The actor and activist said that she went vegetarian at the age of nine because she was “very attached to animals,” and added that the environmental impact of factory farming became more of a priority as she got older. Portman first adopted a vegan diet around 2011.

“I think it’s basic empathy that I understood as a child, and understanding […] animals as like myself,” said Portman. She highlighted the role of anthropomorphized characters in cartoons in evoking empathy for animals, an idea that some research papers echo.

She also noted how animal rights and welfare intersect with “so many” other issues, including feminism, labor struggles, and migrant’s rights, including through the industry’s treatment of workers, animals, and specifically in its violent treatment of “female bodies.”

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Portman made the comments while appearing during the closing ceremony of Change NOW’s 2025 conference in conversation with CEO and founder Santiago Lefebvre. The event was a three-day “summit” focused on networking and the discussion of sustainability, resources, and “inclusion.” Other attendees included Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson and Earthshot Prize CEO Hannah Jones, along with other activists and prominent figures.

Read more: ‘I Tried Natalie Portman’s Favorite Vegan Weekday Dish’

‘Every time you eat, you’re thinking about your commitment’

In April, a new study by two of the UK’s leading plant-based healthcare professionals – PBHP’s Dr Shireen Kassam and Dr Laura Jane Smith – highlighted how promoting meat-free diets could help tackle the “intertwined crises” of poor health, food shortages, climate change, biodiversity loss and social injustice, all of which are driven by human activities.

“It’s so connected to so many other issues that it has become a very big part of my life,” Portman told Lefebvre. “And also is a way, I think, you can express your commitment three times a day. […]. Every time you eat, you’re thinking about your commitment to the environment, to nature, to animals, to your values.”

Read more: Is Natalie Portman Vegan? Everything She’s Said About The Movement

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

The findings indicate that the dominant, pastoral image of animal farming in marketing does not represent reality. In fact, most farmed animals – around 85 percent in the UK – are raised on factory farms.

Food Chain Misinformation was published this week by The Animal Law Foundation, a UK-based legal research charity and lawyer collective. In a statement sent to Plant Based News, The Animal Law Foundation’s executive director Edie Bowles noted that “something has clearly gone wrong,” particularly when so many British consumers care about animal welfare. Posting about the report on X, Animal Law Foundation said Brits are being “systematically misled” about their food.

Relevant provisions under the Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Act of 2024 are due to come into effect from April 2025. The new act explicitly prohibits unfair commercial practices such as providing false or misleading information to sell a product. Its predecessor, The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, also prohibits misleading action and omission.

Read more: The ‘Shocking’ Rise In US-Style Mega-Farms In The UK

‘We need urgent action’

To produce the report, researchers reviewed the websites, advertisements, and products of 47 producers and processors of dairy and eggs, as well as chicken, duck, turkey, pig, and lamb meat. Only three of these did not use photos of animals on their website. Of the 44 producers that did use animals, 84 percent used imagery of animals living outdoors. While 61 percent showed images of animals indoors, all of the animals appeared healthy, and nearly 30 percent depicted spacious conditions. Forty-eight percent also used blurry, cropped, or unclear imagery.

All major supermarket websites feature images of apparently healthy animals living outdoors, and almost 67 percent used imagery of animals alongside farmers. Three out of the nine supermarkets did not show imagery of animals living indoors. Of those that did, the animals appeared to be healthy. The indoor imagery showed a cow alongside her calf, well-lit barns, and clean hay. Just two supermarkets depicted animals indoors in “what could be characterised as standard commercial conditions,” the report said.

According to Animal Law Foundation, dairy pooling, where milk from multiple farms is processed together, means that it is extremely difficult for consumers to find out if the cows that produced the milk they purchase were ever grazed outdoors, unless that milk is organic. Meanwhile, the law in England, Scotland, and Wales is set to be updated to loosen the requirements for a “free range” label due to bird flu. This means that a so-called free-range hen could potentially spend her entire life inside.

“Just as regulators are cracking down on greenwashing, we need urgent action to address ‘humane-washing’ in animal agriculture,” said Bowles. “Consumers must be able to trust the claims made on the food they buy, and authorities must ensure that those who partake in misleading practices are held to account.”

Read more: More Than Half Of Brits Unaware Cows Must Be Impregnated To Produce Milk, Survey Finds

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

A team of researchers from the University of Virginia used satellite data to measure ammonia levels across North Carolina. Elevated ammonia levels in the atmosphere correlated with factory farm locations, particularly across the Eastern part of the state.

The new research further vindicates the health and safety concerns of people living near factory farms and other intensive agriculture operations. It also confirms that the pollution from industrial pig farming, in particular, disproportionately affects communities of color.

From 2016 to 2021, the researchers found that ammonia levels were 49 percent higher for Indigenous communities, 35 percent higher for Hispanic and Latinx communities, and 27 percent higher for Black communities compared to non-Hispanic white communities.

Ammonia is an extremely corrosive pollutant produced by intensive pig farms that harms human and environmental health. North Carolina’s thousands of factory farms make billions of gallons of waste each year, much of which forms toxic, ammonia-emitting lagoons.

The team also found that weather exacerbates ammonia’s negative impact on BIPOC North Carolinians. They reported that hot days made inequalities 31 percent more pronounced for Black communities, while windier days made inequalities 64 percent higher for Indigenous communities.

The research was published in Environmental Science & Technology at the end of January.

Read more: Factory Farms Cost UK Taxpayers Over 1.2 Billion Pounds Per Year, Says New Report

North Carolina’s pig problem

North Carolina is home to approximately 2,000 intensive pig farms that raise almost around 10 million pigs (that’s more than the human population)

A significant proportion of the state’s pigs are factory-farmed in the counties of Duplin, Samson, and Robeson, where Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people make up nearly 60 percent of the population. In a letter from 2017, the EPA described a “linear relationship between race/ethnicity” and the density of factory-farmed hogs.

The negative impact of intensive pig farming on North Carolina residents has been well-documented, including investigations, lawsuits, and regular media coverage. However, factory farming continues to dominate US meat production, despite spiraling health issues, environmental damage, and increased acknowledgment of environmental racism.

Sally Pusede, lead author of the new study and professor at the University of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Sciences, told Vox that scientific data is essential in backing up people’s first-hand experiences, particularly of environmental racism.

“There are very few measurements of air pollution associated with industrialized agriculture from the ground,” said Pusede. “Without data to show that and support that, those claims can be contested.”

Read more: Berkeley Becomes The First US City To Ban Factory Farming

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

Read more: Why People In The UK Are Pouring Milk Down The Toilet

The report, titled The Hidden Harms of Factory Farms, finds that the high cost of factory farming undermines food security rather than aiding it.

The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF) – a Tory-linked animal welfare lobbying group founded by two Conservative voters – produced the report. CAWF used public government data and an original Bryant Research survey of 1,000 UK residents.

The report estimates that 85 percent of farming subsidies for chicken and pig farmers are absorbed by factory farms, which is around £269 million per year.

Factory farming is linked to extensive environmental pollution and related public health issues. The report estimates the cost of water and air pollution from factory farms to be £518 million, while the cost of increased respiratory deaths is around £92 million.

“This report challenges the most basic justifications for factory farming,” said Zac Goldsmith, a Conservative politician and former Environment Minister. “While these industrial farms claim to provide cheap meat and improved food security, the reality is far more complex.”

Read more: Huge Increase In Agribusiness Lobbyists At UN Biodiversity Summit

New report challenges ‘the most basic justifications’ for factory farming

The new CAWF report recommends halting the expansion of new megafarm facilities and the restructuring of farming subsidies to favor smaller-scale farms growing more nutritious, environmentally-friendly foods. It also calls for increased transparency around subsidies.

Animal agriculture and factory farming absorb a disproportionate amount of subsidization throughout Europe and the US, as well as in the UK. This makes animal products “artificially cheap,” further undermining both environmental goals and independent farmers.

The UK is becoming more intensively farmed than ever. About 85 percent of all farmed animals in Britain are raised on factory farms, and the number of US-style “megafarms” is rising. Moving money away from animal agriculture and towards plant foods could help countries meet national and international climate, environmental, and health commitments.

Read more: Plant-Based Meat Cuts Environmental Impact by 89%, Study Finds

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

Read more: The UK Government Is Facing Legal Action Over Lobsters – Here’s Why

Measure DD, a citizen-initiated ballot measure, called for a ban of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in Berkeley. CAFOs are large-scale industrial farms where animals like cows, pigs, and chickens are densely confined for meat, dairy, or egg production. CAFOs may also house animals for other industries, including entertainment or sport. CAFOs are notorious for having little regard for animal well-being, instead focusing on maximizing profits by keeping as many animals as possible.

Currently, there are no CAFOs in Berkeley. The last remaining farm, a horse racing facility named Golden Gate Fields, closed in June of this year following prolonged protests over animal deaths. The new ban will ensure that no CAFOs can be built in the city. With over half the votes counted, 60 percent of voters supported the ban. According to groups Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) and Compassionate Bay, which led the efforts to gain signatures, the ban will be put in place once the official vote is certified. 

“Residents of Berkeley have just taken a historic stand for animals and the planet we all share,” said Almira Tanner, a Berkeley resident and lead organizer of DxE, in a statement. “The extreme heat, hurricanes, and flooding we’re seeing today will only get worse if we don’t act quickly to stop the biggest contributors to climate change, including animal agriculture.”

Read more: ‘Transfarmation’ Stories: The Farmers Switching From Animals To Crops

Factory farming in the USA

CAFOs are big business in the US, and at least 99 percent of animals are factory farmed in the country. CAFOs are defined in Measure DD as “agricultural operations where animals have been, are, or will be stabled or confined and fed or maintained for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period.” In other words, animals housed in CAFOs are not allowed outside for 45 days or more in this period. To be classed as a CAFO, farms must also exceed certain size thresholds established by the US Environmental Protection Agency or pose a risk to water quality.

Factory farms are widely regarded as the cruelest forms of animal farming. On a typical CAFO, animals will have limited or no access to the outside, and many will spend most of their lives in cages. Some intensive farms hold hundreds of thousands – or even more than a million – animals at a time. CAFOs are also devastating for the environment, and affect local communities due to the water and air pollution they cause.  

There are also growing concerns about the pandemic risk associated with factory farms. Bird flu, which has been described as a “ticking time bomb,” has been found in cows on a number of dairy farms throughout the US. Earlier this week, it was reported that there have been more cases among dairy workers than previously thought. 

DxE has expressed hope that the Berkeley ban will inspire other cities to follow suit. 

Read more: Don’t Believe The Myths: The Horse Racing Industry Is Rotten To Its Core

This article was written by Polly Foreman on the PBN Website.

Read more: Farmed Animals Numbers Drop In Europe As Meat Production Falls

Food For Profit exposes the links between the European Parliament and the 387 billion euros-funded factory farming industry. It is the result of a five-year investigation by journalist Giulia Innocenzi and a team of investigators. The film is directed by Pablo D’Ambrosi, and it will soon be showing in the UK for the first time.

After the film aired primetime on Italy’s national broadcaster in May, Italy’s agriculture minister Francesco Lollobrigida publicly criticized it. He said it “targeted an entire industry” when in reality “it’s just a few exceptions who act in a bad way.” He defended Italy’s farming sector, saying that “the great majority of our farmers follow the rules.”

Responding to his words, Innocenzi told Plant Based News: “Usually the meat industry keeps silent in front of criticism, because they know it’s the best way to stay away from problems. But this time Food For Profit had too much echo, as public opinion was outraged by the reality of factory farm productions. So what they did was try to discredit our work by saying it’s just a few bad apples.”

“Unfortunately, intensive farms are the same in any country, with animal suffering and environmental pollution,” she added. “And people are starting to understand that. This is why the industry is so frightened.”

‘Food For Profit’ exposes politicians

Lollobrigida also defended Paolo De Castro, a former MEP who was secretly filmed for the film. De Castro became a MEP in 2009 and was twice Minister for Agriculture and Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. Following the release of the film, he did not run for re-election.

Read more: German Farmers Offered Incentives To Move Away From Pigs

Lollobrigida expressed “solidarity” with De Castro, saying: “He has been victim of attacks that I believe come from a strong ideology.” He made these comments at a public meeting organized by meat industry associations about Food For Profit, at which they announced they would begin work on a film called Food For Life.

The Food For Profit filmmakers attended the meeting. Lollobrigida accused them of seeking to “gain success and money through a film that describes as criminals those who produce our great food.” He admitted to not having watched the film.

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Food For Profit has its UK premiere in Ealing, London, on October 29, Brighton on October 30, and Brixton, London, on November 7. You can find out more information here.

Read more: Lupita Nyong’o Endorses Plant-Based Food In ‘The Wild Robot’ Film Promo

This article was written by Claire Hamlett on the PBN Website.

Read more: European Commission Approves €700 Million To Support Animal Farm Closures

The ASA is taking action because the RSPCA’s advertising campaign omits essential information about the charity’s endorsement of intensive animal farms. Certain “RSPCA Assured” farms have recently been highlighted in exposés for alleged breaches of animal welfare standards.

The advertisements under investigation include large billboards, online ads, and television ads bearing the slogan “Every kind of animal deserves our kindness.”

One video advertisement is currently shortlisted at the ThirdSector charity awards and features footage of free-roaming animals. It also includes an audio clip of wildlife advocate Chris Packham, who recently called RSPCA’s Assured scheme “utterly indefensible.”

‘We felt the ads should face formal investigation’

Adfree Cities, a UK-wide network of groups that challenge corporate outdoor advertising, submitted a complaint to the ASA. The network said in a statement that the RSPCA’s “misleading” ads “greenwash” its treatment of farm animals via the RSPCA Assured scheme.

Adfree Cities Co-Director Veronica Wignall told Plant Based News (PBN) that the network works to reduce the amount of advertising the nation is exposed to, particularly in public spaces – as with the RSPCA’s billboards – where people can’t avoid it.

“But we also focus on challenging specific ads that are particularly harmful or misleading,” she said. “The RSPCA’s ads join the tide of greenwash advertising which deflects attention away from less palatable activities – in this case, keeping millions of animals in close confinement on farms the RSPCA has officially certified as ‘more humane.’

“We felt the ads should face formal investigation, especially given the trust placed in the RSPCA as the nation’s foremost charity to protect animals from harm.”

Read more: Majority Of The UK’s Dairy Farms Found Breaking Pollution Rules

RSPCA ads risk making meat and dairy appear animal-friendly

According to the RSPCA itself, Assured farms must comply with “stringent higher welfare standards,” and are “assessed and monitored regularly.” However, multiple exposés have revealed widespread cruelty and suffering on RSPCA Assured farms.

Footage shot by Animal Justice Project at an RSPCA Assured free-range and “high-welfare” chicken farm in Suffolk earlier this year shows abuse, neglect, chronic health issues, overcrowding, and the overall “brutal” handling of the birds by workers. Animal Rising also visited 45 farms it said were RSPCA Assured, and documented 280 breaches of legal standards and 94 breaches of codes of practice for animal welfare.

Every year, investigation after investigation highlights the cruelty of animal farming by depicting cruelty and death. But while most Britons oppose factory farming, most are unaware of how widespread cruel practices are.

Adfree Cities noted that, in addition to misrepresenting the RSPCA’s mission and activities, the new advertisements could make consumers feel that the Assured label means purchasing meat, dairy, eggs, or any animal products, can ever be an animal-friendly choice.

“The RSPCA’s ad campaign follows a trend in advertising that broadly hides the conditions faced by farm animals,” added Wignall. “In a similar way, ads for meat and dairy products rarely show an animal at all, distancing us from the origins of the food we eat.”

“We’re calling for an end to advertising for factory-farmed food as a starting point, to help us restructure our food system in a way that is fairer to farmers, consumers, and animals alike,” she continued. “We need to end misleading and harmful advertising to make space for meaningful change, including in our food system.”

The ASA has said that it received three official complaints and is currently investigating. In a statement to Plant Based News, the RSPCA said: “We are aware of this complaint and are very happy to work with the ASA, and provide any information they need. We are fully committed to complying with the CAP Code at all times and we are confident that the complaint lodged by AdFree Cities will not be upheld.

“Our For Every Kind campaign is a bold all-encompassing rallying cry, for people to rethink their relationships with animals and treat them with kindness and respect. If the lives of millions of animals are going to change, the way people think about them and act towards them needs to change too. This starts with everyone being better educated about animal welfare and the rich, emotional lives animals can experience. The magnitude of the crisis for animal welfare is such that we need everyone, not just the traditional animal advocates, to be inspired to create a better world for every animal. 

“Part of our vital work is advocating for farm animals and continually driving up standards to improve their welfare. We know that there is still much more to be done and progress isn’t always easy but we’re determined to keep helping improve the lives of farm animals now and in the future.”

Read more: The Environment Minister Says The UK Has ‘Highest Animal Welfare Standards’ – What Are Those Standards?

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

Read more: Animal Testing: Is It Effective, And What Happens To ‘Lab Animals’?

The cross-sectional study surveyed veterinarians and facility managers at 95 rodent testing laboratories in Australia and New Zealand (Aotearoa). It found that 71 percent routinely administered unregulated and “unnecessary” antimicrobial medicines such as antibiotics.

Lead study author Rebbecca Wilcox and co-authors Marc Marenda, Joanne Devlin, and Colin Wilks write that the “imprudent use” and “inappropriate disposal” of antimicrobials that are critically important to human health “likely” contributes to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in laboratory rodents. It also poses a health and safety risk to the humans who work with them and the environment.

Workers frequently administer antimicrobials to laboratory animals through drinking water, and 81 percent of the surveyed labs reported “disposing” of it by pouring it down the drain, untreated. The study stresses the “urgent need” to develop and implement evidence-based procedures for responsible usage and disposal of antimicrobials to avoid further AMR.

Plos One published the study in August, and speaking to the Guardian, Wilcox described AMR as a “coming pandemic.” She added that increasing human resistance to medicines will make routine procedures like hip replacements, cesareans, and other surgeries “life-threatening.”

Many campaigners believe that using animals in research is not only cruel, but also unnecessary. There are a wide range of alternatives to animal testing now available that could be utilized by research labs, meaning there would be no need for antibiotic use.

Read more: Animal Testing Lab Transforms Into Rescued Animal Sanctuary

Antibiotic resistance and factory farming

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that AMR is one of the top global threats to public health and development. The WHO estimates that bacterial AMR caused around 1.27 million deaths in 2019, and was a contributing factor in 4.95 million deaths the same year.

Animal research is not the only sector to use antimicrobial medicines outside of healthcare. Approximately 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the US are used in animal agriculture, and around 70 percent of these are “medically important” to humans.

The industry uses drugs to prevent the chronic infections and diseases that stem from cramped, unsanitary, and stressful conditions experienced by farmed animals. Some farmers administer critically important antibiotics to promote rapid growth.

The misuse and overuse of antimicrobial medicines in animal farming is one of the most critical causes of AMR infections in humans. The EU banned routine antibiotic usage in animal farming from 2022, but it continues in some countries, including the USA.

Read more: Antibiotic Overuse On UK Factory Farms ‘Could Kill Over 52,000 Humans By 2050’

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

Read more: ‘Food For Profit’: The New Documentary On Factory Farming In Europe

Leather making is an ancient art practiced for more than 7,000 years. Even in prehistoric times, early humans began using the skins of the animals they hunted as protection against the elements, mostly as clothes but also as shelters.

But in modern times, leather is mass-produced to feed the excessive demands of modern consumer culture, at the cost of billions of animal lives, environmental degradation, and tonnes of carbon equivalent emissions. Here’s everything you need to know about leather – including whether it’s really a byproduct of the meat industry, and whether it’s as cruel as critics say.

Is leather a byproduct of agriculture?

Despite its reputation, leather is definitively not a byproduct. The modern leather industry does not reduce the waste of animal agriculture, it collaborates in it. Leather is best viewed as a coproduct, meaning that the two industries are distinct, but inextricably linked.

The global leather goods market is gigantic, and Grand View Research predicts it will reach USD $405.28 billion by 2030, up from $242.85 billion in 2022. In 2020, global production reached 12.5 million tonnes and included the skin of over 1.4 billion animals. (That’s nearly 20 percent of the entire human population at the time killed within a single year.)

Apart from the staggering inherent environmental footprint of raising cattle, turning hides into leather itself has a significant impact. So significant, in fact, that Collective Fashion Justice believes turning hides into products creates more CO2e emissions – about 110kg per square meter – than simply putting them straight into landfill. (Which is very likely where the product will end up rotting and producing emissions eventually, anyway.)

It’s also not just cows that are used to produce leather. Hides from sheeps*, lambs, goats, and pigs are also frequently used, while animals such as crocodiles, alligators, snakes, kangaroos, zebras, elephants, and more – including rare, endangered, and keystone species – are hunted specifically for their skins, frequently for luxury accessories by high-end brands.

Fashion designer and vegan icon Stella McCartney, who uses plant-based alternatives to leather in her various products, previously told Plant Based News (PBN) that the idea of leather was a byproduct was “sheer nonsense.” She added: “I’m here to let people know that’s a lie that’s been created by the meat industry and leather boards.”

Is the leather industry cruel?

Animals that are hunted specifically for their hides often experience routine but stark cruelty, including the live skinning of crocodiles and snakes on certain farms. The live skinning of cows has also been documented.

Most leather does come from cows raised for beef and milk, however, and the majority of these animals are factory farmed. (Overall, the industry raises around 92 billion animals per year in cramped, unhygienic, and trauma-inducing cruel conditions.)

This means that most leather is inextricably linked to intensive animal farming – and all of the ethical, human, and environmental issues that it promotes. Furthermore, some parts of the industry are lobbying for even more intensification, which will worsen its problems.

Emma Håkansson from Collective Fashion Justice previously told PBN that the reality of leather production is intentionally obfuscated by the fashion industry. “While people are aware that leather is the processed skins of animals, all advertising and messaging from the fashion industry is designed to normalize this and limit questioning,” she said.

The unique impact of the leather industry

A 2022 report by Collective Fashion Justice found that the 170 unique chemicals used in conventional leather tanning pose significant risks to soil, air, land, and wildlife, harming biodiversity and the human communities working in and living near factories. (Dyeing and finishing textile products account for around 20 percent of all clean water pollution.)

Leather also notably fuels illegal deforestation in its own right, along with human displacement, murders, child labor, exploitation, and abuse.

In addition to its enormous contributions to animal cruelty, environmental destruction, pollution, human rights issues, and more, the leather industry is notoriously inefficient. Producing 10 bags from Brazilian leather can cause approximately one hectare of deforestation, while cow leather boots cost nearly seven times more CO2e than alternatives.

While leather is historically celebrated as a buy-once material, the ubiquitousness of fast fashion means that many people consume leather products like bags and shoes in the same way they would others. The European footwear industry alone generates about 100,000 tonnes of leather waste per year, the majority of which is either incinerated or sent to landfills.

Read more: Animals Up In Flames: The Growing Threat Of Barn Fires

Are there vegan alternatives to leather?

While petroleum-based PU leather, or “pleather,” comes with its own significant footprint, there are many modern materials that rival leather in longevity and aesthetic, but minimize environmental and ethical costs by cutting out the animals.

Cork and waxed cotton are well-established alternatives to animal leather, but cactuses, corn, mushrooms, rubber, flowers, and fruit are now also used to create effective and sustainable bio-leather products.

Earlier this year, scientists grew a self-dying black leather shoe from bacterial cellulose. Lead author Professor Tom Ellis noted that the natural compound is inherently vegan, and requires just a fraction of the CO2e, water, land, and time of traditional leather. (It’s also biodegradable and free from PU leather’s toxic petrochemicals.)

Co-author Dr Kenneth Walker noted that the real potential of leather alternatives can be explored best when the scientific community and fashion designers work together.

“As current and future users of new bacteria-grown textiles, designers have a key role in championing exciting new materials and giving expert feedback to improve form, function, and the switch to sustainable fashion,” said Walker.

Read more: The Best Vegan Trainers To Buy In The UK

*While the English language usually refers to multiple sheeps as “sheep”, we use “sheeps” to emphasize that they are individuals.

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

Read more: I’m Taking The Government To Court Over Farmed Chickens – Here’s Why

Shropshire Council faces a judicial review, backed by campaign group River Action, for its decision to approve a chicken factory farm that will house 230,000 birds in four sheds. The farm site sits within the Severn catchment, risking what River Action’s chairman Charles Watson described as “a re-run of the environmental scandal” that has happened in the River Wye.

The Wye, which runs through Wales and into England, has been choked by manure run off from hundreds of chicken factory farms containing more than 44 million birds in its catchment. Phosphate levels in the river have increased sharply as a result, causing algal blooms and killing off wildlife.  

According to the judicial review application, the council failed to take into account the environmental harms of manure and biomass emissions related to the farm. Many chicken factory farms export waste to anaerobic digesters which create gas to use as fuel. But the “digestate” left over is spread on farms as fertilizer, which campaigners say will still be a source of pollution.

Explosion of factory farms

There are already dozens of industrial chicken farms in Shropshire, with many located in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Factory farms in Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Powys in the River Wye catchment have proliferated since 2011.

Councils don’t have to take into account the combined effect of granting planning approval to numerous factory farms. They also won’t refuse such applications on principle, and are instead obliged to ask the applicant how impacts such as odour, noise, and pollution will be reduced to “an unspecified degree.” They only refuse permission if mitigation is impossible.

Several judicial reviews in Shropshire have already been successful in getting planning permission overturned. Though applicants often re-apply with amended applications.

Read more: More Than A Million Chickens Feared Dead After Huge Illinois Barn Fire

This article was written by Claire Hamlett on the PBN Website.

Read more: US To Test Ice Cream And Butter For H5N1 Bird Flu Virus

As with the previous three, this fourth case is a dairy worker who came into contact with infected cows while carrying out their job. The worker was initially monitored due to their exposure and later reported symptoms to state officials.

The Colorado worker received antiviral medication and has since recovered, while the CDC is currently analyzing a sample of the virus to see if it has developed any new mutations.

As the virus spreads among mammals, it could mutate to make human-to-human infection more likely. However, the CDC’s overall health risk assessment of the bird flu outbreak remains “low,” despite its continued spread and the additional risk of mutation that each new human “spillover” case brings.

This latest is the first case in Colorado, preceded by one in Michigan and two in Texas. According to the USDA, Colorado has the highest total number of infected cattle herds. The mountain state was also home to a separate human case of H5N1 back in 2022.

Read more: More US Bird Flu Cases ‘Likely’ After Second Human Infected By Cows

The next human pandemic is just a ‘question of when’

Last month, former CDC director Robert Redfield – who headed the agency during the COVID-19 pandemic – warned that bird flu is “very likely” to be the next human pandemic. Speaking to News Nation, he said “It’s not a question of if, it’s more of a question of when.”

In April, the first-ever human case of H5N2, a separate strain of bird flu, killed a man in Mexico. As with H5N1, it’s likely he caught the virus from an infected animal. Other strains of bird flu have previously killed humans, including 18 deaths from H5N6 in China in 2021.

While the US government maintains that the current risk to humans from H5N1 bird flu remains low, officials say they are taking the possibility of further transmission seriously. Two potential vaccines in millions of doses are ready for immediate rollout, if necessary.

Read more: Bird Flu In Dairy Cows: How Worried Should We Be?

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

Read more: The UK Government Is Facing Legal Action Over Lobsters – Here’s Why

The aquaculture industry must phase out pen-net pen salmon farming – large marine cages often containing hundreds of thousands of fishes* – along British Columbia’s coastline over the next five years, before a permanent ban on June 30, 2029.

Aside from established farms eligible for renewal, Canada will only grant licenses for marine or land-based closed-containment systems from July 1, 2024. Environmental and wildlife groups have welcomed the decision, but industry representatives remain critical.

Because many First Nations and coastal communities currently rely on open-net pen aquaculture, the Canadian government says it will release a draft plan by the end of next month with an emphasis on supporting those communities during the transition, economic support for innovative or clean aquaculture technology, and effective management.

“The government is firmly committed to taking concrete steps to protect wild Pacific salmon,” said Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard. 

“Today, I’m announcing the essence of a responsible, realistic, and achievable transition that ensures the protection of wild species, food security, and the vital economic development of British Columbia’s First Nations, coastal communities, and others, as we keep working towards a final transition plan by 2025,” she added.

Read more: Animals Up In Flames: The Growing Threat Of Barn Fires

Ending open-net salmon farming marks ‘transformative shift’

Approximately half of the Pacific salmon populations are in some sort of decline, per Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and some studies have linked this downward trajectory to farming and aquaculture. There are currently dozens of open net farms in British Columbia.

Much like other forms of factory farming, aquaculture promotes the spread of disease, and open-net pen farming, in particular, allows parasites, chemicals, bacteria, and fatal diseases like piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) to flow into the wider ocean ecosystem, infecting other animals.

In 2021, the Pacific Salmon Foundation reported that 86 percent of British Columbians showed “high levels of concern” over declining salmon stocks.

“Since 2019, Canadians have looked to the federal government to protect wild salmon – including regulating fish farming,” said Taleeb Noormohamed, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville. “Ending open net aquaculture is a transformative shift that will make Canada a world leader in sustainable aquaculture production, and preserve BC’s pristine coast and fragile ecosystem for generations to come.”

*While the English language usually refers to multiple fishes as “fish”, we use “fishes” to emphasize that they are individuals.

Read more: ‘Transfarmation’ Stories: The Farmers Switching From Animals To Crops

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

This is, notably, the first time HPAI A(H5N1), a strain of avian influenza – or bird flu – has been found in cattle. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed one human infection, an agricultural worker in Texas.

Read more: Government ‘Failings’ Leave UK Vulnerable To Animal Disease Outbreak, Report Warns

The CDC is now monitoring over 100 people (mostly other agricultural workers) for signs of infection. While human cases of avian influenza A viruses do occur occasionally, they are extremely rare, and this marks the second-ever recorded H5N1 infection in the US.

The CDC’s risk assessment for the general public remains low, but due to a high mortality rate of around 50 percent and the strong likelihood of another zoonotic pandemic, global health officials are still preparing for a scenario in which the flu spreads to more humans.

“We’ve been investing in a library of antigens to move out as quickly as possible should we begin to see a highly transmissible flu strain circulate,” Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services, told NBC.

Two possible bird flu vaccines could be made available very quickly, if necessary, and the government says it could hypothetically ship out “hundreds of thousands” of doses in just a few weeks. However, officials also said that there are still no signs of mutation in the virus that would indicate it was becoming more transmissible.

Read more: People Fail To Recognize Factory Farming’s Link To Zoonotic Diseases – Despite Overwhelming Evidence

The spread of bird flu among cows

A global outbreak of H5N1 amongst birds began in 2020 and is now widespread, and experts believe that the infection of cattle likely began with a single wild bird interaction.

Avian flu impacted over 50 million European birds (both wild and farmed) between 2021 and 2022 alone. Its presence in cattle was first reported on March 25, 2024, though experts now believe the jump from birds to cows may have begun as early as December 2023.

Milk is believed to be the primary vector for transmission between cows rather than the respiratory infection associated with typical flu. Some experts have said that it may be spreading via milking machines or rodents and people moving between equipment, though we don’t know for sure. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned against human consumption of unpasteurized milk.

The federal government has also officially ordered that farmers moving dairy cows between states must now test all cattle, not just those with symptoms. The update comes shortly after the testing of pasteurized milk from supermarkets found genetic traces of the virus. (Note: this does not necessarily indicate the presence of live virus in pasteurized milk.)

The FDA has repeatedly said that infection via pasteurized milk is of “no concern.” Still, researchers and veterinarians on the front lines of the outbreak say the government has taken too long to share hard data on viral changes and milk safety in general.

Read more: Wildlife Trade Is ‘Key Risk Factor’ Behind Global Spread Of Disease, Study Finds

Why it matters that bird flu has spread to mammals

Cows are not the only non-avian animals to catch the virus. Half of a Texas dairy farm’s resident cats died after consuming unpasteurized dairy milk from infected cows, and experts have also detected H5N1 in wild animals such as bobcats, raccoons, foxes, and skunks. (Previously, the virus has been known to spread to farmed mink, sea lions, and dolphins.)

This transmission from birds to mammals is significant as it increases the risk that the virus could adapt further to spread more easily between animals and humans, or from human to human via those people working closely with farm animals.

However, the spread of H5N1 to hog farms would be of particular concern, as pigs have cellular similarities to humans which them particularly susceptible to human viruses. If infected, the bird flu virus could potentially mutate in pigs to become more easily transmissible to humans.

There is also some confusion over exactly how the virus is spreading. For example, whether some cattle are infected but asymptomatic, or even whether cows have spread the flu back to poultry. One possible factor is the lack of biosecurity surrounding animal waste on farms.

American cattle are frequently fed something known as “poultry litter,” the leftover feathers, feces, dropped food, and anything else pulled off the floors in industrial poultry farms. The practice has been illegal in the EU and UK since the BSE (“mad cow disease”) outbreak in the 1990s, but continues across the US, something that experts note could be a factor for H5N1.

USDA is focused on ‘protecting’ the meat and dairy industry

Speaking to Bovine Vet Online late last month, cattle veterinarian Dr Barb Petersen said “Every dairy that I’ve worked with has – with the exception of one – had sick human beings at the same time they had sick cows,” including people who do not interact with cows directly.

While any mandatory testing is a step in the right direction, cows are still only tested before transportation, and often reluctantly. Furthermore, some people believe that sickness amongst both cows and workers is going underreported, both by workers themselves and farm owners. Officials are currently unaware if beef cattle have also been infected by the virus.

Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, told the Telegraph: “The USDA is primarily focused on protecting the animal production industry, and I think that’s a short-term goal, but a long-term mistake.”

In addition to the use of animal waste as feed for other farm animals, industrialized agriculture plays a role in the spread of zoonotic disease in a variety of other ways. For example, it overuses antibiotics preventively to keep overcrowded and sickly animals alive.

Three-quarters of the world’s antibiotics are used for this purpose, and a 2023 study from World Animal Protection UK estimates that this is responsible for 2,000 human deaths per year.

“Appetite for meat can be a stumbling block for considering the role of animal agriculture in the spread of zoonotic disease,” said the study’s lead researcher Dr Kristof Dhont in a statement sent to Plant Based News (PBN) last year. “Solutions to this problem will require policy changes and personal sacrifices, akin to dealing with the looming climate emergency.”

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.

A Reddit user posted a picture of the green chicken to the website and asked if it was normal. Many replies correctly identified the discolored meat as “green muscle disease.”

Read more: Think Free Range Eggs Are Ethical? Investigation Exposes Reality Of ‘Cage-Free’

Not many people would find green chicken meat an appetizing prospect – though it poses no safety hazard according to the US Department of Agriculture. But it signifies something even more unsavory about the mass production of chicken meat on factory farms.

What is green muscle disease?

Green muscle disease is the common name for a condition called ischemic myopathy or deep pectoral myopathy. It results from restricted blood supply to the flight muscles in chickens and turkeys.

Blood flow to the area becomes restricted when birds flap their wings a lot and the muscle gains more mass than the birds’ bodies can accommodate. The pressure limits or cuts off the blood supply, leading to the death of the muscle tissue.

Read more: Will Eating Chicken Really Save The Planet?

Several factors are thought to contribute to farmed birds flapping their wings a lot. These include stressful conditions such as birds being caught to be loaded onto trucks for slaughter and sudden changes in light conditions in barns. The withdrawal of feed that happens in the days before slaughter is another possible contributor.

Factory farms are also inherently stressful places for chickens and other farmed birds. Thousands of them are housed together in barns, with very little space per bird. There is little to engage them and they can be become bored and frustrated. While they are growing to slaughter weight, the barn floor will become covered in feces and urine, as they are only cleaned between flocks. 

Large-growing breeds

Usually, green meat will be removed from the bird’s body during processing, but sometimes it will reach supermarket shelves in whole carcasses. Green muscle disease isn’t new, but the poultry industry says it is occurring more frequently. The main reason is that chickens are being bred for heavier body weights. 

“Green chicken flesh is the result of industrial breeding practices that cause chickens to grow so unnaturally large so quickly that there’s inadequate blood flow to their chest,” PETA’s Vice President of Programmes Elisa Allen told Plant Based News.

Modern broiler chickens not only grow three times faster than they did fifty years ago, they can also weigh up to four times as much. In the US, around 70 percent of chicken meat comes from larger birds weighing more than 2.7kg. 

Pressures on chicken bodies from selective breeding means that green muscle disease is not the only muscle myopathy from which they can suffer. Others include “woody breast,” where the breast muscles harden, and “spaghetti chicken,” where difficulty breathing deprives muscles tissue of oxygen and causes the fibers to separate. 

Cheap chicken

Costco’s rotisserie chicken costs only $4.99, a price that has not changed since 2009. The chickens are also typically a pound heavier than rotisserie chicken found at other supermarkets. In 2022, Costco sold 117 million – a 10 percent increase on the year before.

It’s only possible for Costco to sell so many chickens so cheaply because of the way ways in which the chickens are farmed. Unusually, Costco owns the farms and processing plants that produce its chicken. In 2020, an undercover investigation by Mercy For Animals revealed fast-growing Costco chickens struggling to walk and suffering from ammonia burns due to lying in their own waste. The footage also captured piles of rotting dead birds.

Costco later said it would look into giving birds more space and that it would look into breeding chickens to have fewer welfare problems. But even if these changes came into effect, the chickens would still live short, difficult lives before being slaughtered and sold at the lowest cost possible.

“PETA asks consumers to reflect on the fact that eating chicken means eating the flesh of a disabled, diseased – and now dead – bird and urges them to opt instead for delicious vegan chicken that’s free from cruelty as well as nasty surprises,” said Allen.

This article was written by Claire Hamlett on the PBN Website.

On Wednesday, March 27, the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters officially confirmed that a citizen-led petition to ban factory farms qualified for the ballot. Volunteers from the Coalition to End Factory Farming (CEFF) submitted over 37 thousand signatures earlier this month.

The Registrar of Voters will now deliver the initiative to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, which will then decide when it will actually go to a vote. The CEFF believes that this will likely be in November of this year. This means that Sonoma County will become the first in the nation to vote on such a ban, with potentially huge implications for the rest of the US.

The measure, if adopted, would impact around two dozen local agricultural businesses which are classed as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO), or factory farms, per federal guidelines. (The USDA defines a CAFO as confining more than 1,000 “animal units.”)

The proposed measure would also take into account the species of the confined animals, the duration of animals’ confinement, and how significant its pollution of the local environment, including where two or more operations could be together considered a CAFO.

Existing CAFOs would be required to register, and would have three years to phase out operations before facing increasingly severe financial penalties: USD $1,000 for the first day, $5,000 for the second, and $10,000 for the third and all subsequent days spent in violation.

The measure would also require a phase out process developed in collaboration with a California-based humane society or society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, along with a job-retraining program for CAFO workers created by the Agricultural Commissioner.

Why end factory farming?

CEFF is a coalition of over 30 organizations including various environmental advocacy and animal protection groups along with several small animal farms and even local businesses. They are as diverse as the Organic Consumers Association, Farm Sanctuary, the Food Animals Concerns Trust (FACT), and Direct Action Everywhere (DxE).

“Sonoma County is a beautiful place with strong values around protecting animals and the environment. Unfortunately, dozens of factory farms are operating counter to the public’s values,” DxE communications lead Cassie King told Plant Based News (PBN). “Now, ordinary people are uniting and utilizing a form of direct democracy to end factory farming in Sonoma County.”

Factory farming’s impact is felt far and wide. Extensive scientific studies combined with repeated undercover investigations depict the myriad of ways factory farming impacts the environment and wildlife, public health, and CAFO workers, as well as the animals themselves.

In fact, several years of factory farm investigations in Sonoma County specifically have exposed shocking cruelty, including three separate investigations (2014, 2019, and 2023) into the Reichardt Duck Farm in Petaluma which each found diseased and dying animals.

“Cheap food has come at the cost of our local economy and rural landscape,” said Roy Smith, operator of a Sonoma-based diverse animal farm and vocal supporter of the CEFF’s measure, in a release sent to PBN. “The first step in rebuilding our food system, and making family farms viable again, is to level the playing field.”

“There is no playing field for small farmers as long as CAFOs occupy it,” added Smith. “And they won’t leave without an eviction notice.”

More like this:

• How Many Animals Are Killed For Food Everyday?
• Amazon Rainforest Faces ‘Unprecedented Stresses’ As Tipping Points Near
• Antibiotic Overuse On UK Factory Farms ‘Could Kill Over 52,000 Humans By 2050’

This article was written by Liam Pritchett on the PBN Website.