. You can remedy that now at no cost*. Contact Viva! and we will arrange for a trained counsellor to visit you at home - daytime, evenings or weekends. A qualified solicitor will then draw up the Will for your approval.

There is no obligation to include a gift in your Will to Viva!, however we would very much like you to as our successful campaigns for animals depend entirely upon the generosity of our supporters. We receive no funding from the government or commercial interests.

Viva! have had a long string of successes for the animals, showing we mean business.

We are launching ever more campaigns and much of this work has been funded by the generosity of those who have remembered us in their Will. We are truly grateful. Please

think about leaving a bequest to Viva! so we can be even more successful in the future.

Remember us and we will remember you – by fighting even harder to save animals.

If you wish to leave a bequest to Viva!, please include the charity’s registered charity number (1037486) and postal address (Viva!, 8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QH).

CONTACT THE GOODWILL PARTNERSHIP Book your appointment directly with the Goodwill Partnership call 0844 669 6148, quoting ‘Viva!’.

Making a Will

Find out all you need to know about making a Will, please send for our free booklet Viva!’s Guide to Making a Will

Viva! s Step by Step Guide to Will Making

Reg charity 1037486

*Viva! will fund the cost of a simple Will for you and your partner/spouse. However, should you have more complex requirements, The Goodwill Partnership will be able to advise you on what action to take and whether additional legal advice may be appropriate and if any additional costs will be involved. viva.org.uk 49

Registered Charity No. 1122303

/DeanFarmTrust /deanfarmtrust.org.uk E. info@deanfarmtrust.org.uk

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Dean Farm Trust actively campaigns to promote compassionate living, educating people so they can make cruelty free choices as part of their everyday living.

The Dean Farm Trust team give dedicated care and attention to ill treated, neglected and unwanted animals who arrive at our sanctuary.

Please visit our website to sign up for our free enewsletter to receive regular campaign and sanctuary updates and find out how you can help.

www.deanfarmtrust.org.uk

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GET YOUR COPY OF POD FOR ONLY £8.99 FROM VIVASHOP.ORG.UK

‘Future generations will be appalled by meat eating!’

Henry Smith MP chats to Viva! founder, Juliet Gellatley, about the launch of PAWS et me say upfront, Henry Smith is a conservative MP, for Crawley. It’s true, Viva! hasn’t exactly had an abundance of support from right wing politicians over the years so Henry’s forthright views on animal protection are – refreshing.

We met in the Houses of Commons – the part open to the public that always reminds me of a cathedral: similarly austere, built to impress and steeped in history.

Henry was co-hosting the launch of PAWS (Policy for Animal Welfare Scheme) which has some exciting ideas that could profoundly help animals.

Created by Cher Chevalier and Judith Clegg, its manifesto would raise hundreds of millions of pounds, partly by taxing pet breeders, which would be used to fund an independent animal inspectorate. One of their aims is to end puppy farms entirely but eventually they aim to be much more far reaching.

Henry co-chairs the all-party parliamentary animal welfare group and told me why he was involved with PAWS: “They do really good work ensuring that the awful and growing trade in puppy and kitten smuggling and abuse of pets is highlighted so that people like myself, here in parliament, can hopefully change the law

L

so there are greater protections to stop it.”

So want does that say about the existing law? “I don’t think the animal welfare laws are strong enough and there is almost a dangerous assumption in this country that we’re a nation of animal lovers and therefore we must have the necessary laws to protect animals. That isn’t the case and in many ways, cruelty is increasing.

“I welcome an increase in the minimum sentence for animal cruelty from six months to five years… that’s really good. We’re moving in the right direction but we’ve got a long way to go to make sure that we end such cruel practices – practices of which many people are just unaware.”

After many years of exposing factory farming with Viva!, I know first-hand how completely inadequate the law is to protect farmed animals. I put it to him that it’s almost impossible to prosecute intensive farming because cruelty is part and parcel of the system. Will PAWS eventually offer hope to farmed animals?

Henry’s response was gratifying: “I would like to pay tribute to Viva! because the work you do is fantastic – making animal abuse in the agricultural sector understood.

You’re right to say that battery farming, for instance, 

viva.org.uk 51

More about PAWS on Facebook at #Pawslawuk and hear Henry Smith MP on the January Viva! Podcast from any podcast app or viva.org.uk/vivapodcast

Juliet Gellatley and Henry Smith MP at the launch of PAWS

is a sort of legalised cruelty and it should be ended.

“PAWS, coming together with Viva!, can help to ensure that animals in the agricultural sector are protected as far as possible from cruelty. If most people were to see for themselves what happens they would be repulsed… so I think it is really important.”

One of PAWS’ long-term aims is to appoint a minister for animals but how realistic does Henry think that is?

“I’m struck by the fact that, quite rightly, there’s a minister for equalities and a minister for children… yet we are supposedly a nation of animal lovers. The RSPCA is over a century old and was established by an Act of parliament. We have in the past been forwardlooking as a country when it comes to animal welfare and could be again - I think it’s logical that there should be a minister responsible for animal welfare.”

And what about veganism – are we ever likely to see a day when a government will take a stand on it, explaining the benefits to people? Henry Smith’s reply was fairly unequivocal: “The evidence is pretty clear that a vegan diet is a much healthier diet - healthier for ourselves but obviously it also ends a lot of cruelty and mistreatment of animals. So yes, I do think there is a role for government to promote a lifestyle that is healthier and better for animals.

“I’m almost 50 years old and I’ve been a vegetarian since I was about 18 - changing because of animal welfare concerns. The way animals are treated in the meat producing industry really appalled me but there have since been other reasons that have reinforced my decision.

“The fact that the carbon footprint of vegetarians and

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vegans is so much lower adds a strong environmental aspect to my decision. If we were to end meat production, we could probably solve much of the global warming issue. The damage wrought by meat in terms of global warming outstrips transportation plus the amount of land it takes to rear animals for food is unsustainable.

“So, there are lots of good reasons – animal welfare, health and global environmental – why a vegetarian or vegan diet is necessary.

“I would like to pay tribute to Viva! because the work you do is fantastic – making animal abuse in the agricultural sector understood” “We’ve got a long way to go but things are changing. I don’t want to sound complacent but we’ve made a really good start in cutting out meat as a society and I’m sure that in future generations, humanity won’t eat meat.

We’ll look back at this period, when we did eat meat, and be absolutely appalled! We’re moving in the right direction but it’s only thanks to organisations like Viva! and PAWS and many others – it is you who really make sure that this agenda is in the public’s consciousness.”

WE CHOOSE NATURE

We Choose Nature is an online platform to create awareness for a more sustainable way of life. By giving global and local initiatives the opportunity to present themselves to the world and share news, information and tips we inspire everyone with respect for nature to start to take action. We are proud to say the rst initiative we are supporting is Justdiggit. We Choose Nature – A BIOCANNA initiative

www.wechoosenature.org

V-biz

Viva! is proud to work with like-minded individuals and businesses to promote a cruelty-free lifestyle for all, and bring you (our members!) amazing discounts and the latest info on vegan products and services that we know you’ll love!

Thank yoxu!

The following businesses have recently joined our Supporter’s Discount Scheme or now carry a Viva! Vegan Symbol – please support them! (Join Viva! to get discounts at viva.org.uk/join)

Ecotricity Long-term partners of Viva!’s, Ecotricity’s gas and electric is now certified Viva!

Vegan. Switch to Ecotricity and you’ll also raise funds for our vital campaigns! ecotricity.co.uk/viva

V-eco Wraps Eco-friendly, reusable alternatives to cling film. Viva!

Vegan Symbol approved! 10 per cent discount for Viva! supporters. Use code Viva!10 when checking out online. v-ecofoodwraps.co.uk

Better Green World Hiking travel experience in Croatia, exploring less wellknown locations and culinary delights. They are ecominded and 100% plant-based. Email to activate the 10% Viva! supporter discount info@bettergreenworld.com. bettergreenworld.com

Want to partner with Viva! to offer your vegan products and services to new audiences? See viva.org.uk/resources/ businesses or email liam@viva.org.uk

A massive thank you to the incredibly enthusiastic and hard-working Viva! stall volunteers who have helped represent Viva! at events throughout the winter season and raised funds for our campaigns.

We § you!

l 3 Nov – Framlington Animal Charities Event – Susan Dickinson – £133.00 raised l 25 Nov – Essex Vegan Christmas Festival – Nigel and Helen – £289.40 raised l 2 Dec – Leeds Winterfest Vegan Festival – Julie Bonney – £550.00 raised l 9 Dec – Animal Aid Xmas Fayre – Dani, Genene, and Mary – £480.10 raised l 15 Dec – Worthing Xmas Vegan Fair – Aby Mason – £443 raised Want to be a Viva! Stall Vol? We have a calendar of events throughout the year – email merchandise@viva.org.uk if you are interested in helping or see viva.org.uk/viva-stall-vol to find out more!

SAVE THE DATE Don’t miss out on fantastic vegan events ever again! Get on down to myvegantown.org.uk, where you’ll find our handy online events calendar (plus loads of listings for vegan-friendly places to eat, shop and stay!).

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Absurd Bird

Restaurant reviews

Fried Chicken, Waffles and Moonshine. The name of the five-chain restaurant didn’t exactly scream ‘vegan options’ at us, and so what a surprise to find an explosion of vegan delights inspired by the American Deep South.

The Absurd Bird menu boasts vegan chicken waffles with maple syrup, fried vegan chicken tenders with buffalo sauce, cajun broccoli and cauliflower bites; cashew mac ‘n’ cheese plus two varieties of burgers. The vegan chicken, made from double-coated Quorn, was light and textured, and made no demands on your digestion. The mac n cheese was packed with flavour and the buffalo sauce stole the show.

One little negative – the waffles were without gravy and quite dry and some ranch dressing would have perfectly balanced the buffalo sauce. That said, the team seemed very open to feedback. The enthusiasm and positivity from the Absurd Birdt’s vegan manager, Brygida, really shone through and she welcomed Viva! with open arms.

Takehome message: with a new summer menu promising vegan desserts on the horizon, this is one to watch. We visited the Bath branch outlet, others are here – absurdbird.com Roisin McAuley

Right: Roisin, Absurd Bird’s Brygida and Viva!’s Lex Rigby

LEON I was hoping to get back to Bristol but when I hit the services sign at Strensham on the M5, I had to take a break. Wandering in unenthusiastically, wondering if I could face yet another plate of chips and beans, I saw a takeaway stand with the big bold name, LEON, brightly lit and busy. My little eyes nearly popped out of my head – Vegan Meatless Meatballs, the menu said. A vegan choice – hooray! I kept reading: lentil masala, vegan sweet potato falafel, Lebanaese mezze salad, Brazilian black beans, Love burger…. and several others.

There had clearly been a revolution in motorway catering!

The owners describe their philosophy thus: “Our view on nutrition is summed up by Michael Pollan in his book, In Defence of Food: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants”. A diet that follows these principles will be a good diet. We use whole ingredients and favour good fats and good carbs”.

The food is good, tasty and well priced but, sadly, there is only one other motorway outlet, near Oxford.

There are, however, dozens in London, at railways stations and airports. Well worth seeking out! To find a restaurant near you, go to leon.co/restaurants Tony Wardle

viva.org.uk 55

Th

e f . i . l . f o s s i ek

This is Thelma being kissed by her baby, Tomos Two Sox. Thelma was pregnant when Viva! ans Lisa James Animal Sanctuary rescued her and we changed her life forever. Had we not rescued her, Tommy would have been taken from her within hours of birth and shot in the head or sent to market.

If he had been female, she too would have been taken and isolated in a solitary hutch for two months – no nurturing, unweaned, terrified.

This is not one bad farm but the industry standard – all two million calves born in the UK every year face a similar fate.

Why? So every drop of milk can be extracted for human consumption as milk and dairy products.

You really do have only two choices… the kiss of life or the kiss of death

It really is time to go vegan. Try it for 30 days and Viva! will help you all the way. Go to:

viva.org.uk/30dayvegan

Magnificent Mains with a Side of Advice

The best food is emotional as well just functional – especially vegan food!

We know there are many very good reasons to indulge in fabulous, guiltfree vegan foods. With this in mind, we’re taking a look at some great vegan cookbooks that combine both the functional – amazing recipes! – with the emotional – mindfulness, activism, feminism, vegan manhood – it’s all here!

Protest kitchen Feminist-vegan activist and scholar Carol J. Adams provides a fascinating and thought-provoking insight into the ways our choices can have a profound effect on the world and its inhabitants. This book combines practical advice with recipes – not just cracking food but recipes for companion animals, cleaning products and so on!

A great read for anyone looking to live a more compassionate life.

Sections include Dreaming of an Inclusive Democracy, Food Justice and Feeding Your Resistance. Recipe highlights include Groovin’ Reuben, Muhamara (a walnut based dip), and Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits. This ain’t your average cookbook folks!

By Carol J Adams and Viginia Messina. Hardback. 224pp. £12.99

Mindful Vegan Meals Well-known as FoodByMaria on Instagram, Maria Koutsogiannis’ new recipe book brings vibrant colour to every page with 75 new recipes for us to feast on! With her Greek family influence, there are plenty of juicy, Mediterranean dishes, with an entire section named Back to my Roots. Having overcome an eating disorder, Maria shares her journey with food – including how she learnt to love it again. Recipes are healthy and satisfying and there are cooking tips and nutrition facts. Sections include Comforting Mains, Falling In Love With Breakfast, and more.

Highlights include the Cauliflower Buffalo Bites, Lime Coconut Curry Soup, and Fully Loaded Quinoa Greek Salad, plus a plethora of smoothies, juices, and plant milk recipes!

By Maria Koutsogiannis.

Paperback. 208pp. £16.99

Vegan Man London-based food blogger Michael Kitson has released this rather wonderful cookbook subtitled The manual for cooking amazing plant-based food.

There is practical advice on what to avoid, veganism on the go, nutrition, exercise and building muscle, along with 64 recipes. Aside from the drool-worthy photography (which the author does mostly himself), the recipes are a brilliant mix of comforting and everyday, manstyle foods made amazing. Sections include Breakfast and Brunch, Snacks and Sides, Main Courses and Desserts, Sweet Treats and Breads. Highlights include Sausage Roll Bites, Epic Vegan Lasagne, Classic ‘Chicken’ & Mushroom Pie and Spiral Seeded Protein Bread. A definite recommend for any man – new vegan or long-term!

By Michael Kitson. Hardback. 192pp. £22.99

How to be Vegan and Keep your Friends This charming cookbook is full of Instagram-worthy vibes, with fresh and interesting food combinations that will add boundless delicious touches to your cooking.

Thoughtful and wide-ranging recipes are laced throughout with tidbits of information and advice on making easy vegan basics, eating in and out and socialising stress-free. It gives you shareable, snackable recipes that should work for you and your friends.

I honestly don’t see how it could fail!

Highlights include Salt & Pepper Tofu with Clementine & Chicory Salad, Wild Mushroom Perogi and Pisco Sour Lollies.

By Annie Nichols and Quadrille.

Hardback. 160pp. £12.99

All Viva! Vegan Book Club choices are available from vivashop.org.uk/books Tel: 0117 944 1000 (Mon-Fri, 9am to 5pm) viva.org.uk 57

HOLIDAYS | FRANCE

Classifieds HOLIDAYS | ENGLAND

La Maison du Vert vegetarian & vegan hotel & restaurant

Our hotel & restaurant is set in a stunning Normandy valley within 3 acres of beautiful gardens.

• Delicious vegetarian and vegan gourmet menus • Naturally grown produce, organic wines, ciders and beers • Visit Camembert, Monet’s garden, Mont St Michel, Hon eur, D-Day landing beaches, Bayeux • Walk, cycle, relax! Free WIFI

eat

rest

Debbie & Daniel Armitage

61120 Ticheville, Normandy, France 00 33 2 33 36 95 84 mail@maisonduvert.com

www.maisonduvert.com

see

EAST SUSSEX

LESAIGLES

LAKE DISTRICT

VEGETARIAN & VEGAN SELF CATERING HOLIDAY APARTMENT

Mirabel-aux-Baronnies, 26110, France +33 (0)4 75 26 47 18 +33 (0)6 77 75 97 14 bookings@lesaigles-veggies.com www.lesaigles-veggies.com

Get noticed!

To book space at a great rate, see viva.org.uk/advertise-vivalife, email liam@viva.org.uk or call 0117 944 1000 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

www.taxreturnonlineservices.co.uk Financial Accounts Preparation • Self Assessment Tax Returns Rental Accounts • Business Tax Advice 5% donation to VIVA!

Tel: 01485 601499 58

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Plant-Based Weight Loss Clinic Medical doctor, expert in fast and effective weight loss, nutrition and anti-ageing foods.

Personalised diet plans and full body composition analysis.

North London clinic or telephone consultations also available.

Please contact Dr Robinson 07930 375822, magdarobinson@hotmail.com utopiatherapyhub.com/weight-loss

For Viva! news, info, merchandise and much more visit us online at viva.org.uk

Aspiring or longstanding veggie or vegan?

Registered charity number 1120687

Contact VfL for your FREE 16-page recipe booklet

0161 257 0887 | www.vegetarianforlife.org.uk

It’s a big surprise that millions of British homes are powered by electricity and gas made from animals or their by-products. These are secret ingredients that you might want to know about.

They come from factory farming, which means anything from animal slurry to slaughterhouse waste are used to make energy in Britain. It’s not just The Big Six energy companies doing this – small suppliers are too, and even those that call themselves green.

If you’re vegan, vegetarian or care about animal welfare, this will matter to you.

To find out if your supplier is affected, visit ecotricity.co.uk/viva.

We’re the world’s only officially vegan energy company, registered with The Vegan Society for our animal-free energy.

No animals are harmed in the making of our power.

VIVA! will receive a donation of £60 when you switch your electricity and gas to Ecotricity Visit ecotricity.co.uk/viva or call us on 0808 123 0123 (quote VIVA)

ecotricity.co.uk/viva 0808 123 0123 (quote viva)