Viva!Life Issue 83 | Spring 2023

VEGAN FOR ALL LiFE

Viva!’s fight is a fight for life – for ourselves, animals and the planet. Humankind’s abuse and exploitation of animals lies at the heart of most of the planet’s accelerating problems. The crushing number of farmed animals slaughtered every year impacts on almost every ecosystem and is the driving force that has propelled planet Earth into its sixth mass extinction

The tens of billions of victims of this massacre are brushed aside by governments across the world Viva!, however, is constantly revealing the abject conditions in which they are forced to live by secretly going inside factory farms They are not only cruel but provide stinking reservoirs of disease where antibiotic resistance flourishes, deadly superbugs mutate and pandemics take root.

Over the years we have captured the headlines with our exposés, triggered the decline of meat, fish, egg and dairy consumption and spurred the vegan revolution forwards Viva! is a registered charity (1037486) viva org uk

ON EVERy FRONT

Viva! has four sections which are displayed on our website, a mass of verifiable information on why veganism is imperative to the future –everyone ’ s and everything’s future

Viva! Animals provides fascinating information on all the species exploited for food in the UK and fun facts about their private lives You can, however, also witness Viva!’s brave undercover investigations that show the shocking reality of the UK’s meat, egg, fish and dairy industries.

Viva! Planet explains why animal farming is the driving force behind all the world’s environmental crises It also explores the solutions

Viva! Health is science-based and exposes the links between animal products and ill health; but also why varied vegan diets protect us It takes you through the A to Z of diseases and the A to Z of nutrients

Viva! Lifestyle is packed with advice on how to go vegan, plus has over a thousand recipes. Our V7 and V30 programmes make it easy for anyone to go and stay vegan

HOW TO GET THiS MAGAziNE

Join Viva! for just £17 to get your copy of Viva!life magazine four times a year 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, 9-5) or join online at viva.org.uk/join

It’s a message I’ve repeated regularly over the years – the only way to save animals from suffering is to stop eating them! Two stories in this issue of Viva!life confirm just how right this is. After we exposed Flat House Farm, probably the cruellest pig factory farm I’ve ever been inside, we complained to Leicester Trading Standards (TS).

When it finally reached the court after two years, the farm owners faced 68 charges of cruelty and neglect and a six-day trial was set.

On the first day, the TS barrister accepted a plea of guilty to one charge, dropped the other 67, no ban on keeping animals was requested and costs were waived You can read about this disgraceful betrayal on page 14 On the positive side, the farm h p p g the farm owners are reportedly seeking other forms of employment We closed them down!

I have also frequently accused the Government of protecting livestock farmers at the expense of animals, the environment and human health On page 7 is a report that confirms it – a senior civil servant resigns because ministers constantly block any initiative by Defra scientists to reduce meat consumption ‘Scandalous’ doesn’t even begin to describe it!

And on page 8, another scandal. I describe what we found during our latest undercover investigation – a dairy farm in Kent that supplies Freshways who provide milk to Costa Coffee, amongst other big companies, described as having exemplary animal welfare by Red Tractor! As always on dairy farms, the abuse of mothers and their babies is heartbreaking but we have made sure as many people as possible discover the truth with good media coverage and a day of nationwide protests proclaiming ‘The True Costa Dairy’ There will be more in March.

In a fascinating article by Tony Wardle on page 17, he looks for a powerful philosophy that will save the planet – and finds one! Surprisingly, it is 4,000 years old and it’s essentially what Viva! is doing

Viva! Poland continues its extraordinary work (page 19) and prosecutes a court case against a fox fur farmer who attacked and injured our investigators with a hammer Fortunately, they managed to rescue two very ill foxes, videoed the whole incident and helped to close down the farm

Channel 4 can’t have it all its own way so we ran (for the second time) our own Great Vegan Bake Off, for Viva! employees. They produced some stupendous sweet treats and the top four recipes, chosen by our staff scoffers, start on page 23 I did not take part!

I would like to thank our old friend and patron, Jerome Flynn, for braving rails strikes and hours of road turmoil, to drive all the way from West Wales to compere the London premier of our documentary, HOGWOOD – a modern horror story (page 36). Obviously, it was not a light-hearted evening but it was suffused with a sense of pride and achievement Viva! really is fighting for the animals.

Yours for the animals

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

General enquiries

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

Email info@viva.org.uk

Write to Viva! at: 8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QH

Viva! Founder & International Director

Juliet Gellatley

Editor

Tony Wardle

Managing Director & Head of Campaigns

Laura Hellwig

Head of Investigations

Lex Rigby

Head of Communications

Faye Lewis

Public Relations Manager Rachel Stone

Charity Administrator

Rebecca Page

Campaigns & Outreach

Rory Cockshaw, Jasmine Clark, Dani Lawton, Jo Dixon, Kerri Waters

Head of Research

Dr Justine Butler

Viva! Health

Veronika Prošek Charvátová

Office Manager & Supporters’ Liaison Laura Turner, Beata Rzepecka-Wilk, Renata Rzepecka

Bookkeeping & Legacies Administrator

Carla Sheppard

Merchandise, Business & Events

Emily Coster, Charlotte Heath, Lucy Constable

Food & Cookery and VRC

Maryanne Hall, Pia Werzinger

Design

The Ethical Graphic Design Company Ltd

Web & IT

Roger Peñarroya i Zaldívar, Conor Haines, Jeremy Ludlow, Thilak Kumaraswamy

Podcast Presenters

Faye Lewis, Lex Rigby

Editorial enquiries 07956 496923

Advertising enquiries 0117 944 1000

Membership enquiries 0117 944 1000 info@viva org uk

Online viva org uk

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Viva!, 8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QH

lifelines

We challenge Trading Standards’ betrayal

On page 14 we report on the abject failings of Trading Standards (TS) in prosecuting Flat House Farm owners for what were some of the most abject cases of animal cruelty we have ever recorded. TS dropped all but one of the 68 charges and so we have challenged their decision through the solicitors Advocates for Animals

in a detailed letter, they remind TS that even the judge was unimpressed with their decision and quote him as saying that the charges were wide-ranging and related to long-standing failings and that the sentence would have been much more serious if evidence had been presented

Advocates for Animals list those failings in detail

l Body parts and dead piglets were found in the sheds

l Cats picking off newborn piglets and eating them alive

l Sick piglets left to die slow deaths

l A lack of food and water

l Distressingly large hernias that dragged along the floor

l Tail and ear biting

l Acute malnutrition, enteritis, rectal strictures and pot bellies

This is what TS thought was not worth prosecuting! Read the full story on page 14

Shameful!

Our old friend dr Chris Bryant (Bryant Research) has come up with some shameful new research He interviewed 1,000 people to see how many had experienced ‘meat shame’

Over 40 per cent of Brits had experienced it and as a result, most did something to reduce their meat consumption. The shame came from acquiring knowledge about the meat industry and having more exposure to vegetarianism and veganism. it was animal welfare concerns that prompted most shame – more than environmental or social pressure.

Superbugs continue to spread

Sample tests carried out in slurry and chicken litter, in rivers close to farms, all found antibiotic-resistant bacteria The overuse of antibiotics has seen them become less effective and has led to the rise of ‘superbugs’ – strains of bacteria that can no longer be treated by certain drugs

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been described by the World Health Organisation as: “One of the biggest threats to global health.” Latest data published by the UK Health Security Agency shows that the number of serious antibiotic-resistant infections in England continue to rise and hit 53,985 in 2022

“Our findings suggest that factory farms are likely to be discharging resistance genes and superbugs into public waterways,” concluded the report, which was drawn up with Fera Science and the Bureau of investigative Journalism

Raffle results Christmas 202

l FIRST PRIZE of £1,500 was won by A Reid from Cumbria (ticket number 67948)

l SECOND PRIZE (£500) went to B Mercer from Oxfordshire (21755)

l THIRD PRIZE (£200) went to A HarrisonPowell, from South Wales (28306)

Runner-up prizes of festive hampers were won by:

l S Fisher from North Yorkshire (60261)

l D Kilgour from Essex (77639)

l S Jones from North Wales (74631)

CONGRATULATiONS to all the lucky winners and a big THANK yOU to everyone who entered and helped to boost our campaigning funds!

lifelines

Salmon crueltyexposed

–again

Following Viva!’s shocking exposé of Scottish salmon and trout farms (Viva!life 76), another investigation has confirmed our findings – this one by our patron dale Vince He released a film in the run-up to Christmas that highlights salmon farming’s shocking mortality rates, crosscontamination between wild and farmed fish and widespread pollution it shows distressing scenes of salmon being eaten alive by parasitic sea lice and, of course, reveals the ‘heinous’ nets in which up to 100,000 fish are forced to live

dale, who founded the green energy company Ecotricity, says: “The fact that it takes over seven tonnes of wild-caught fish to produce just one tonne of farmed salmon is ludicrous ” Experts estimate that 460,000 tonnes of wild fish are killed every year to make fish meal for farmed salmon

But it’s all okay because Tavish Scott, CEO of the £1 8 billon Salmon Scotland, says: “The highest standards of animal welfare are continually achieved.”

Turkey trot

Viva! campaigner Rory Cockshaw organised a heartfelt Christmas run in memory of the innumerable turkeys slaughtered for festive dinners Called From Dawn to Dusk, a whole string of people put in some memorable performances in Bushy Park, London, including Rory’s mum who ran a half-marathon alongside him and then walked a staggering 27 km on top Stephanie, an A&E doctor, also clocked up a half-marathon.

it followed a circuit and guardian angel Lesley served food and refreshments for fading runners Rory, and Viva! volunteer Sean Barrs, who ran alongside him, clocked up 34 miles (55 km) and raised a total of £700 – but it’s not too late to contribute gofundme com/f/run-foranimals Great press coverage was achieved – see page 38

Hogwood gets a Wikipedia page

Powerful words from UN

We’ve said it and now the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has said it He opened the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal in december with an apocalyptic warning:

“With our bottomless appetite for unchecked and unequal economic growth, humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction We are treating nature like a toilet. And ultimately, we are committing suicide by proxy ” Phew! (See page 25)

Boy, it was difficult to satisfy Wikipedia’s demanding submissions criteria but Viva!’s Conor Haines managed it and so now we ’ re there The entry begins: “The documentary follows a team of undercover investigators as they explore Hogwood, a pig farm based in Warwickshire, England, as well as other farms in the UK The footage shown throughout the film suggests evidence of overcrowding, mutilation, sick and injured pigs, dead pigs, and cannibalism. And here’s the link! en wikipedia org/wiki/Hogwood: a modern horror story you can also read about our London screening of Hogwood on page 36

Above: Rory and Sean Barrs running in their spectacular turkey hats

Govt blockingmeat reduction

Henry dimbleby, of Leon foods, was asked by the Government to research recommendations for its Food Strategy He said that meat and dairy consumption should be cut 30 per cent by 2035. The Government’s own Climate Change Committee also said that meat and dairy reductions were vital. When the Food Strategy was published last year, both were completely ignored – and now we know why

Laura Thomas Walters, a former senior analyst at defra, launched a blistering attack on the Government, telling The Independent: “There are plenty of knowledgeable experts at defra who know what needs to be done to restore UK wildlife but there is simply a blockade by people at the top ” She said that ministers would step in and stop any projects that could make a difference, such as reducing red meat consumption

Laura resigned in disgust and joined in peaceful direct actions organised by Extinction Rebellion, saying: “We all need to be outside demanding change ” (See page 27)

What a load of c***

There are 2 6 million dairy cows in the UK and each produces up to 53 litres of manure a day – 50 billion litres a year in total, enough to fill Wembley stadium more than 12 times over Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that the dairy industry is the worst environmental offender in Britain and is linked to half of all farm pollution incidents In 2021, livestock farms polluted rivers 300 times, causing huge environmental damage and mass fish deaths But the Government is on the case – they prosecuted six of them! Just six!

To check how well slurry is stored, in 2021 the Environment Agency carried out 721 inspections on 693 farms and more than half were found to be breaking the regulations. (BBC Rural Affairs).

We warned you!

you may remember our last year ’ s shocking exposure of Field Farm (Lincolnshire), and it’s Quack! duck Eggs despite supplying most of the big supermarkets, conditions were abysmal, cruel and filthy Our video ended with a warning that this place posed a threat to human and animal health it comes as no surprise that Field Farm has had an outbreak of bird flu, all the animals at the farm have been culled and a restriction order has been issued

Again it’s no surprise to find that health chiefs have been running simulated emergency drills so they are ready to act should the bird flu virus jump from bird to human Chief veterinary officer, dr Christine Middlemiss, told the Daily Telegraph: “Because this is a zoonotic disease, it has the potential to infect people. We exercise frequently with the UK Health Security Agency and others for those scenarios happening.” Where the H5N1 strain passes to humans, the death rate has been 50 per cent The ‘Eurasian’ H5N1, that infected Field Farm and hundreds of other UK farms in 2022, have so far infected one person in the UK but that could change

Farming’s land grab

One thousand years ago, when Sweyn Forkbeard was King of England, less than four per cent of the world’s ice-free and non-barren, habitable land was used for farming. it’s now 50 per cent!

Only 29 per cent of the world’s surface is land but much of it (nearly 30 per cent) is made up of glaciers and barren land, such as deserts and rocks The remainder is considered to be habitable and is divided between forests (37 per cent), shrubs and grasslands (11 per cent), with freshwater taking one per cent and one per cent (surprisingly) claimed by cities, roads and the human infrastructure Almost everything else is used for agriculture – the majority (77 per cent) for animal farming Well, you ’ ve got to feed people! Not very successfully it appears

This huge number of animals produces only 18 per cent of the world’s calories and 37 per cent of its protein it follows that plants provide 82 per cent of our calories and 63 per cent of our protein. “So where do you get your protein ?”

Data source: UN Food and Agriculture Organisation

Global land use for food production

the true dairy

Juliet Gellatley, founder of Viva!, goes undercover with her team to investigate cruel milk supplier of Costa Coffee

Viva! received a tip-off from an ex-worker of Home Farm in Deal, not far from the glorious white cliffs of Dover A large dairy farm, it supplies the huge Freshways company, who in turn sell to big national brands – including Costa Coffee The informant said that they’d witnessed numerous incidents of violence, with workers hitting the animals They also said that sick cows were routinely neglected We had to see for ourselves

I invited Wendy Turner Webster to join me – one of our longest-serving patrons who had never been to a dairy farm before I immediately felt sorry for her! I realised I had not sufficiently prepared her for what we were confronted with

We walked along a rough country path, following my nose as the dark smell of filth hit the back of my throat I first noticed wheelie bins outside a huge industrial shed and inside was a crumpled, dead calf, her legs tied together with twine.

It was upsetting explaining to Wendy the fate of all babies in the dairy industry. Female calves replace their mums for a grueling life of repeated pregnancies and milking Little males are often killed as teetering babies, just days old They are viewed by the industry as a worthless by-product as they can’t produce milk and many are not suitable for beef production Some, however, are reared for cheap meat

We passed into a cavernous shed along a faecessoaked slatted floor All the cows were mothers who had recently given birth – beautiful, curious and gentle creatures despite their towering size Their chocolatebrown eyes watched us as we talked to them.

I found it heart-rending to see how being used as a milk machine takes its toll. Several had udders so large it distorted their ability to walk Having had their calves stolen from them, milk leaked out of the teats of some as there were no babies to drink it Their spines and pelvic bones protruded painfully as their bodies had started to waste away – a result of having been forced to produce increasingly large and unnatural quantities of milk.

The average annual milk yield per cow has risen from 4,100 litres in 1975 to 8,200 litres, an average daily output of 27 litres (48 pints!) Extraordinarily, they are milked throughout most of their nine-month pregnancies so there is little respite

Dairy producers perpetuate the myth that cows need us to milk them so we’re doing them a favour by drinking the excess they produce It’s a lie! It’s completely unnatural.

Wendy was visibly distressed but stuck with me as we went to find the missing calves. Hidden from view, they were little more than 20 feet from their bellowing mothers. One baby still had her umbilical cord attached – so young, so confused and still unsteady on her feet Isolated in a small metal pen, she suckled hard on our

Far left, top: calves separated from their mothers after birth Left: a trussed up dead calf was found in a bin Bottom left: cows with huge udders were leaking milk into their filthy stalls

fingers, desperate for comfort I talked softly to her but what can you say to a baby who just wants her mum?

Earlier in the year, our investigations team had installed hidden cameras at the farm. They revealed extremely emaciated cows, distended udders so swollen with milk that it was leaking onto the filthy shed floors. Other cows had their hind legs shackled with chains called hobbles, which are common throughout the dairy industry Mostly they’re for cows who have experienced nerve damage from repeated calvings and do the splits on the wet floors as they cannot control their hind legs

In other hidden footage, I watched workers slap, shove and knee these abused mothers towards the milking parlour

What got to me the most was the emotional torment of a tiny, newborn calf who wasn’t feeding Rather than unite her with her mother, a worker straddled her and forced a tube down her throat Force feeding a recumbent calf can be fatal but still they went ahead.

Wendy and I left the calves with reluctance and went to check the office. We crossed a small patch of scrub littered with scrap and there, dumped in the open, was a full-grown cow. She’d been shot through the head and blood congealed on her forehead Her dead eyes stared at me and said everything about this industry. I very rarely cry but on this occasion

We made a promise to her that Viva! will do everything it can to help stop this appalling cruelty

In the office, we found what we were looking for –receipts that showed the farm supplies Freshways, “The UK’s largest independent processing dairy” Customers include Costa Coffee, Caffè Nero, Budgens, Iceland, Nisa, Londis and British Airways And, no surprise, the farm is Red Tractor assured!

We’d spent a long night inside that place and I felt angry walking away, my head spinning with ideas about how to respond and later, I struggled to sleep But now we’ve reported the farm for violating animal welfare regulations and Red Tractor had the audacity to reply that Home Farm “demonstrates the best of dairy farming.”

“Even though I had braced myself for a horror show, my heart sank when we walked into Home Farm; a dairy farm where there was no dignity in life for the cows and no dignity in death mothers cried for their calves, cows lay on concrete floors in cramped pens with full-to-bursting udders leaking milk – and for their final resting place there was a wheelie bin or a patch of mud. We should be hanging our heads in shame The light at the end of the tunnel for me is that at least I have Viva! to be proud of ”

Wendy Turner Webster, Viva! Patron

We obtained a powerful exclusive in The Independent, a digital news outlet that reaches about 800,000 people a day. And in true Viva! style, we organised two nationwide Days of Action against Costa Coffee, urging their customers to choose plant milks On January 28, Viva! supporters joined in actions across the nation and the public response was incredible! More actions will take place on March 11

Although some of what we found at Home Farm was extreme, much of it is tragically common practice on dairy farms across the UK Again, we showed that the Red Tractor so-called assurance scheme counts for nothing and that British consumers are being conned

More poignantly, all dairy farms rely on the sickening debasing of mothers – turning the wonder of pregnancy and birth into units of production. We will continue exposing dairy farms across the UK, and encourage people to eat kind.

Top: shot in the head, this cow was found abandoned on scrub land

Above: Juliet Gellatley and Wendy-Turner Webster comfort a newborn calf who suckles desperately on their fingers

VIVA!’S DAYS OF ACTION WIN HE ARTS AND CHANGE

In almost 50 actions across the UK in January, Viva! supporters hit the streets en masse to urge Costa Coffee customers to choose an ethical latte – and there will be more demonstrations in March!

It’s difficult to think of an industry that grossly misrepresents what it does more than the dairy industry In one of the most successful and longrunning examples of marketing hype in history, we have been persuaded that dairy farming is natural and kind and dairy products are essential for good health. Nowhere do they mention killing calves and milking mothers ‘til they’re dry.

Dairy farming is presented as a simple process of surrogate breast feeding – cows eat grass and turn it into calcium; human children then turn this calcium into bone by the supposedly ‘natural’ process of drinking dairy milk Dairy is not pure nor natural nor kind – in fact it isn’t even a health food but linked to numerous diseases So successful has the industry been in obscuring the truth that 60 per cent of consumers have no idea that a cow has to give birth every year to produce milk (Viva! NOP survey).

And this is why our anti dairy campaigns are so important.

On Saturday, January 28, teams of Viva! campaigners and volunteers up and down the country were mobilised into action They armed themselves with the facts from Viva!’s investigation into Home Farm, a large Kent dairy supplying Freshways, who in turn provide milk to Costa Coffee. And they will do it all again on March 11.

MINDS

Our goal was to raise national awareness so that everyone who goes into Costa Coffee for their cappuccino and flat white understands the cruelty that goes into every cup. And boy, did our people deliver! To make sure everyone was fully equipped, free stall packs were available to order on our website so that when chatting with customers outside Costa Coffee branches, every volunteer was in possession of the facts. These True Costa Dairy packs are still available for the March 11 demo so go to viva.org.uk/costa/#action to order your free pack today

Viva! supporters, many of whom regularly turn out for the animals, made it possible to reach thousands of people, maybe millions with media coverage, ranging from Aberdeen to Southampton and Swansea to Thanet

You know as well as we do that farms like Home Farm have no place in a civilised society and that drinking cow’s breastmilk has no place in the natural order of things. Our hard hitting campaign enables people to go face to face with the realities of dairy farming and shows them the easy, affordable, nutritious and tasty alternatives that already exist in almost every shop – and this is the key to the future.

It is also the key to better health, a better environment and to ending the suffering of cows currently enslaved

the true dairy

by an unimaginably cruel industry Our investigations show they are shackled, emaciated and depressed; they are bereaved mothers, condemned to a short and painful life where their only release is death

If you joined us on our first Day of Action, you will know how few consumers are aware of the true source of their milk – people who in every other regard might be compassi caring and ethically-minded You will also be aware that Costa and other dairy outlets do nothing to dispel that ignorance And that is why exposing The True Costa Dairy is helping to change the world

Please join us on our next Day of Action on Saturday, March 11, to reach even more people and help them to swap dairy for plant-based alternatives. Just order our new True Costa Dairy stall pack or door dropper leaflets at viva.org.uk/costa/#action

Preacher Lawson

When Simon Cowell began in 2005 with a remit to radicalise talent competitions, there were few who would have foreseen the levels of success that shows like X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent (and numerous spin offs) would have.

For Cowell, the premise for Talents was simple, create a competition far grander than those of other televised talent contests This mass-appeal entertainment didn’t try to be anything other than what it was, light entertainment TV that brought people together in a sort of strange collective mind shift that accepted ‘talent’ as being anything from DJ Talent (a man with gold teeth) to the world’s cringiest musical comedy duo, Brian and Kryssal And yet, it worked!

Britain’s Got Talent (BGT) was the starting point and has had innumerable acts loved or laughed off TV by the British public in equal measure Standout names included Diversity, Stavros Flatley and national treasure, Pudsey the dog Let’s not forget (how can we, given she was literally inescapable for two years), Susan Boyle, a woman whose unstoppable musical rise and ability was talked about almost as much as her physical appearance.

Following the huge success of BGT, the show went Stateside and of course, it was even bigger, better and –well – just more American

Cue Preacher Lawson, a season 12 finalist on America’s Got Talent (AGT), who wowed audiences with his offkilter and killer punchline observational comedy

“It was crazy, my first episode aired, and my phone literally shut itself off as I had so many ‘follows’, calls and messages I had no idea how big AGT actually was!”

Preacher Lawson is talking to me via Zoom while trying to – still – comprehend the magnitude of the programme and what felt like his overnight success

“I went from not being able to pay my bills to having to pay other people’s bills It changed my life a lot and I am super grateful for it.”

I asked him about the differences between the important ‘cultural event’ that is AGT and BGT. Preacher summarised it succinctly: “You guys [in the UK] are weirder – we are just bigger. In Britain, you guys are like, ‘Here’s the act ’ In America, we are like ‘HERE’S. THE. ACT’”, he laughs.

Peacher Lawson, however, is a star – and not just because in Season 12 he was up against Jokgu, a pianoplaying chicken, and Anthony Penoso, a man penning gushing songs about his much younger wife He really has talent, something Spice Girl Mel B certainly noticed! And Preacher noticed her but being in a relationship

Prior to AGT, Preacher had been doing stand-up for several years, honing his craft while living in Orlando, Florida.

“I have always been hyper, I don’t know if I am good at comedy but I am hyperactive. When I was a kid, I was the definition of a class clown – always liked making people laugh I wanted to be in a sitcom, to be an actor, but then I tried

The US-born comedian talks to Viva!’s head of comms, Faye Lewis, about performing on America’s Got Talent, Mel B’s mild flirtations, becoming vegan to impress a woman and moving house 30 times

stand-up and thought, ‘oh screw sitcoms, this is great ’ It’s the greatest feeling in the world ”

Preacher started writing jokes when he was 16 then performed for the first time at age 17 He won the 2015, Funniest Comedian In Florida and then in 2016, the

“That is so messed up how they were exploiting these animals, I thought, while eating a meat sandwich. It hit me how hypocritical I was ”

After a year of vegetarianism he switched fully to veganism after watching the documentary Earthlings

“I thought, oh no, I don’t want to be vegan but there was no way I couldn’t be after watching the film I was tricked into it!”

Not everyone saw it as a positive move: “I lost TV shows, friends and opportunities because I was militant. I would be like ‘they’re raping and murdering animals’, and I was shouting ‘you don’t see what’s happening’ at people

“Then I was like, okay, slow down, because 99 per cent of people aren’t vegan so you must find a way to explain it. That’s why Earthling Ed is so popular – he does a great job of explaining it There are a whole load of activists that do great jobs but he does it in a way where people don’t feel like they are being attacked

“I’m not as outspoken about it now but some people want me to bleed veganism or, in my case, bleed blackness as well I will speak out but these things are just one part of me and I need to find a way that makes sense ”

While veganism permeates his act, Preacher doesn’t want to be seen as ‘the vegan comedian,’ or fit into any trope “I am a comedian who is vegan, and I am a comedian who is black. I am so pro vegan I could argue with people all day long I put it in my set because I am talking about me and my life and whenever the opportunity presents itself, I will bring it up ”

Listen to the full interview on the Viva! Vegan Podcast viva.org.uk/podcast

“I am so pro vegan I could argue with people all day long I put it in my set because I am talking about me and my life and whenever the opportunity presents itself, I will bring it up ”

CRUELTY COURT CASE Sabotaged by Trading Standards

the abuse of Flat House Farm is not animal cruelty according to Trading Standards

Over the years, Viva!’s covert investigators have been subjected to some appalling animal cruelty in order to expose what happens behind the closed doors of factory farms Flat House Farm in Leicestershire ranks as one of the worst we have ever seen. Dead and dying animals were everywhere and many were obviously diseased – some in agony from advanced conditions which had clearly been ignored Feral cats were dragging weak, newborn piglets out of the farrowing crates and eating them, some while still alive

So gross were the conditions that we took the decision to return in daylight and confront the farm owner, Alan Elvidge who denied he was the owner several times –even while insisting that we left the premises He didn’t express any concern for the suffering we had unearthed and graphically described to him (You can view it all at viva org uk/flat-house-pigs)

The media were more accommodating and our exposé received widespread coverage throughout the region –print, radio and TV. It was also released as a Mail Online exclusive, causing nationwide outrage

As with all Viva! investigations, the farm was reported to the Government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency, Trading Standards, Red Tractor and the RSPCA. The laughable Red Tractor ‘assurance’ label was immediately revoked following our publicity (talk about bolting the

stable door ) and CEO of Red Tractor, Jim Moseley, admitted on BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today that the investigation had damaged their reputation

We also complained to Leicestershire Trading Standards (TS), who conducted their own investigation and eventually initiated a prosecution against the farm Although Viva! triggered the case, TS did not request any witness statements from us and failed to even open the many video files we sent them containing hours of unedited footage.

That was two years ago and so we were delighted when, finally, a court date was set for October 8, 2022, to be heard before a district judge Nicholas Watson in Leicester Magistrates Court. A total of 68 charges had been filed against four defendants, 17 each against the Flat House company, the farm manager Jane Froud, the owner Alan Elvidge and his sister Rachel Elvidge, a director of the farm We attended as observers

It was a small courtroom and we were seated close to one of the three defence barristers and their three instructing solicitors “Who are you?” one of the barristers demanded When we told him we were from Viva! he replied: “I hope you’re not going to throw a pot of paint over me!” It was all downhill from there on!

Prosecuting barrister, Dr Robert Lindsay, acting for TS, was the first to stand shortly after 10am and immediately requested an adjournment, claiming that he had only recently been handed the case and needed more time to prepare. Bizarrely, he then added that he had had to drop two lucrative cases to take on this one

The judge expressed his displeasure that after nearly two years TS felt unable to proceed even though they had known that six days had been set aside for the trial. He refused the request, ordering just a two-hour recess Even at this early stage, the TS barrister indicated that no charges would be brought against the farm manager, Jane Froud

On resumption at midday, a whole swathe of other charges were dropped by TS, who requested a further adjournment in the belief that they could elicit a plea of guilty from the accused on the few remaining charges The judge granted a further two hour adjournment and on resumption, the 68 charges had been whittled down to just one, under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, with three technicalities, to which the accused pleaded guilty Again, Judge Watson expressed his displeasure that the trial had all but been abandoned

Viva!’s Tony Wardle tried to speak with TS’s barrister as he exited the court into the concourse He refused to respond and when asked why he had abandoned one of

the worst cases of farm animal cruelty in Britain, he replied: “I don’t wish to talk to you!,” and ducked into the barristers’ robing room He later complained to TS that he had been harassed by Viva!

Sentencing was delayed for two weeks, when a raft of excuses was offered by the defence – that Mr Richard Elvidge senior (the original farm owner) had died of a heart attack while awaiting the trial – partly thanks to Viva!’s investigation, according to his son; the farm manager had quit and the farm no longer housed pigs.

One of the worst cases of mass animal abuse we have ever witnessed in Britain boiled down to this – improper slatting, little to no enrichment and a broken pen rail They were fined £5,000, with a 10 per cent credit for pleading guilty plus a surcharge of £181 Despite a massive investigation at public expense, TS did not seek jail time, community service or even costs and did not request a ban on the Elvidges keeping animals in the future

Perhaps the most important outcome of this farce is that the Elvidge’s business is winding down, all the pigs have gone and the buildings have been left empty They say they’re uncertain about the future but are looking into arable farming and energy through the production of wind turbines

The RSPCA arrived to investigate the farm while we were still there but chose not to interact with us and we have heard nothing more about their investigation. We have also heard nothing more from APHA

Speaking about the result, Viva! Founder and Director, Juliet Gellatley said: “On the one hand I am delighted that no pigs are now suffering in the filthy slum that was Flat House Farm I am truly proud of Viva!’s role in this outcome. On the other hand, it is appalling that the UK legal system has deemed that those running a farm, with a mountain of evidence against them, should pay only a measly fine I witnessed first-hand the tragedies that took place inside Flat House Farm and it was like something from a horror film

“The sentencing proves that farmed animals in the UK have almost no legal protection If organisations such as Trading Standards aren’t prepared to protect these animals, who will? People are under the false impression that farmed animal welfare standards in the UK are amongst the best in the world, yet those responsible for the tortuous conditions of Flat House Farm are free and have barely been punished. If the cruelty at this farm doesn’t constitute grounds for a jail term, what does?

“The public cannot rely on anyone but themselves to stop this cruelty Flat House Farm is just one of many and we must stop funding factory farming and go vegan now.”

Trading Standards’ function “…monitoring and influencing the standards of animal health and welfare on farms … in order to ensure that they are protected from cruelty and avoidable pain or distress.”

Far left middle: Juliet Gellatley is confronted by farm owner Alan Elvidge Far left bottom: farm manager Jane Froud videos the confrontation

Something old, something new…

Finally, we seem to be reaching for a plan of action to save the world –one that’s been in plain sight for over 4,000 years

Some arguments are like the ramblings of a drunk –they just keep repeating themselves ad nauseam and never reach a conclusion You know the kind of thing – are good deeds driven by selfishness (to give you peace of mind); is there a life hereafter; and will Tottenham ever win the premier league?

There is one argument, however, on which we – you, I and Viva! – have reached a conclusion. It’s fundamental to our existence and has been running for over 4,000 years: does vegetarianism signpost the road to understanding and survival? I say vegetarian as the word vegan was coined only in 1944 when Donald Watson formed the Vegan Society

While Britain was still in the Bronze Age, extraordinary minds on the Indian subcontinent were grappling with the most enormous intellectual concepts about humankind’s relationship one with another, reverence for animals and how to do as little damage as possible to the natural world

It was Hinduism that first crystalised these profound

beliefs into a religious format about 2000 BC and the concepts of Ahimsa and Atman were introduced – belief in nonviolence to every creature and that all animals possess a soul

These are central to the religion’s belief in reincarnation, where forebears who may not have followed the path to enlightenment during their lifetime but have regressed, subsequently return in the form of an animal – so by eating them, you might be eating your granny

Now, what I find interesting is whether these beliefs were handed down from a deity or were wrapped in a religious cloak by their originators to give them greater gravitas I lean towards the latter because there is a very human element in the teachings of Hinduism – and the subsequent religions that sprang from it -– which I don’t think got there by accident and could be interpreted as “don’t frighten the horses ”

Followers of Hinduism were not directly instructed to be vegetarian even though this was central to its beliefs and was a crucial step along the road to enlightenment 

However, that loophole provided an opt-out for those who wanted to continue eating meat and even back then, it fuelled the same lame excuses that we still hear today – I eat meat for health reasons, plants also feel pain, I treat the animals with great respect, if it was that important we would have been told not to eat meat and fish!

According to the Pew Research Centre, just 44 per cent of Indian Hindus are vegetarian but let’s get this in proportion – there are meat eaters and then there are meat eaters!

According to the UN FAO, meat consumption per head in India is just 4.11 kg; in the UK it is 79 9 kg; and in the US a whopping 124 11 kg

It follows that the average US citizen consumes 30 times more meat than the average Indian and almost 20 times more for the UK – so if you want to point a finger of blame for the state of the planet

About 500 BC, two other religions appeared in India, sprouting from the roots of Hinduism – Buddhism and Jainism and they appear to have immediately set off in different directions The founder of Buddhism rejected the pomp and ceremony of Hinduism and its multiple deities but retained the belief in karma, reincarnation and reverence for all life The first of its five major precepts was the need to abstain from taking life. And then the word ‘intentionally’ became attached to it and, hey presto, meat eaters got the green light once again.

If you don’t kill an animal yourself, and no one specifically kills it for you, then you are not responsible for that animal’s death Oh, come on! It allows Buddhist monks to gobble up any meat or fish they’re given when collecting alms and allows others to obtain meat from a third party (a shop for instance) and claim it wasn’t killed specifically for them I see that as a complete cop out and so did many Buddhists

The Mahayanist division felt uncomfortable with this leniency towards meat eating while the Theravadins accused the Mahayanists of being ‘holier than though’ –so nothing new in vegetarianism triggering bitter debate! This division has persisted across the millennia and one lot is still largely vegetarian while the other lot isn’t Only 24 per cent of all Buddhists are vegetarian, which seems to me to be a bit of a hiccup in their stated aim of achieving enlightenment and reaching nirvana.

Jains also believe in reincarnation and karma and over 90 per cent are full-on veggie. They teach that the path to enlightenment can only be achieved through nonviolence and reducing harm to all living things –plants, animals and the little creatures you can’t even see. They also shun root vegetables, garlic and onions as these are the plants’ storage vessels And here beganeth fruitarianism, I guess.

The teachings of Taoism, Daoism and Shintoism all advocate vegetarianism but again this is not reflected in the eating habits of their adherents in China and Japan

Judaism is about as old as Hinduism and also appears to have developed a schism over diet Many of their teachings detail that humankind’s natural state is to be vegetarian but followers were allowed to eat meat as a temporary recognition of their inherent weakness That didn’t end well and led to slaughtering conscious animals by cutting their throats (Shechita) Formal objections to this process came 600 years ago from Sikhs and continue to this day When a ban on Shechita slaughter was announced in a part of Belgium a few years ago, the European Jewish Congress declared: “We call on legislators to step back from the brink of the

greatest assault on Jewish religious rights in Belgium since the Nazi occupation of the country in World War Two ” We’re talking about killing an animal for meat that no one needs

It is much the same when Islam began in 610, with powerful original teachings to be kind to animals but which in practice seem to have extended little further than cutting their throats (Halal) in a similar way to Judaism rather than chopping pieces off them, which was once the practice. Killing and eating animals has become a central tenet of Islam

If you’re looking for clarity on vegetarianism from the Christian church you’re going to be disappointed We’re all familiar with the Genesis quote: “And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant-yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit You shall have them for food’ ” But we’re not so familiar with another Genesis quote when God supposedly spoke to Noah after the flood: “Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything ”

Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches have all tended to attach themselves to the ruling powers in their various countries of influence and we know in Britain what an historically barren wasteland that has been for all kinds of rights “You want slavery – we’ll join you! You’re opposed to women’s/workers’ rights, so are we!” The Church of England invests part of its £9 billion reserves in every kind of meat and dairy production and slaughter so again, no moral guidance there

Smaller groups such as Seventh Day Adventists and Quakers (Society of Friends) have always had a strong vegetarian ethic and it was the Rev Cowherd (really) who founded the Vegetarian Society in 1847

Sikhism is a comparative newcomer, having taken root in 15th century Punjab It was a reaction against Hinduism’s ‘idolatory’, the treatment of women, caste system and other aspects of its flamboyant formalities What it does retain, though, is that essential belief that all creatures have a soul and are part of the cycle of reincarnation

Ten vegetarian gurus established the Sikh scriptures, which tell followers to accept a simple and vegetarian lifestyle in order to advance their spirituality and eventually meet God. In all Sikh places for meeting and worship (Gurdwaras) only vegetarian food is served but despite this (again), it is not forbidden for Sikhs to eat meat, with the exception of various wild animals and those killed by the Muslim and Jewish methods of slaughter Interestingly, Sikhs have the highest number of vegetarians of any religion (apart for Jains) at 59 per cent.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 41

THE ANGRY FACE OF FUR FARMING

Viva! investigators attacked and beaten by irate animal abuser

in November, 2019, Viva! investigators received a phone call from a distressed member of the public who reported horrific conditions at a fur farm in zambrów, East Poland. They responded immediately and on arrival were shocked by just how bad the place was – filthy, ramshackle pens and foxes in a state of acute neglect Two were so ill that the team felt they had no choice but to rescue and remove them

As they were doing so, the farmer appeared and immediately attacked our investigators with a heavy hand tool, inflicting painful wounds while trying to grab their cameras Eventually, they were able to escape, taking the two foxes with them and subsequently launched a prosecution against the farmer for animal abuse.

The case has wound its way through the courts for the last two years and was again adjourned in december 2022 because of the farmer repeatedly claiming illness

Bizarrely, he accuses our team of violently attacking him despite the whole encounter having been videoed

Originally supported and advised by the fur farming industry, they have now backed off as numerous charges of domestic abuse have also been filed against him.

Viva! is acting as auxiliary prosecutor in this case and is seeking the maximum sentence.

Ukrain suppor conti nues

The Ukraine tragedy continues remorselessly but refugees with pets can still count on our support in Warsaw at our offices, at stations and help centres for refugees We supply them with veterinarian assistance, food and accessories. We have sent over 120 tonnes of food for dogs and cats directly to Ukraine and have taken more than 100 Ukrainian animals into our care Every so often our volunteers take humanitarian aid directly into Ukraine – to Kharkov and other places We talk to local residents, get to know their needs and learn how to better organise help for them – and their needs are huge And there is no end in sight

Working with Open Cages for the Day Without Fur, we organised a demonstration in front of the house of the president of the ruling party to remind him of the promise he made to ban fur farming in Poland Some 60 activists, prominent actress Maja Ostaszewska and vocalist Jacek Sienkiewicz, from the folk pop/bluegrass band Kwiat Jabłoni, took part A film consisting of politicians’ promises, juxtaposed with shocking fur farm footage, was shown and signatures were collected in the centre of Warsaw for the European Citizens’ Initiative Fur Free Europe

Above: Viva! Poland’s shared warehouse marshalling food and supplies for Ukraine

BROILER FARM CRUELTY

Activists working on Viva’s Open Cages campaign investigated two broiler farms discarded dead bodies and vaccine vials were found at both places At one, two abandoned live hens were discovered in a building with no water or food and where the ventilation had been turned off We called the police and veterinary inspector and the breeder was fined Widespread local media coverage was obtained and, yes, we did rescue the two hens!

Transport of sick dairy cows exposed

Viva!’s White Lies campaigners regularly cooperate with the group Żywy Towar (Animal Trafficking) to inspect the transport of live animals in Poland, in cooperation with the Road Transport inspection Service They document the condition of the animals and vehicles and report irregularities to the authorities

On July 12, 2022, Viva! activists stopped a suspicious-looking cattle lorry, whose driver tried to escape but was detained He claimed he was transporting only three animals but we discovered three more hidden behind a screen They were fitted with belts, which confirmed our fears that these sick animals did not have the strength to climb into the vehicle but had been forcibly dragged on to it Their condition was agonising

Police and veterinary inspectors were called and the suffering of the animals ended with immediate euthanasia Transporting animals that cannot stand on their own is prohibited it turned out that one of the animals was not only very ill but had recently calved

The driver has been charged with animal abuse and the authorities are investigating the places where the cattle came from.

All dairy cows suffer greatly because of the demands made of them and getting sick animals to slaughter is about obtaining money for them rather than losing out if they have to be killed on farm it is an ongoing problem

Viva!’s V Mark certificate is awarded products that contain no animal ingredients and where none were u in the production process; are not tested on animals and do not conta palm oil By the end of November, 2022, 119 new products were enroll the scheme now totalling 1,396 cosmetics and groceries – 1268 having extended their participation Nine had received our international license

Hugely popular with passers-by was our celebration of World Vegan Day when local volunteer groups served free vegan food tastings in several cities as part of our Go Veg campaign. Activists talked about veganism and encouraged people to join the plant-based challenge (Go Veg for 30 days). Delights on offer included zucchini or chickpea chops, smoked crispy tofu and pumpkin pie.

EAT BETTER, LIVE BETTER

Aimed at high school students, Vivazdrowie (Viva!Health) has focused on nutritional education lectures with the campaign Eat Better, Live Better it promotes healthy habits such as good nutrition, proper sleep, physical activity and mental health and following the lectures, students can have dietary consultations

Other events are aimed at seniors and include lectures, plant-based cookery workshops, individual dietary consultations and body composition measurements. There is a guide detailing the principles of healthy eating and which include recipes for healthy, plant-based cuisine. Participants get a taste of great vegan cuisine by preparing several delicious dishes during a practical workshop.

Our Great Bake Off Beauties

Winners of Viva!’s very own cookery competition

It’s that time of year again, when Viva!’s bakers have been busy creating an homage to the Great British Bake Off! A serious competition took place between September and December, to run alongside the show, and it came complete with tears, tantrums, baking delights and disasters

The rest of the office enjoyed a seemingly endless parade of weekly treats until the votes were in and winner and finalists chosen – and calorie counts went back to normal We’re delighted to share their top bakes with you to recreate at home – hopefully minus the sweat and tears – enjoy!

Giant Cookies with Chocolate Ganache Filling

LUCY CONSTABLE

I am Viva!’s merchandise, sales and event coordinator and have been with Viva! since 2021 I organise and coordinate all markets and festivals

Viva! attends I was inspired by Mrs Potts Chocolate House in Bristol and their iconic vegan chocolate chip cookie sandwich and had to try and give it a go!

PREP TIME 30 minutes

COOK TIME 25 minutes

CHILL TIME overnight

MAKES 10 medium cookies or 5 large cookies

Cookies

l 400g plain flour

l 2 tsp baking powder

l 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

l 150g vegan chocolate (i used dark), chopped small

l 150g vegan margarine

l 75g vegetable fat

(flavourless oil or shortening)

cookies

l 150g caster sugar

l 170g brown sugar

l 1 tbsp vanilla extract

l 3 tsp egg

replacement powder

l 3 tbsp lukewarm water

Ganache

l 225g vegan chocolate, chopped

l 225g full-fat tinned coconut milk

1 Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4

2 Grease 2 large baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

3 In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Stir in the chocolate pieces and set aside

4 In a separate bowl, cream together margarine, vegetable fat, caster sugar, brown sugar and vanilla Set aside

5 In a third small bowl, whisk together eggreplacement powder and lukewarm water until light and fluffy Add this frothy mixture to the bowl with the flour, then add margarine mixture and combine

6 Form dough into 20 small balls (or 10, for giant cookies) and place on baking sheets, leaving space for them to expand Bake for 11-12 minutes for the small cookies and 15-16 minutes for the big ones

or until golden and soft to touch Remove from the oven and immediately whack the baking tray on the worktop to deflate the centre of the cookies Leave to cool.

ganache

1 Place coconut tin in the freezer for two hours prior to making the ganache

2 Scoop out the thick white solids from the tin

you can save the coconut water for another recipe

3 Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water until melted

4 Remove from the heat and whisk the melted chocolate and coconut cream together until silky smooth

5 Once combined, chill mixture in fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight to thicken into a ganache consistency

assembly

1 With either a piping bag or spoon, spread ganache onto half the cookies, placing the other half on top to form a cookie sandwich.

I m an office administrator. I was inspired to make the eclairs because I’ve never seen or even heard of a vegan alternative in shops or bakeries It was a labour of love but definitely worth it in the end My recipe was inspired by Little Lighthouse Baking’s lovely recipe!

PREP TIME 1 hour & 30 minutes

COOK TIME 40 minutes

CHILL TIME 3 hours

SERVES 8-10

Pastry Cream (Crème Pâtissière)

l 250ml unsweetened soya milk

l 2 tsp vanilla extract

l Pinch of salt

l 2 tbsp cornflour

l 55g caster sugar

l 70g scrambled oggs (cracked and Just egg will also work)

l 3 tbsp vegan butter

Choux Pastry

l 110g scrambled oggs (cracked and Just egg will also work)

l 2 tbsp unsweetened soya milk (to mix with scrambled oggs)

l 60ml water

l 60ml unsweetened soya milk

l 1 tsp vanilla extract

l ½ tbsp caster sugar

l 2 tbsp vegan butter

l 60g plain flour

Chocolate Ganache

l 1 x 60g bar vegan chocolate

l 1½ tbsp unsweetened soya milk

Pastry cream (crème Pâtissière)

1 Make the pastry cream first so it has time to set Place a sieve over a mixing bowl and set aside.

2 In a new mixing bowl, combine the sugar, cornflour and Scrambled OGGS. Whisk until combined

3 To a large saucepan, add soya milk, vanilla extract and pinch of salt Mix to combine and simmer on a medium heat for a few minutes

4 Pour half the warm milk mix into the OGGS mixture and thoroughly combine

5 Slowly whisk in all the mixture from mixing bowl back into the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture Cook on medium heat whisking continuously to thicken – until whisk streaks show

6 Turn off heat Scoop mixture from the pot into the sieve you prepared earlier Using a rubber spatula, press it through the sieve to remove lumps (scrape the outside of the sieve so as not to waste any

7 Mix in one tablespoon of butter at a time while the mixture is still warm The butter should melt and incorporate into the pastry cream.

choux Pastry

1 Mix 2 tablespoons of soya milk and Scrambled OGGS together then set aside

2 Combine the 60ml water with the soya milk, sugar, vanilla extract and butter in a saucepan on medium heat Mix until the butter dissolves then leave until starting to simmer

3 Carefully add the flour and turn the heat to low

Continue mixing until the flour is fully incorporated

The mix will thicken into a dough, almost form a ball and come off the sides of the pan easily – about 3 minutes

4 Scoop dough into a mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer Press dough down to flatten and leave it to cool for a few minutes Cover with clingfilm, touching the dough so it doesn’t form a skin

5 Once dough is room temperature, add the OGGS/soya milk mixture, a few tablespoons at a time. Mix and fully incorporate each spoonful. Final consistency should barely run off a spatula and look pipe-able. If too thick, add more soya milk.

6 Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F/Gas Mark 6

7 Line a baking tray with baking paper. Scoop the choux mixture into a piping bag with a ½ inch opening or smooth tip

8 Keeping the tip close to the tray, squeeze continuously and slowly pipe a strip about 4 inches long and 1 inch wide It should make at least 8 eclairs

Wet the tip of your finger and gently flatten the little pointy tips that form on the ends from piping

9 Place tray in middle of oven and bake for about 40 minutes until golden Do not open the oven until the last few minutes of baking

10 Once cooked, turn off oven but leave the tray in for about 10 minutes with the oven door open

11 Remove tray from the oven Using a sharp small knife, make two small holes at the ends of your eclairs to allow any remaining steam to escape. Rotate the knife after inserting the tip to create the hole

chocolate ganache

1 While the eclairs are baking, prepare the ganache

Put the 60g bar of vegan chocolate and soya milk in a glass bowl, place on top of a small saucepan with water, boil and once melted, set aside to cool

assembly

1 Remove piping bag of pastry cream from fridge

Insert tip of the piping bag into one of the end holes of the eclair and carefully squeeze in the pastry cream You will feel the eclair expand as you fill it Wipe off any excess cream and repeat with all eclairs

2 Cover tops of eclairs with a thin layer of chocolate ganache by carefully dipping éclair into the ganache – which should be room temperature or it will run.

Millionaire’s Shortbread

JASMINE CLARK

A passionate vegan for the planet and animals, I am Viva!’s environment campaigner, heading up our environment campaigns, raising awareness of the devastating impacts eating meat, dairy, fish and eggs are having on the planet and its wildlife I was inspired to make millionaires shortbread to showcase that as a vegan, you don’t have to miss out on a thing! My recipe was influenced by Carnation

PREP TIME 20 minutes

COOK TIME 20 minutes

CHILL TIME 2 hours

SERVES 16

Shortbread

l 175g plain flour

l 50g icing sugar

l Pinch of salt

l 125g vegan butter alternative (eg Flora plant butter or naturli)

Caramel

l 125g vegan butter alternative (eg Flora plant butter or naturli)

shortbread

l 125g soft light brown sugar

l 1 x 370g tin vegan condensed milk alternative (eg carnation)

l 5 tbsp vegan soya cream

l 3 tbsp cornflour

Chocolate top

l 200g vegan dark chocolate

1 Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4

2 Line a square baking tin with greaseproof paper.

3 Mix flour and sugar in a bowl with pinch of salt Rub the vegan spread into the flour mixture with your fingertips Form a ball of dough – if too wet, add extra flour

4 Press dough into base of the tin to make one even layer Fork all over

5 Bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden Set aside to cool for 15 minutes

caramel

1 While the shortbread is cooling, make the caramel Place the butter, brown sugar, vegan condensed milk alternative in a non-stick saucepan and melt together on a medium-low heat

2 Put the cornflour into a small bowl and gradually add the soya cream, whisking to a smooth paste (by hand is okay).

3 After everything has melted, add the paste to the pan and mix well Turn up heat to fairly high and cook the caramel, stirring until it boils rapidly, then continue to cook, stirring, for about 4-5 minutes Drop a little of the caramel into ice-cold water – if it forms a soft ball, it is ready Leave to cool and thicken

4 Pour caramel over the shortbread to cover it Leave to set on the kitchen side or if pressed for time, cool in the fridge or freezer

chocolate top

1 Once caramel is set, melt the chocolate by placing in a glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water or blitz in the microwave Pour evenly over the top Chill for a minimum of 2 hours.

2 Using a knife dipped into boiling water and then dried, cut the now set millionaire’s shortbreads into 16 squares

Yuzu Frosted Chocolate and Raspberry Cake

DR JUSTINE BUTLER

I’m head of research at Viva! and have a strong background in science I tend to wing most recipes – except cakes! This one has been adapted from two recipes in Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s excellent Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World The yuzu adds a zingy citrus hit to this rich chocolate and raspberry celebration cake

PREP TIME 1 hour

COOK TIME 35 minutes

SERVES 15-20

Chocolate sponges

l 375ml soya milk

l 1½ tsp cider vinegar

l 125ml rapeseed oil

l 200g caster sugar

l 1½ tsp vanilla extract

l 180g plain flour

l 60g cocoa

l 1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda

l ⅓ tsp baking powder

Vanilla sponge

l 190ml soya milk

l ¾ tsp cider vinegar

l 60ml rapeseed oil

l 100g sugar

l 1½ tsp vanilla extract

l 120g plain flour

l 1½ tbsp cornflour

l ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

l ½ (generous) tsp baking powder

chocolate sponges

Filling and frosting

l 400g icing sugar

l 200g vegan butter

l 5 or 6 fresh or frozen raspberries

l 1 tbsp cocoa

l 150g yuzu chocolate (valrhona Yuzu inspiration from sous chef online)

l 4 tbsp raspberry jam

To decorate

l 20-25 fresh raspberries

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4

2 Grease and flour two 20cm springform cake tins

3 For the chocolate cake, whisk soya milk and vinegar in a large bowl

4 Add oil, sugar and vanilla – mix well

5 Sift in flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder – mix well to avoid lumps

6 Divide mixture equally between the two tins and bake for 30-35 minutes (until a cocktail stick comes out clean). Tip cakes out and set aside to cool.

vanilla sponge

1 For the vanilla sponge, grease and flour one 20 springform cake tin

2 Whisk soya milk and vinegar in a large bowl

3 Add oil, sugar and vanilla and mix well

4 Sift in flour, cornflour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder – mix well to avoid lumps)

5 Pour mixture into the tin and bake for 30-35 minutes (until cocktail stick comes out clean). Tip the cake out and set aside to cool

Frosting

1 To make the three types of frosting, cream the butter in a large bowl then add the icing sugar, b by bit, until you have a stiff frosting Divide the m into three bowls

2 For raspberry butter icing filling, put 5 or 6 raspberries in a pan and heat gently while squashing with a spoon to release their juice Strain juice (about 2 teaspoons) and mix into the frosting

Add more icing sugar if necessary to stiffen it

3 To make chocolate frosting, add 1 tablespoon of cocoa and mix

4 To make the yuzu frosting, melt yuzu chocolate in a heatproof bowl over pan of gently boiling water When melted, cool to room temperature then stir it into the butter icing (must be cool or it will melt the butter)

assemble the cake

1 Slice off top of the vanilla sponge and one of the chocolate sponges to make them flat The top chocolate layer can remain domed if you like

2 Place one chocolate sponge on a plate/cake stand and spread with half the raspberry butter icing

3 Warm the jam to soften it and spread 2 tablespoons onto the vanilla cake and sandwich it on top of the chocolate base

4 Spread the remaining raspberry frosting onto the vanilla sponge and the remaining 2 tablespoons jam onto the second chocolate layer and sandwich on top

5 Cover the top of the cake with the yuzu frosting Cover the sides with chocolate frosting

6 Decorate the top of the cake with fresh raspberries and pipe on swirls or peaks with any leftover frosting.

C OP27

An exercise in excluding the obvious

Temperature targets and vegan talks taken off the table

As with COP15, the UN Secretary-General pulled no punches in opening the COP27 climate conference in Egypt this November Over a two-week period, world leaders supposedly discussed the most profound issues – whether we secure a liveable and just future for all, or whether we set the world on a path to ecological and societal destruction

For the first time at a COP conference, a Food Systems Pavilion was opened and, initially, it seemed that the tide could be turning and countries were finally acknowledging the role that agriculture – and in particular animal agriculture – plays in climate breakdown. But despite stark warnings from across the world, that it’s now or never for meaningful action, COP27 failed. Its conclusions fell disastrously short in combating the climate crisis

Lingering hopes of a political will to limit warming to under 1 5ºC above preindustrial levels were dashed

Fossil fuels are still on the world’s agenda; talks on the detrimental impacts of animal agriculture were slim; and discussions on essential dietary change were left off the table completely As animal agriculture is responsible for around 20 per cent of the world’s emissions, that omission was deadly

INSUFFICIENT PLEDGES

This failure doesn’t come as much of a surprise Just prior to the talks, a UN Climate Change report highlighted that all the climate pledges from the Paris Agreement were insufficient to limit global temperature rise to 1 5ºC, beyond which we will be tipped into catastrophic and potentially irreversible climate impacts. As things stand, we are on track to hit around 2 5ºC warming by the end of the century.

International think tank Chatham House found that out of the 193 signatories to the Paris Agreement, only 12 nations mention emissions from farmed animals, two acknowledge dietary change and none refers to a reduction in livestock production In fact, the report found that since 1992, global production of animal products has increased and will continue rising, “increasing the likelihood of further loss of pristine habitats and carbon sinks, particularly in tropical areas ”

Experts stress that by 2030, global emissions must be halved – this cannot be achieved with the continued growth of meat, dairy, fish and egg production

MEAT AND DAIRY OFF THE AGENDA

It seems that any move towards a vegan diet is off the agenda for world governments Instead, we have ‘adaptive solutions’ that support continued livestock production through such things as feed additives that make farmed animals less gassy or investing in absurd technology to captures cows’ methane emissions

Given that methane traps 80 times more heat than

carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, if governments really want to tackle the climate crisis seriously, ending meat and dairy production is the only way forward

In the draft COP27 text, there is no direct reference to animal agriculture and it mentions phasing down coal power rather than all fossil fuels

The declaration does note “the importance of ensuring integrity of all ecosystems, including forests, oceans and the cryosphere, and the protection of biodiversity, recognised by some cultures as Mother Earth ”

As animal agriculture is the main driver of habitat and biodiversity loss, none of this can be achieved if we don’t address what we eat. Given that a vegan diet is the single biggest way to reduce anyone’s impact on planet Earth, animal agriculture must be given a key place on the final declaration

To add insult to injury – meat and dairy foods were served at the conference!

UN Secretary-General, António Guterres

CLIMATE CRISIS IS A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE

The climate crisis is a human rights issue and by refusing to break ties with cruel livestock industries, government leaders are also endangering people’s lives In the IPCC’s latest Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability report, it estimated that already 3 5 billion people are highly vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis.

One good measure agreed is the Loss and Damage fund, which promises to finance the rebuilding of poorer, vulnerable countries that have contributed least to the crisis yet are being hit the worst by it But by failing to acknowledge all the systems that are driving the global crisis, and working towards dismantling them, we will continue to fall short in combatting the climate crisis

TIME TO TAKE ACTION

Reports show that we can still meet the target of 1 5ºC but it’s meaningless without targeting the most polluting industries – and COP27 has shown that’s not happening Viva! will continue with our awareness campaigns and support people-powered action to create change Together we will fight to build a better tomorrow for our planet and humanity, even if governments aren’t willing to do so.

“Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish. It is either a Climate Solidarity Pact – or a Collective Suicide Pact ”

C OP15 30 by 30 – a glimmer of hope for nature?

As the recent UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) meeting drew to a close, representatives of 188 governments, including the UK, adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (phew!) It is being heralded by many as a monumental step in halting ecological breakdown and one of the most talked about slogans is the much snappier ‘30 by 30’ version. It aims to protect 30 per cent of Earth’s lands, oceans, coastal areas and inland waters by 2030

As of mid-2021 only 16 64 per cent of the world’s land and 7 74 per cent of its oceans were protected so the aim is essentially to double protected areas within seven years – and that is no mean feat

It will require coordinated action from governments, businesses and individuals but it’s crucial that it is met if we are to have any hope in stopping ecological and climate breakdown.

In his opening remarks, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, hammered home the reality: “With our bottomless appetite for unchecked and unequal economic growth, humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction We are treating nature like a toilet And ultimately, we are committing suicide by proxy.” He stressed that our survival hinges on a healthy planet

The latest WWF Living Planet 2022 report drives home the desperate need for action – global wildlife populations have plummeted by 69 per cent on average since 1970 Latin America – one of the most biodiverserich areas in the world – has suffered the worst, with an average decline in wildlife of 94 per cent

There is now no argument that meat, dairy, fish and egg production is a primary driver of this drastic decline, mainly due to animal agriculture which destroys habitats to provide land for grazing and growing feed crops.

But is the ambitious ‘30 by 30’ enough? It’s been under discussion for years and some scientists have raised concerns that protecting 30 per cent of the planet is insufficient. The bare minimum, they say, should be closer to 50 per cent They have an ally in the UN, whose 2022 report states that 30 to 50 per cent of the Earth’s surface needs to be conserved to tackle the climate crisis, protect nature and humanity’s lifesustaining systems

What is certain is that if we don’t address the monopoly that animal agriculture has on the world’s land, oceans and resources, none of these targets will be reached Global agriculture takes up around 46 per cent of all habitable land, and 83 per cent of this figure is dedicated to meat, dairy, fish and egg production

Research shows that agriculture’s land demand can be reduced by 75 per cent if everyone adopts a vegan diet. This transition will become even more vital as a growing global population puts increased pressure on food systems and biodiversity

In addition to the ‘30 by 30’ target, other goals and targets were agreed to tackle biodiversity decline One of them directly references the need for sustainable management of agriculture, although meat, dairy, fish and eggs are not specifically mentioned. Despite this,

dismantling the animal agriculture industry will have to play a central role in order to meet the targets of reducing pollution, phasing out or reforming subsidies that harm biodiversity, and enabling consumers to make sustainable consumption choices

Sadly, unlike the Paris Climate Agreement, this agreement is not legally binding and relies on a moral drive by world governments to put the needs of the planet, nature and humanity above short-term monetary gain. The main offenders are richer countries that have contributed more than their share to biodiversity loss and still have per capita greenhouse gas emission levels and damaging ecological footprints way above current global averages

Richer countries h and have agreed to p biodiversity by the en honour the agreemen

Considering that g meet every previous t destruction of wildlif including COP10 tar per cent of the world per cent of coastal an areas by 2020 – a rel their goodwill seems

Scientists may say 30’ is nothing more t catchy campaign slog more needs to be don begs the dystopian qu whether we will even these baseline targets first place

While this agreeme provide a glimmer of individuals we are no can all play a role by consumption habits –awareness of this is t Viva!’s environment

See page 27 for our u 100,000 people demo

The Big One…

On April 21, 2023, Viva! will be joining with Extinction Rebellion (XR) and many other groups, to assemble 100,000 people outside the Houses of Parliament to demand action on climate change and biodiversity loss. The preceding articles show just how desperately that is needed.

XR recently issued a public statement saying “WE QUIT” and added: “We have made a controversial resolution to temporarily shift away from public disruption as a primary tactic. What’s needed now is to disrupt the abuse of power and imbalance, to bring about a transition to a fair society that works together to end the fossil fuel era.

“The root causes? A financial system prioritising profits over life, a media failing to inform the public and holding power to account and a reckless government suppressing the right to protest injustice”.

It’s clear that something has to be done as the situation is dire and getting worse. Government policies are failing, the climate crisis is worsening and wildlife is continuing to struggle for survival. And so Viva! has decided to join with XR in a peaceful public demonstration to remind the Government that we

demand action – and we urge you to join us.

There will be a 100 day buildup to The Big One when XR say they will leave the glue, locks and paint behind and prioritise attendance rather than arrest and relationships over roadblocks. The aim is to assemble a critical mass of people who cannot be ignored.

Juliet Gellatley, founder and director of Viva! says:

“The climate and ecological crises affect all corners of life on this planet. We all know time is running out to stop a harrowing future. Please join with us, XR and many other organisations to harness our power. There is a threshold of numbers, human energy, above which people power cannot be stopped. That’s why we all need to be there. It’s vital the government listen and help the UK and beyond transition to vegan.”

Gathering peacefully in such large numbers at the nation’s seat of power will create a positive, irreversible, societal tipping point. Meet us at our meeting point –we will bring banners. Please let us know if you’re joining us and for more info, go to

viva.org.uk/the-big-one

Viva! Health dissects the latest scientific research and makes it easy to understand Here we update you on recent findings

lifescience Neanderthal leftovers

Our ancestors were plant-based

Many think that our Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer ancestors mostly ate meat and foraged some fruit However, evidence that they regularly processed and cooked plant foods is rapidly expanding

Charred remnants of what may be the world’s oldest cooked meal ever found were discovered in caves in northern Iraq Thought to be about 70,000 years old, the food remnants were recovered from a Neanderthal dwelling 500 miles north of Baghdad in the Zagros Mountains. Microscopic examination of the charred remains revealed the use of pounded pulses as a common ingredient in cooked plant foods.

The research adds to mounting evidence of plant consumption by both early modern humans and Neanderthals Wild nuts and grasses were often combined with pulses, such as lentils, nuts, tubers and wild mustard Professor Chris Hunt, who coordinated the excavation, and his colleagues even recreated one of the recipes using seeds gathered from near the caves: “It made a sort of pancake-cumflatbread which was really very palatable – a sort of nutty taste”

Kabukcu C, Hunt C, Hill E et al 2022 Cooking in caves: Palaeolithic carbonised plant food remains from Franchthi and Shanidar Antiquity 1-17

New AGE compounds in meat

Linked to obesity, diabetes and heart disease

Sixty-three per cent of UK adults are overweight or obese However, it may not be just a simple case of their eating too much; the extra weight and associated health problems may be in part due to harmful compounds found in some people’s diets

detailed wax figure from neanderthal museum, germany

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are hen protein or fat GEs are also naturally nimal foods and cooking, sting, searing or frying mation of new AGEs mation and oxidative stress an lead to chronic 2 diabetes and heart o interfere with a person ’ s k study, 244 overweight

a low-fat vegan diet or a g meat and dairy Results fell in the vegan group by to just 15 per cent in the duction was associated ht loss of 14 pounds and tivity, making people less etes

ort previous studies fects of vegan diets on diabetes

nko-Miller, T, Uribarri, J et al 2022 ed glycation products and their with insulin sensitivity and body 6-week randomized clinical trial cience and Practice 1-8

Acid attack

Fight back with a vegan diet

Western diets, rich in meat, dairy, cheese and eggs, increase acidity in the body and can lead to a condition called low-grade metabolic acidosis, which can promote chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer. the body has natural buffering defences against a high acid load but capacity can be overwhelmed as we age or in illness this study found that a vegan diet is an effective way to reduce the dietary acid load in fact, it has an alkalising effect studies suggest that for several common illnesses, where metabolic acidosis is a contributing factor, plant-based foods offer measurable benefits for disease prevention and management

Observational and clinical evidence that plant-based nutrition reduces dietary acid load Journal of Nutrition Science 11, e93

Bowel cancer risk

Reduced by plant foods

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer and the fourth most common cause of cancer death worldwide This large, multi-ethnic study looked at the diets of around 80,000 men and 93,000 women in the US They found that men who ate the most fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, pulses, nuts and seeds had a 22 per cent lower risk of developing bowel cancer compared to those eating the least The link was not seen in women

They suggest fibre, which is only found in plant foods, might be responsible along with compounds in fruit and vegetables called polyphenols and carotenoids, which have antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties The beneficial effects of plant foods on the gut microbiota may also play a role Women in general consume more plant foods and less animal foods compared to men so they might already be obtaining the benefit

These findings support eating more healthy plant foods and reducing animal foods to help prevent bowel cancer

Nature-positive

One million species are at risk of extinction and to stop this, we need to know what’s driving the destruction

This study reveals that the biggest direct driver of declining global wildlife is the conversion of natural forests and grasslands into intensive agriculture and livestock farming The second biggest driver was the exploitation of wildlife through fishing, logging, hunting and wildlife trade, with pollution ranking third

Perhaps surprisingly, climate change ranks as only the fourth largest driver on land at the moment In the oceans, the biggest driver of biodiversity loss is direct exploitation from overfishing and bycatch

As Viva! has always said, this research shows that

The only way forward

tackling climate change alone will not be enough to stop the catastrophic decline of the world’s biodiversity, and with it our future Stopping global biodiversity loss requires policies and actions that tackle all the major drivers, not just some of them

Co-author Professor Andy Purvis says: “If future generations are going to have the same birthright we had, of a liveable, supportive planet, then all parts of society will have to transition as quickly as possible to being both net zero and nature-positive ”

Storz MA, Ronco AL and Hannibal L 2022

Kim J, Boushey CJ, Wilkens LR et al 2022 Plant-based dietary patterns defined by a priori indices and colorectal cancer risk by sex and race/ethnicity: the Multiethnic Cohort Study BMC Medicine 20, 430

Jaureguiberry P, Titeux N, Wiemers M et al 2022 The direct drivers of recent global anthropogenic biodiversity loss Science Advances 8 (45) eabm9982

VBiz

viva! is proud to work with likeminded people to promote a cruelty-free lifestyle and bring you the latest info on vegan products and services –plus amazing discounts

Ella’s Instant Vegan Yorky Pud Mix

DISCOUNT 15%

CODE VIVA15

A good vegan Yorkshire pudding is really hard to find but luckily, Michelle, founder of Ella’s Instant Vegan Yorky Pud Mix, has created the perfect blend of ingredients to make the perfect yorkies every time! Not a fan of Yorkshire puddings? No problem! They offer cake, pancake and scone mixtures perfect for a quick and easy bake ellasveganyorkypuds co uk

To find the latest updated discount list, use the password bekind at myvegantown.org.uk This includes the latest businesses to join our Supporters’ Discount Scheme or to carry a Viva! Vegan Symbol. Join Viva! at viva.org.uk/join to get these great discounts To claim yours in-store, take along your Supporters’ card!

Beevive

DISCOUNT 15% (exce Bee Revival Kits, Bam Keyrings and Seedbal CODE VIVA4BEES

Inspired by a spontaneous encounter with a tired bee, Jake and Faye created Beevive! The have a whole range o items but one of our favourites is the Bee H which provides a safe shelter for bees to ne and rest! Made from F certified wood and ba tubes for female bees y gg in during spring and summer

The Bee Hotel provides an easier world for hard working bees! beevive.com

Conscious Skincare

DISCOUNT 10%

CODE VIVA10

sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates on our discounts and businesses at viva org uk

FETCH IT

DISCOUNT 20%

CODE VIVA20

FETCH IT are on a mission to prevent more plastic waste ending up in our oceans or damaging the environment And this is why co-founders, Alex and Kiki, created a compostable dog poo bag which claims to degrade into natural biomass within months! fetchitbags co uk

After the harsh cold winter months we need to give our skin some TLC before the spring, Conscious Skincare can cater to all your skincare needs with soothing blends of shea and cocoa butter; primrose for dry skin or organic hemp, castor and rosehip oil designed to help clear and balance oily skin Can’t decide what to get? They offer travel, pampering and facial kits to take on the go! conscious-skincare.com

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

New Year Vegan Goodies from the Viva! Shop

Mummy Meegz Chuckie Egg

Guess what’s back: Mummy Meegz’s creamy, oat-milk chocolate egg! Filled with a gooey, fondant centre, it is mind-blowingly good Delicious and very similar to a certain non-vegan cream egg

£1.25

Viva! Vegan Surprise Treat Box

We change the contents of the Viva! Vegan Surprise Treat Box every month and customise them depending on occasions and season So, you’ll find new and exciting vegan treats as well as old favourites! We have handchosen products which we personally love and know you will too and by buying this box from Viva!, you are helping to support our campaigns So, by eating chocolate, you are helping to save animals! Win, win £20

The Vegan Deck

A deck of inspirational, educational and fun cards tackling the questions people have about being or vegan Written by long-term vegan athlete, Lisa Gawthorne, it is the most comprehensive deck of i on the market Beautifully illustrated on one side –informative on the other Information is printed on shaded background colours to complete a lovely, rainbow effect when fanned out

Ever wondered what being vegan actually mean vegans do and don’t eat? Or do and don’t wear? How to plan travel, holidays and even tackle dating? All these questions and many more are addressed by this deck of creative and useful cards; which also include a selection of top tips, benefits and easy swaps to help make your vegan life easier.

Whether you have been vegan for years, have recently become so or are curious about giving veganism a go, this deck will provide the ideal support. It explores everything you might need to know in a non-preachy, lighthearted way, making it the perfect addition to your bookshelf, desk, bedside table or kitchen worktop! £15.99

vivashop.org.uk

The Viva! Vegan Guide Bundle

We’ve collated all our easy-to-read guides into one handy bundle! This collection will save you money as you get all six Viva! guides for the price of five! Vegan For Health, Why You Don’t Need Dairy, Everyone’s Going Dairy-Free, The Vegan New Parents’ Guide, Healthy Vegan Kids and Vegan Sports Nutrition £15

Five Good Reasons To Go Vegan Classic Unisex Sweatshirt

Pick up a new cosy sweatshirt to wear in this chilly weather Sporting a cute vegan message, it is super soft and made from 100 per cent combed, organic cotton It sports the slogan: Five Good Reasons To Go Vegan, along with gorgeous illustrations of pigs, sheep, cows, ducks and chickens! How many more reasons do you need? This sweet design is an updated take on an original Viva! design from back in 2008!

Melange Grey £29.99

HOW YOU CAN SAVE

WILDLIFE

Experience the heartbreaking story of wild animals across the world who are clinging onto survival because of our insatiable demand for meat and milkshakes.

Viva! has just launched our latest environmental video

an emotive animated story of wildlife extinction, narrated by a father to his son

It reveals that unlike previous mass extinctions, it isn’t an asteroid that threatens wildlife, but meat and dairy production Follow as one animal after another faces extinction as forests are felled and their homes are destroyed – all to make space for grazing and crops for farmed animals

The aim of the video is simple – to raise awareness that eating meat and dairy is the number one driver of wildlife loss worldwide We believe there is still time to change the narrative – that the only way we can stop the sixth mass extinction is by choosing vegan, and we need people to know this! Watch the video at viva.org.uk/save-wildlife and help us spread this crucial message

VIVA!’S VITAL VOLUNTEERS

Thank you for giving your time to help animals

l october 15, 2022, vegan lifestyle show lydia moul and debbie hollis – £127 raised

l october 23, newcastle-under-lyme autumn market amelia moore – £55 raised

l november 6, great Yorkshire vegan market sue may, lesley hall and michael Brook – £120 raised

l december 4, gloucester vegan market dave Provis and susan segust – £315 raised.

l december 11, Frome market Jo dixon – £89 10 raised

The biggest possible thank you to all of the wonderful Viva! volunteers who have been working hard at these vegan events – we really wouldn’t have a presence there without you All your efforts in selling merchandise and handing out information help our campaigns enormously.

viva!’s valued stall volunteers: dave Provis and sue segust (above left); michael, lesley and sue may (above); and lydia moul and debbie hollis (left)

WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO BE A VIVA! STALL VOLUNTEER!

We attend lots of stimulating vegan events up and down country throughout the year and are always looking for more friendly and open-minded people to help run our stalls! If you are interested email merchandise@viva org uk or fill out our form at viva.org.uk/campaign-with-us/stall-volunteers

lifestyle

Guppyfriend Washing Bag

Did you know, clothes containing synthetic materials can cause microplastic pollution? Talking to a marine biologist and environmental activist, the founder of Guppyfriend bags, I learnt that with every wash, tiny plastic fibres from our textiles pollute lakes, oceans and soils and cause harm to the environment and wildlife So they designed a washing bag specifically to help combat the problem

According to the Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT, about 86 per cent fewer synthetic fibres break and detach when washed in the washing bag; and those that do break, are caught in the filter.

It’s super easy to use – pop your synthetic textiles into the bag and put it into the washing machine alongside the rest of your clothes and wash as normal When finished, remove the clothes from the bag while still wet and hang out to dry Then remove the collected fibres from the inside of the filter fabric by hand and bin them! £25 ethicalsuperstore com

Wash away the plastic with a close shave

Pure Shave Vegan Shaving Cream

Say goodbye to razor rash with Pure Shave vegan shaving cream, which leaves your skin feeling soft, supple and hydrated

Specifically developed to eliminate razor burn and rash, it’s ideal for anyone with sensitive skin.

I usually hate shaving but this cream has made it easier and smoother Ingredients include moisturising coconut and almond oils to provide a close and frictionless shave It’s also cruelty free, SLS-free, parabenfree and fragrance free

The shaving cream comes in a refillable, eco-friendly bottle!

Once finished, you can order the refillable pouch online or pop into a participating refill shop £14 95 for 150ml bottle pureshave.co.uk

Ocean Plastic Po

I have to stop myself from constantly buying plants and pots for them to live in! While searching for cool new pot designs, I stumbled across Ocean Plastic Pots, which are mad from waste plastics found in the oc

The brand was started by Ally Mitchell, whose passion for diving fuelled his determination to help the tide on the large and harmful volume of plastic found in our sea As a commercial diver, he had experienced first-hand the impac that plastic waste can have It’s estimated that a staggering eight million tonnes of plastic enter our

In December 2019, a whale was Isle of Harris and had 100 kg of rope, fishing nets and plastic debris inside it Three months later, Ally was a salvage diver on the wreck of the MV Kaami cargo ship, carrying 1,937 tonnes of shredded plastic for incineration It hit a reef just 20 km from the beach where the whale had washed up This was the catalyst for Ocean Plastic Pots

Ally taught himself some basic manufacturing techniques and started making plant pots from plastic ropes, waste and abandoned fishing nets. The pots are tough and durable and can also be recycled. Made in Scotland, Ocean Plastic Pots come in striking colours and their website comes with a back story of where the plastics used were collected Prices start from £15 oceanplasticpots com

Delicious Amsterdam

YOU CAN NOW TRAVEL AGAIN AND EAT OUT – SO COMBINE BOTH IN SUPER, DUPER AMSTERDAM

Due to covid postponements, my wife and I found ourselves with a pair of use-’em-o lose-’em Eurostar tickets We plumped for Amsterdam, booking three days in that lov y city. We’d heard great things about the vegan food scene there so decided to make this an entirely food-focused foray (indulgent or what?) We didn’t regret the decision

Organised I know but we scheduled breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day by researching online before we left, diligently scouring photos and reviews to choose the places that most excited us. We then emailed ahead to book and we were amazed by how many places there were to choose from!

We ruled out vegan junk food and sushi places and also chose exclusively vegan restaurants – because we could!

We arrived late afternoon so, without further ado, here is our Amsterdam food diary:

Dinner - H/eart h

Very popular cosy restaurant serving delicious Asian/Italian fusion cuisine. We had Nori Tempura to start, followed by charcoal ravioli and broccoli gnocchi (gnoccoli, surely?), which were both outstanding. The couple at the table next to us had something with blue foam that looked very Heston Blumenthal For dessert we had a semifreddo and a tiramisu which were also delicious

Breakfast - Rainbowls

Seriously decadent and outrageously colourful breakfast bowls that really pack a punch! Nutritious and delicious – highly recommend

Lunch - Maoz

A well-known European falafel chain that’s been around for years but is now 100 per cent vegan. Fresh falafel, mushroom shawarma or aubergine in pitta or salad box, with hummus and self-serve salad bar. Perfectly decent lunch option

Dinner - Mr & Mrs Watson

Charming restaurant named after Donald and Dorothy Watson who founded the UK Vegan Society and first coined the term ‘vegan’ back in 1944 We had a vegan cashew and prosecco cheese fondue and a mushroom bourguignon The bourguignon was rich, flavoursome and hearty

while the fondue was incredible They make the cheeses in their own kitchen and you can buy them so we also took an Italian Herb Aged Wheel and Aged Fondue home with us

Breakfast - Mr Stacks

This is a savoury and sweet pancake restaurant so we decided to share a savoury Roasted (pancake) Taco Stack with vegan cheese, fresh guacamole and tofu, which was impressively tasty For dessert, the Choco Hazelnut Stack and Dutch Apple Pie Stack (complete with sesame seed candyfloss!) Unbelievably good

Lunch

We were too full from breakfast to manage lunch!

Dinner - Trevi s

Vegan Italian restaurant, traditional white and red chequered tablecloths, delicious pizzas, panini and fresh pastas – and dessert pizzas too! Chocolate and pistachio pizza or cinnamon-drizzled pizza pieces anyone?

Breakfast - Vegabond

Deli/café and shop Lovely fresh salads and menu items. We had acai bowls and a cinnamon bun to share. This was also the only place we found selling vegan stroopwaffels! (the classic crispy, waffled caramel wafer)

Departed 12pm

Below: pizza at trevi’s italian restaurant

PREMIERS IN LONDON

Jerome Flynn, narrator of HOGWOOD – a modern horror story, joined us for the exclusive VIP London premier of our award-winning documentary at the Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square Other viewings took place in Bristol and Exeter

Although traumatic and upsetting to watch, it was one of those occasions that you just remember being there, the sense of place, its importance and the real feeling of belonging with all who were present that evening

Introducing the film was Jerome Flynn, who talked about the need to end factory farming, while thanking Juliet and Viva! for the tireless work over the years to improve the lives of animals and people Viva! founder, Juliet Gellatley, spoke about going undercover to bring this footage to light while highlighting Viva!’s ongoing campaigns and investigations into factory farming.

Following the screening, managing director Laura Hellwig introduced a short film on which Jerome Flynn has been working. The topic: pig gassing and why it has to end Yes, this was also harrowing as the animals squeal and scrabble for air for up to 30 seconds as CO2 chokes and burns them into unconsciousness As over 80 per cent of all UK pigs are subjected to this torture, we have to act to end it Find out more at viva org uk/act-now

While the HOGWOOD footage was horrifying – even more so on the big screen – it inspired people all over again to come together to save animals from suffering and to champion veganism.

While films such as Earthlings and Cowspiracy are two fine examples of vegan documentaries, they are, well, very American, making it all too easy to dismiss farmed animal abuse as an American problem HOGWOOD shows that factory farming is a very real British problem

Throughout the screenings were audible sighs and groans but also a weird sense of pride. None of this would have come to light without the documentary

The Q&A session which followed was highly emotional and Juliet and Jerome proficiently and expertly talked about how things can change. The meet and greet was an opportunity to meet both them and Viva! staff

Thank you to everyone who came to the London, Exeter and Bristol events, many of whom had contributed to the making and distribution of HOGWOOD.

HOME FARM DAIRY EXPOSÉ

The Independent published a big picture story on our shocking undercover investigation into Home Farm, a Kent dairy farm It ran our disturbing video, which could leave viewers in no doubt about the levels of cruelty

The farmer, of course, denies any wrongdoing while Red Tractor and Trading Standards say that the farm is complying with welfare standards The footage says something else entirely

Blooming health

mount of press coverage Viva! is receiving ploded over recent months and ularly gratifying is an upsurge in health age Our Dr Justine Butler is now antly hitting the news and correcting the misleading health advice Proactively, her e on going vegan to live longer made it he Shropshire Star, Express and Star, and on Sunday, Gazette (Middlesbrough), by Telegraph – and so many more, nearly n total Tens of millions of people reading ut the health benefits from an expert!

ustine also had a third large article in ent weeks published in the Daily Express his one on vegan diets for reducing high od pressure

JULIET’S DESERT ISLAND

director Juliet was the guest on the equivalent of Desert Island Discs on dublin Fm’s Off the Record her eight record choices were interspersed with powerful animal stories Juliet also turned a planned five minute segment on lBc radio into 12 minutes as she talked about the need for veganuary.

Viva!’s media blitz for the animals

STIRLING WORK!

Inspired by the Plant-Based Universities campaign, Euronews reports that students at Scotland’s Stirling University have voted to make all the meals in their Students’ Union plant-based by 2025 By the next academic year, 50 per cent of options at the student union’s three food outlets will be plant based, rising to 100 per cent by 2025

George Monbiot has thrown his weight behind the move, saying: “It’s fantastic to see the next generation taking control of their future and putting humans, nonhuman animals and the planet first ”

EDINBURGH TOO!

The Herald reports that Edinburgh has become the first European capital to commit to a shift towards plant-based diets to lower the city’s “consumption-based emissions”

The city’s council has endorsed the Plant Based Treaty, launched during COP26 in Glasgow, which calls for a move towards diets with less meat and dairy products. The Treaty spells it out: “Overall, the science is clear – meat and dairy consumption must reduce to achieve climate targets,” Scottish Green councillor, Steve Burgess, introduced the initiative

Viva! has worked with the council on reaching this decision

CHRISTMAS CRACKER

An article on avian flu by Viva! head of investigations, Lex Rigby, was published in Open Access Government

The title heralded a present that no one wants: Christmas is coming, the geese are getting sick, and the world may be three mutations away from the next pandemic: avian bird flu

Open Access Government provides an in-depth perspective on key public policy areas from all around the world

RORY RUNNING WILD

viva!’s campaigner, rory cockshaw, really captured the media’s imagination with his run for turkeys – triggered by meeting a gorgeous turkey called harriet most ran the story under big headlines such as: Vegan campaigner to run from dawn to dusk in memory of turkeys who will be killed for Christmas dinner this year titles which reported on it were Yahoo! News UK & Ireland, Mirror Online, Ireland-Live ie, Wales Online and dozens more, read by millions. rory, who gave up alcohol a couple of years ago, was also able to give a vegan perspective on dry January in many titles, including, bizarrely, Facilities Management Journal!

Hogwood goes Stateside

the big and very active us group, lady Freethinker, which is suing Facebook for animal abuse videos, ran a long interview with me on hogwood the investigation, the video and wider issues around uk factory farming

Meat industry’s misinformation

Many times I have warned that the global meat industry is adopting similar disingenuous tactics to the tobacco industry to divert attention from its deadly trade A report by Unearthed (Greenpeace’s investigate journalism outlet) confirms it.

Norway’s non-profit Eat and the medical journal The Lancet, with a team of world-leading scientists, issued a report saying that our food system was driving climate change and ill health and needs to be reformed to include more greens, beans, less sugar and much less meat It garnered over 6,000 articles globally and triggered anger from the meat industry, which launched the #yes2meat campaign and persuaded some governments not to cooperate with the report, ours included it would seem

The Unearthed investigation revealed that a prestigious university –California, Davis’s CLEAR Centre – was providing legitimacy to the meat and dairy industry’s immoral fight by demanding that its environmental footprint should be revised downwards Its claims to be independent were rubbished when Unearthed, through a Freedom of Information request, revealed that some of the world’s biggest livestock and feed producers had agreed CLEAR’s structure and contributed millions of dollars of its funding Selling your soul doesn’t come cheap!

‘You will eat meat’

Funded by UK farmers, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) is also averse to the truth Reporting on its latest consumer survey, it tells producers how keep shoppers buying red meat

“Affirm product quality – greenery has natural associations with sustainability and health ” Greenwashing!

“Vitamin B12 should be the hero, supported by broader health messaging, how beef, lamb and pork are a good source of vitamins” Yes, and saturated fat and cholesterol, contains no fibre and is linked to cancers (some) and heart disease

“How red meat from the UK has lower emissions than other countries and is among the most sustainable in the world” Pure bull!

“Images that were preferred included cows and sheep outdoors in the British countryside, as opposed to animals indoors and pigs, even outdoors.” Even though 80 per cent of all meat comes from factory farms.

REFRESHING TIME AT Refreshers’ Fairs

Y

O R Y C O C K S H A W

If you feel this is a bit d popular last year when England and Wales for y , January and February, we went back for round two – Refreshers!

Colder and damper than the autumnal start-of-year events, the bonus is that university students are at least slightly less dazed (not to mention less hungover) at the start of their second term than the start of their first

Sober, wide-eyed and finding themselves often lost and confused in the midst of the Veganuary advertising flurry, Viva! was yet again there to support them on their vegan journey Many were already asking themselves the much-pondered question: “To vegan, or not to vegan?”

We were there to help with the obvious answer

Students of Cambridge, Bristol, Aberystwyth, Gloucester, Bournemouth and Bath Spa were delighted to be able to shed their misgivings about vegan cheeses when we confronted them with a display of the supermarket’s finest on salted crackers Not a bad way to start an otherwise wintry and miserable morning.

But we weren’t there just to titillate their taste buds

Students were often shocked to learn that our cheese choices aren’t just about vegan taste and texture but are a replacement for something pretty gross. Few had given any thought to the bleak lives of long-suffering mother cows and the babies who are stolen from them – all a product of humans’ harmful habits It’s their milk, not ours!

Few students seemed to be aware that dairy farming is a leading cause of carbon emissions and land usage around the world – and therefore a main driver of biodiversity loss We reached countless numbers of students every day to make sure they did know

We reached thousands of inquisitive students and showed them how easy it is to go vegan

The time Viva! spent this new year with soon-to-be graduates, soon-to-be changemakers – from East Anglia all the way to the West of Wales

was time well spent.

A celebration… of Viva!’s magnificent volunteers

As Viva! approaches its 30th birthday, we want to celebrate the enormous contribution made by our amazing volunteers, who’ve been our partners along the way Without them, Viva! would have less presence on the local high street, attend fewer vegan markets, our campaigns would reach fewer people and we would have less money to continue our vital work

There are many ways to volunteer – run a market stall at one of over 30 vegan markets around the UK, support our national days of action, get involved in university outreach, door drop to local houses or set up a stall and have a regular presence in your community.

Activists in Bristol got together in 2020 to provide an unashamedly vegan information point where people could come and ask questions like, “what’s all this fuss about veganism?” They host an event once or twice a month to hand out leaflets but now they’ve introduced free vegan food samples and show footage of factory farming

Viva! offers whatever support they need and have great free resources available, including practical advice through health guides, access to the Vegan Recipe Club and materials to encourage people to try veganism

Tom, a teacher, said: “Volunteering gives me a feeling that I can make a difference It’s like planting a seed, helping the public to think about the meat and dairy industry in a different way Maybe make a change today or in the future”.

Gail, who works in retail, said: “I can’t imagine not having a voice for the animals. It is great having an

organisation who you know you can trust and provides only the facts Their undercover investigations are really important and I have always felt supported ”

Skye is an engineer: “I like the calm and friendly approach and it’s great being with a team of people who feel the same about animals as you do. It’s important for me to advocate for the animals – and I’m becoming more accomplished in talking to the public as a result.”

Carol, a retired nurse, said: “I’m bowled over with the amount of information available through Viva!. I’m gaining more confidence and this non-confrontational form of outreach suits me. I love it.”

Kerry, a dog groomer, said: “I can show people that vegans can be anybody and can be happy and passionate and normal! I want to have good conversations and explain how veganism has actually improved my life, not hindered it ”

There are a number of ways you can get involved Please see our website or sign up at viva org uk/getinvolved Or email Jo, outreach coordinator, if you would like to host your own stall or support a local group outreach@viva org uk

top: stall holders elior doani and eliza lagast representing viva! at a vegan market above left: simone roper, carol sharpe, carol o’leary, Jo dixon, eloise cresswell, dan Williams and martin Barlow –Bristol vegan outreach group above: one Planet outreach with the Bristol vegan outreach group Below: volunteers from london supporting viva!’s TRASH campaign

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18

Whether religious teachings are handed down directly from deities or are the product of profound mortal intelligence is another of those circular arguments that has no resolution but in a way it doesn’t matter

Humankind everywhere has always found the need for a formula – a series of rules by which their societies can live and prosper. According to the best guesses of English Heritage, there was no single belief system in prehistoric Britain but there were religious practices relating to the dead, afterlife and its influence on the living. And there are reasons to assume that all ‘primitive’ societies behaved similarly

In all the religions we do know, there is a common thread and that is to respect all life and not to slaughter animals for our own gratification It is a powerful, continuous and persuasive message that the road to salvation (of whatever kind) lies in kindness and care and concern for the world around us

Hinduism didn’t begin with a blank sheet of paper but drew together strands from numerous existing religions and practices stretching way back in time It follows that humankind has probably always struggled to understand the world it inhabits and tried its hardest to chart a path for long-term survival through its maze of known and unknown complexities And that’s what makes Hinduism so extraordinary. Yes, I am aware of other aspects of Hinduism that aren’t so laudible

Four thousand years ago, it set out just such a path: respect all life, tread lightly, do as little damage as possible, spurn greed, jealousy and avariciousness and treat all animals with kindness And the reasons for this? Because all things are interconnected and to attack and weaken just one element, damages the whole Even as an atheist, I buy into this concept wholeheartedly

Look around you and try to imagine what the world would have been like had we all followed this creed Would the forests, oceans, land and air be struggling for survival? Would we be counting down the days to a climate catastrophe? Would we have killed, tortured and inflicted wholesale suffering on countless numbers of animals? Would we have set so much store by the BMW seven series, quilted toilet paper and Gucci trainers?

We, my friends, are warriors in an intellectual fight that is almost as old as recorded history and which is now nearing a conclusion. We are on the right side – but can we win it? I don’t know but I am certain we cannot stop trying because if we lose…

Media man, punk-bred John Robb

COP OUT!

it doesn’t seem a year since coP26, when we all hopped on a train to glasgow to see if there was going to be any vital changes coming of course, as expected, it was all hot air from the top table. more poisonous and foetid, decomposing gases escaping from the leaky fissures and fuzzy vents of our ill-gotten leaders’ well-fed mouths and cavities, filling the planet with their empty words and deranging the ozone even more with their inaction

A lot of talk and a lot of headlines may look good in PR terms but we are dealing with a very sick patient here Meanwhile youth, who were locked out of the palatial palaces of bullshit, made a million new connections and were inspired from the street level to make their own changes

The time to wait for the modern dinosaurs to change the planet is over and as the metamorphic meteorite thunders towards us and the sixth great extinction looks more and more likely, the dinosaurs’ puffed out their expensive, carnivore chests and high cholesterol carnivore frames and blathered the PR blather

The only solution now is the time-honoured one of DIY that we perfected in our punk rock youth – Do It Yourself culture Back then, when the world was more innocent and making music was a primal concern, it was about releasing your own music on your own terms and not waiting for permission of the major labels and their A and R Noel Edmonds lookalikes

These days, with a far bigger problem on our plates than a mere soundtrack, DIY has been replaced by DIT – Doing It Together And we have to come together, as John Lennon once sang, to make this thing happen without world leaders

We do not need their permission

They are welcome to join in but the agenda is no longer being set by them – the future is ours and it’s doable if we hold our nerve.

Some 85 per cent of the population want to do their bit –they just need to know what their bit actually is.

Conversely, the human race is schizoid enough to turn the whole thing into dust We are the only creature that can destroy the planet and save it all entwined into one confusing ball It’s like the endless arguments of Twitter – a perfect snapshot of the paralysis we have brought to the planet

And now COP27 in Egypt, which feels exactly the same

the same great intentions and the same fuzzy results We had considered going and the idea was to borrow a catamaran with Dale Vince from Ecotricity at the helm, because he can actually sail one of those damn things

We were going to arrive like a motley crew of planteating eco pirates But the real action goes on way beyond the talking shops as the network of demonstrators throng with people out there actually delivering the stuff. Despite the powers that be, the grass roots will change the planet in a billion small, sustainable steps…