Why did Politico headline an article yesterday: “Attack on meat has industry seeing red”? In short, the massive news this week is that the US 2015 Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee made its recommendations public, and the
meat industry isn’t exactly happy. The recommendations emphasize a shift
toward plant-based diets, and remove the former recommendation to eat
lean meat. As
Politico reports, meat industry lobbyists are already gearing up
for a massive food fight in Washington over this. The lobbyists are
particularly upset, as the
Washington Post reports, that the recommendations note that plant-based eating
is better for both us and for the planet.

Other big news this week: Food service giant
Sodexo made a huge announcement against battery cages and some of the other most inhumane factory farming practices.

And finally, industry attempts to pass ag-gag bills
continue to backfire, as are its attempts to co-opt popular
pro-women hashtags.

P.S.
Video of the week: Watch Moritz the pig solve his puzzle!

With California’s Prop 2 now in effect for more than a month, the 2008 campaign’s manager, Jennifer Fearing, offers thoughts in today’s
Sacramento Bee about the law.

You’ll recall the NY Times exposé of
taxpayer-funded torment of farm animals in truly depraved meat industry
experiments. Well, this week the largest paper in the biggest animal ag
state, the
Des Moines Register, editorialized against such research, saying “the USDA’s response to these findings has been less than
encouraging.”

Fast Company magazine named Hampton Creek one of the top 10 innovative companies in 2015!

And
NASDAQ published a powerful story, “How The ‘Death Of Meat’ Could
Impact Your Portfolio,” concluding that investors should “think twice
about holding long positions in meat industry stocks or exchange-traded
securities” because “meat consumption has been
steadily declining, which could play out into a huge profit potential.”

Happy Friday the 13^th!

Paul Shapiro
Vice President, Farm Animal Protection
The Humane Society of the United States
Follow at http://twitter.com/pshapiro  

Video of the week:
What are you doing for Valentine’s Day? Think you’ve put a lot of
effort into a good gift for your valentine? You don’t have anything on
the male pufferfish.

California’s Proposition 2 takes effect in less than a week! What a different world it is today compared to when the measure was enacted in 2008. (Click here for a timeline of events in California from 2008 to the present.) The Santa Rosa Press Democrat has a good summary of the situation as it stands right now, and NBC ran a very worthwhile segment on it last night, too.

As the Golden State’s public policy takes effect, the private sector is acting, too. Starbucks announced a new animal welfare policy this week, including a move toward banning the caging of chickens in its supply chain. And NPR has a great piece this week looking at what common egg carton labels mean—and don’t mean.

As we move forward into 2015, some in the pork industry seem insistent on remaining not just stuck in the past, but really in the Dark Ages. I published an op-ed on the topic in the Chicago Sun-Times this past week.

Finally, to end the year with two pieces of inspiration: (1) Here are HSUS’s top 10 advancements for farm animals in 2014; and (2) Last week a federal court ruled in HSUS’s favor and said the war on wolves must end in the Great Lake states, a ruling the meat industry is already lamenting.

Happy holidays!

P.S. Video of the week: What I imagine some of my friends’ holiday dinner tables looked like this week.

Big news for plant-based food tech company Hampton Creek this week: It pulled in another $90 million in venture capital, and the lawsuit it had been facing over its use of the term “mayo” was dropped.

More big news: Panera Bread announced a new animal welfare policy this week, including action on both gestation crates and battery cages. The march of progress continues.

And finally, even more big news! California’s historic Prop. 2 takes effect in just two weeks, and a new poll shows that Golden State consumers want the egg industry to abandon cages. See CageFreeCA.com for more info!

Video of the week: Dogs annoying cats with their friendship!

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yay, Paul! Yay, animals!

The Christian Science Monitor published a compelling story this week detailing the progress HSUS is making in advancing the interests of farm animals. There may be no clearer sign of that progress than the upcoming implementation of California’s Prop. 2 on January 1. You can read more about this historic event on Wayne Pacelle’s blog.

And further evidence of the world changing for the better: A former Burger King exec started a new vegetarian food company, and a vegan butcher shop was profiled on NPR…almost seems like heaven! And that would be especially nice since it’s official: the Pope now says animals are getting into heaven, too.

Finally, Pork Network didn’t think much of my recent Huffington Post piece, but at least they called me “clever.”

P.S. Video of the week: Man and fish play!