- [Announcer] This week, the Oscars go vegan.
KFC trials more vegan chicken
and Sussex passes an historic fishing ban for the planet.
All this, and more, on LIVEKINDLY'S "Weekly Vegan News."
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KFC is now trialing vegan fried chicken
in more than 70 locations in Charlotte, North Carolina
and Nashville, Tennessee.
Last August, the fast-food giant teamed up
with California-based vegan meat brand Beyond Meat
to create Beyond Fried Chicken.
It was trialed for one day in Atlanta
and sold out in less than five hours.
- It's the future.
I think the future is gonna be plant-based.
- [Announcer] The tests' success prompted KFC
and Beyond Meet to improve the recipe.
According to a press release,
"the texture now mimics the whole-muscle chicken."
Ethan Brown, CEO and founder of Beyond Meat,
said, "The new recipe tastes and pulls apart
"like a chicken breast."
"The iconic flavor of Kentucky Fried Chicken is one
"that has never been replicated, despite many imitations,
"until now," said Andrea Zahumensky,
Chief Marketing Officer of KFC U.S.
Customers can order Beyond Fried Chicken with dipping sauce
or tossed in honey barbecue, Buffalo,
or Nashville hot sauce.
Options include four to 12-piece, a la carte, and combos.
- [The Colonel] It looks like scrumptious chicken
and tastes like scrumptious chicken,
but it's not chicken, it's made of plants.
- [Announcer] If successful,
KFC hopes to launch the product nationwide.
Coming up, Sussex passes an historic fishing ban.
The Swiss public will vote
on a proposed constitutional amendment that guarantees
better welfare for factory-farmed animals.
The amendment will be drafted by the government,
according to the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office.
"The government, in principle, welcomes the aims
"of the initiative and wants to sets the criteria
"for animal-friendly accommodation,
"regular access to outside areas,
"and appropriate conditions for the slaughter,"
says a statement from the office.
The news follows a proposal by animal rights groups,
which called for a ban on factory farming.
It also includes restrictions on animal-product imports.
The "No factory farming in Switzerland" initiative
launched in June 2018.
It would have put an end to intensive farming
by amending article 80a of the Federal Constitution.
Animal rights campaigners gathered more
than 100,000 signatures in support of the initiative,
but the government says that a ban is too radical.
"The Federal Council recommends that
the popular initiative 'No factory farming in Switzerland'
be rejected," says the statement.
"The inclusion of private organic standards in
"the Constitution and the extension to imports go to far."
Silvano Lieger, Co-Director of Sentience Politics,
tells LIVEKINDLY, "The fact that we were able to submit
"this initiative so quickly shows how much people
"in Switzerland care about animals.
"The majority of them are unaware of the significant amount
"of individuals that are still being raised
"in unbearable conditions.
"Factory farming is unacceptable
"and we should use the power of direct democracy
"to also make it illegal."
Sussex is now the first U.K. council to ban fishing
to mitigate climate change.
The new bylaw prohibits trawling,
a fishing method that involves pulling a fishing net
through the water behind two or more boats.
The first-of-its-kind ban will preserve
a 304-square-kilometer section
of the Sussex coast from fishing.
Campaigners says that the ban will give
the Sussex kelp forest time to regenerate.
When healthy, underwater forests are able
to absorb large amounts of carbon.
Healthy kelp forests can meaningfully mitigate
some of the impacts of climate change.
In recent years, the Sussex kelp forest has been
severely damaged by modern fishing practices.
Trawling and other varieties of unselective fishing
cause overfishing and damage to the sea floor and kelp.
The re-wilding project and the Sussex fishing ban aim
to promote regrowth.
Sarah Ward, the Living Seas Officer
at Sussex Wildlife Trust, told the "Telegraph"
that "kelp forests can absorb and lock up carbon
"just as effectively as woodlands, if not more so,
"and we're able to create this habitat on a scale
"that simply couldn't be replicated on land.
"This will be huge step forward
"in addressing the escalating climate crisis."
The 92nd Academy Awards are the latest awards event
to go vegan.
While the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
doesn't serve dinner at the Oscars ceremony,
it made the nominees luncheon plant-based.
"The Academy is an organization of storytellers
"from around the world and we owe our global membership
"a commitment to supporting the planet,"
the organization said in a statement.
"For the past decade, the Academy has been committed
"to reducing its carbon footprint.
"For the past seven years,
"the Oscar show has had a zero-carbon imprint.
"We continue to expand our sustainability plan
"with the ultimate goal of becoming carbon-neutral."
The move comes after the Golden Globes,
the Screen Actors Guild Awards and
the Critics' Choice Awards
all made their events plant-based.
- Is is very bold move, making tonight plant-based.
And it really sends a powerful message.
- [Announcer] The Governors Ball, which immediately follows
the Oscars ceremony, will serve a 70 percent vegan menu.
France will ban the controversial commonplace practice
of culling male chicks by live shredding them.
French Minister of Agriculture Didier Guillaume
announced the ban the Paris.
He told reporters, "From the end of 2021,
"nothing will be like it was before."
Every year, the egg industry culls
approximately seven billion male chicks.
The industry considers male chicks worthless,
as the don't produce eggs or commercially popular meat.
Live shredding and death by CO2 gas are typical.
Electrocution and suffocation are also common.
Switzerland has already banned the practice
of live shredding male chicks,
while in German shredding will continue until
an alternative, one that is suitable for intensive
farming practices is found.
Guillaume said he hopes farmers will soon be able
to determine the sex of chicken embryos
before they are hatched.
Coming up, vegan Beyond Burgers arrive at Denny's.
The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus
a global health emergency.
- In the last 24 hours, we had the most cases
in a single day since the outbreak started.
- [Announcer] Experts say that meat from wildlife markets
may be the origin of the 2019 novel coronavirus.
- Cases have now been reported in 25 countries,
but the epicenter remains in China.
- [Announcer] Which has spread from
the city of Wuhan, China.
Chinese authorities place a temporary ban
on the wild animal trade
to prevent the spread of the infection.
The ban will remain until the epidemic situation
is lifted nationwide.
The government announcement follows
the accelerated spread of the coronavirus,
which has infected close to 30,000 people.
Experts believe that coronavirus is linked
to wildlife markets such as
the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market
now at the center of the Wuhan epidemic.
Dazhong, a domestic and wild animal shop within the market,
has an inventory list consisting of bamboo rats,
live wolf pups, golden cicadas, squirrels, foxes,
civets, hedgehogs, salamanders, and crocodiles.
A group of researchers from the country's top universities
have called upon the government
to crack down on such markets.
The group said in an open letter posted on Weibo that
loopholes in China's legal wildlife trade increases
the risk of an outbreak.
"This is the hidden danger for the trade and consumption
"of wild animals," they wrote.
Brits must cut their beef, lamb,
and dairy consumption by 20%,
according to a new environmental report.
The Committee on Climate Change,
which advises the U.K. government,
recommends a number of measures to reduce
the country's greenhouse gas emissions.
It proposes increasing the U.K.'s forestry cover
from 13% to at least 17% by 2050.
The report also proposes restoring half of upland
carbon-absorbing peat bogs.
It notes, "that reducing beef, lamb, and dairy consumption
"by 20%, as well as food wastes by 20%,
"will save 7,000,000 tons of CO2."
Reducing meat consumption will also free up land
previously used for cattle and sheep for energy crops.
The Committee on Climate Change wants to expand
crops grown to be burned for energy to
around 23,000 hectares every year.
Sustain: An Alliance for Better Food and Farming has
criticized this plan.
"The emphasis on more monoculture energy crops
to feed power plants is dangerous," said Vicki Hird,
the Sustainable Farming Coordinator for Sustain.
She added that "a blinkered approach could damage
"biodiversity, ecosystems, and food security.
"There is also a risk of offshoring
"our food-related ecological footprint and emissions
"if we have to import more food," she noted.
Beyond Burgers are now available in more
than 1,700 Denny's restaurants across the U.S. and Canada.
The Beyond Burger is the first vegan meat option
in the diner-style American restaurant chain.
The bleeding patty is available nationwide
after a successful launch in select Los Angeles locations.
According to a press release, "Denny's is the first
full-service family dining chain to partner with the brand."
That's it for today.
What do you you think about KFC's vegan chicken?
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(gentle music)