- [Narrator] This week Ellen Degeneres tells fans
to eat less meat.
California passes a historic ban on alligator skins,
and Stephen Colbert calls plant-based meat the biggest
food trend in America.
All this and more on LIVEKINDLY's Weekly Vegan News.
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Stephen Colbert took vegan meat to task on a recent
episode of The Late Show.
A tongue-in-cheek commercial spoofed the popular
Impossible Burger and the buzz over plant-based
meat in general.
According to Colbert, plant-based burgers
like Burger King's Impossible Whopper,
made from Impossible Meat,
are the biggest food trends in America right now.
He's not wrong.
Sales of plant-based meat are on the rise.
Restaurants saw a 268% increase
in vegan meat sales just last year.
The category is expected to surpass $85 billion by 2030.
But Colbert wasn't interested in the viability of
the vegan meat market.
He was interested in making fun of it,
especially the realistic meatiness of non-meat meat.
- Right now the biggest food trend
in America is plant-based burger alternatives.
(crowd cheers)
Which used to be known as salad.
(laughter)
- The show ran a spoof commercial for a product
called the Implausible Burger.
Like the popular Impossible and Beyond Burgers,
which both look, cook, and taste like beef,
Colbert's Implausible Burger is also realistically meaty.
Implausible Burgers, the commercial posits
are probably not meat.
- [Male] The only burger alternative guaranteed
to probably not be meat.
- Ghastly looks appear on their faces
when the announcer tells them that the burgers
may actually not be meat-free.
- Yes, but this is baked meat right?
(upbeat music)
- [Announcer] Sure.
(bell dings) (laughter)
- What was that? What, did you just wink at me?
I can't see you.
- [Announcer] Every Implausible Burger exists
in an unknowable quantum state.
It's like Schrodinger's cat.
- [Announcer 2] May contain some cat.
- The spot is of course a joke,
but it isn't entirely fiction.
It touches on the growing awareness surrounding meat's
climate and health issues.
- [Announcer] No one likes all the problems
with eating animals,
so the Implausible Burger allows you
to plausibly believe that you aren't.
- The vegan Impossible Burger has finally
made its retail debut.
The Impossible Burger is now available
at 27 Gelson's Markets' locations
throughout southern California.
The realistic vegan burger comes in a 12-ounce package
and retails for $8.99.
This marks the first time that Impossible Foods'
plant-based meat has been made available to retailers.
Until now, the burger has only been available
in restaurants and food service outlets.
It made headlines earlier this year when fast food
chain, Burger King, launched the Impossible Whopper.
After a successful test launch in select stores,
the Impossible Whopper is now available nationwide.
According to recent sales data,
retail sales of vegan burgers have surged 151% since 2018.
Vegan burgers are a key driver of the plant-based
food market, with sales increasing five times as fast
as other vegan meat products.
- We're just racing to keep up with the demand.
- Less than a week after launching at Gelson's,
Impossible Foods announced it will launch on
the East Coast at Wegmans and Fairway Markets.
The company will announce additional retail expansions
later this year.
Coming up,
red meat may soon be banned in Danish schools.
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New York City students were allowed to skip school
to march in the climate strike,
which took place on September 20th.
Ahead of the protest,
the New York City Department of Education
announced that all public school students would be permitted
to skip school and join the climate strike.
The city has the largest public school district in the U.S.,
with over 1.1 million students.
It's estimated that more than 250,000 people
took to the streets to join the strike.
At the New York Climate Strike,
protestors listened to speeches delivered
by environmental activists,
indigenous rights leaders,
poets, youth climate change leaders,
nurses, scientists,
and student climate activist, Greta Thunberg.
- We are not just some young people skipping school,
or some adults who are not going to work.
We are a wave of change.
(crowd cheers)
- Both Willow and Jayden Smith took to the stage
to deliver musical performances
and urged climate strikers to take action for the planet.
Leonardo DiCaprio urged his followers
to participate in the climate strike, as well.
The Academy Award-winning actor
and dedicated environmentalist,
shared a post from the National Resources Defense Council,
a New York City-based environmental advocacy group,
ahead of the strikes.
"Around the world,
"climate activists will be taking to the streets,
calling on governments to tackle the crisis
with the urgency it deserves,
because future generations depend on it," the post reads.
Climate strikes took place in over 150 countries.
According to reports,
up to four million people may have marched,
making it the biggest climate change rally in history.
Coming up, Marks & Spencer reveals
its vegan Christmas range.
Ellen Degeneres encouraged her fans
to cut meat out of their diet for the good
of their health, the animals, and the planet.
The American comedian, television host, and producer,
shared a video on her Instagram page,
which has 77.2 million followers,
to urge people to reduce their meat consumption.
- Just, it's a great idea for the planet.
It's a great idea for your health.
It's a great idea for the animals' health.
So eat less meat, unless you're a vegan
and you don't eat meat already, then good for you.
So you don't even need to pay attention to this.
- She encouraged those who do eat meat,
to try to eat less of it.
- Just maybe eat it less.
Once a week, or none a week,
or just if you eat it every night,
don't eat it every night.
Eat it less than that.
The point is, it's better for you
and it's better for the environment
and for the animals.
- Danish politicians are urging for a red meat ban
in Copenhagen schools, kindergartens,
and daycare centers.
Launched in 2013,
Denmark's alternative party consistently
campaigns for a more sustainable future for the country.
It wants to see red meat consumption reduced
to limit the city's environmental impact.
"Red meat has a huge impact on the climate," said
Alternative Party counselor, Franciska Rosenkilde,
to Danish newspaper, Politiken.
"You can choose freely what to eat at home,
but as a municipality, we have a responsibility
to be ambitious in our environmental behavior.
That's why I'm proposing we remove red meat from meals
in municipal institutions."
Beef production has a high impact on the planet.
Every kilogram produced emits the equivalent
of 36 kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
It is also responsible for large amounts of deforestation.
Many of the fires in the Amazon rain forest
were started intentionally to clear land
for cattle ranchers.
The Alternative Party presented its proposal,
which would only impact institutions that serve
one to two meals a day, to the city council
earlier in late-September.
Marks & Spencer just revealed its vegan Christmas range,
featuring a meat-free entree, appetizer,
and of course, dessert.
With less than a hundred days until Christmas,
Marks & Spencer joins other major supermarkets
in revealing a range of vegan food
that will be on offer come December.
For the entree, a vegan root vegetable tarte Tatin.
For appetizers, vegan pigs-in-blankets.
The menu also includes a festive vegan sweet potato sandwich
and a dark chocolate and cherry dessert.
According to the High Street retailer,
this year's menu is based on feedback
from over 80,000 customers.
Marks & Spencer aims to take out
some of the most angst-inducing elements
of Christmas entertaining.
It's the first time that the High Street retailer
has launched a full vegan menu for Christmas.
Marks & Spencer isn't alone in offering
a vegan Christmas menu.
Tesco, Aldi, and Asda have also revealed
their festive ranges.
California has banned the sale of crocodile
and alligator skins.
The state first passed a ban against the trade in 1970;
however, since then, the exotic skins industry
has fought back.
In 2006, legislation lifted the ban.
It established an exemption with a sunset clause.
The legislation was extended in 2009, and again in 2014.
Previously, extensions to the legislation
were backed by fashion designers;
however, more and more of the fashion industry
is turning its back on animal skins.
Last year, Chanel committed to ending its use
of fur and exotic skins.
In February, Victoria Beckham's brand followed suit.
Animal rights organizations have called out
the exotic skins industry for major animal welfare issues.
One investigation found alligators
in dark sheds and fetid water before metal rods
were placed into their heads while they were still alive.
Like many designers, California has also taken a stand
against the fur industry.
Earlier this month, a landmark bill banning the sale of fur
passed in the California senate.
This year, organizations including
the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries,
have attempted to push for another extension,
but it hasn't worked.
According to animal rights organization PETA,
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,
a ban on the sale of crocodile and alligator
skins in the state will go into effect
from the beginning of January, 2020.
That's it for today.
What do you think of the proposed red meat ban
in Copenhagen?
Let us know in the comments below.
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for LIVEKINDLY'S Weekly Vegan News.
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