Producers of broiler chicken products have no reason to be concerned about the forthcoming launch of Beyond Meat’s plant-based poultry range, the chairman of the Russian National Meat Association said in comforting tones, ignoring forecasts from Deloitte of a 10 per cent growth in the plant-based food sector per year in Russia.

While the ‘beef’ industry is often thought of as one of the worst greenhouse gas emitters and contributors to rainforest destruction and the ensuing climate crisis, a new report reminds us that other agricultural sectors have a lot to answer for including, not least of all, the UK’s free-range egg producers.

The Queen’s Speech unveiled a proposal to limit the sale of foie gras after years of public outrage against the product, but why are we still turning away from the suffering of animals used for food on our own doorstep?

A new initiative aimed at improving the welfare of laying hens gives insights into the strange way that the egg industry conceives of hen welfare. The British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT) and British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) are collaborating to encourage people to buy a range of egg sizes instead of only large or very large ones, which have become more popular than small and medium-sized eggs. Laying large eggs can be painful and dangerous to the hens.

In yet another sign that the UK dairy industry is in serious trouble, new figures out this week have revealed a staggering drop in sales of milk and cream to the EU, by far our largest export market. Is this really just teething troubles, as Boris Johnson calls them, or is it another nail in the coffin of cow exploitation?

A new investigation by Animal Justice Project has been released showing abuse of day-old dairy calves at the hands of a leading UK ‘calf trader’ with links to major supermarkets, but also their fate at a slaughterhouse in Chester. With bans in place to prevent calf shootings on farms, has this blown the lid off the dairy industry’s new ‘dirty secret’?

One of the criticisms of a vegan or vegetarian diet you see cropping up, again and again, is that it is actually responsible for large amounts of deforestation because it encourages people to consume more food products made from soy. Drink soy milk? Eat tofu or soy-based meat substitutes? Then is the destruction of the Amazon really on your hands?!

Blue Peter has managed to enrage farmers by suggesting that kids can be ‘climate heroes’ by giving up meat for two weeks. Children could earn a green badge by taking a two-week pledge to become climate heroes by doing things like switching off appliances to save power, avoiding disposable plastics, planting pollinator-friendly plants and, heaven forbid, not eating meat.

Back in 2011, businessman Phil Kerry wanted to open six rabbit farms across England. Thousands of rabbits would have led miserable lives in battery cages before being killed for their flesh and fur. But the public would not stand for it and Kerry ended up revising his plans and has since established several ‘free-range’ farms instead.

It’s called ‘sheep freeze branding’ and it’s supposed to be a better, less painful alternative to mulesing, the barbaric act of cutting away the skin on a sheep’s backside with shears to prevent flystrike, always without anaesthesia and in many cases without pain relief. Why are we faced with having to choose between mulesing and freeze branding at all?

The news last week that scientists have found that adding seaweed to the diets of cows reduces methane emissions will no doubt be welcomed by the industry, but it’s just one part of a very big puzzle.

In September 2019 the National Farmers’ Union published their Achieving Net Zero: Farming’s 2040 Goal that laid out its plans for making UK farming ‘carbon neutral’, but is it achievable and what would it mean for non-human animals? Dr Alex Lockwood writes.