“Vegan” in the News

[This is a guest blog post written by Amanda Citarella, a CAS intern.]

It seems only a few years ago the word “vegan” was an obscurity. But now, Justin Timberlake is singing “Bring It On Down To Veganville” on Saturday Night Live, CNN’s Jane Velez Mitchell often takes on tough farm animal issues, and even the NY Times features articles on eating vegan. What impact does such attention have? From the looks of it, the compassionate shift towards veg-living is not stopping any time soon!

Since the rise of the factory farm post-WWII, the horrors of modern day animal agriculture have been hidden behind closed doors. Instead, the industry uses deceptive advertising to portray images of happy animals on small farms – far from reality. Thanks to brave souls who have gone undercover, footage of abuse on factory farms has made it to major media outlets like ABC for the world to see. In an attempt to muffle the movement, however, ag-gag bills that would criminalize the filming and sharing of such footage have been passed in several states. Thankfully, some media outlets continue to take the side of animals again! Recently, for instance, ABC ran a story on these ag-gag laws.

In addition to highlighting animal suffering, media are also touting veganism’s health benefits. In early January, the New York Times ran “A Vegan Resolution,” which highlighted the health benefits a vegan New Year’s resolution would bring. And slowly but surely, media are even addressing  the environmental impact of agribusiness, including serious water pollution. With three compelling reasons to go vegan out in the national consciousness, hopefully big change is on the horizon!

Whether it be once a day on “Meatless Mondays” or becoming a hard-core vegan, veggie living is on the rise. For example, Los Angeles public schools have recently implemented Meatless Mondays. This means that every Monday about 650,000 meat free meals will be served for both breakfast and lunch to schoolchildren in LA. That’s huge! To meet the demands of a changing consumer culture, industries like alternative dairy are growing dramatically. In 2011, for instance, sales of almond milk increased by 79 percent! While the percent of vegetarians has seemed to plateau recently at 5%, the number of “flexitarians,” people who eat vegetarian more than half the time, has risen to 16%. This means that 50 million people have realized the benefits of eating less meat!

You, too, can go vegan, and Catskill Animal Sanctuary is here to help! The animals, the earth, and your body will thank you!