With all that’s been happening, it’s easy to feel hopeless in the fight against animal cruelty. However, this week the world has seen some really massive positive steps being taken by politicians, celebrities and individuals alike to help steer us towards a vegan world. Here’s a wrap up of some of the most important stories.

Possible US Factory farming reform

Life has changed substantially in the USA over a mere period of weeks. Unsurprisingly, this change has lead to many Americans rethinking their way of life, and how their society could be changed for the better.

On May 7th, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren and House Representative Ro Khanna announced that they would be supporting a bill that would help to slow down the growth of factory farms. The bill, entitled the Farm System Reform Act (FSRA), aims to ‘place a moratorium on large concentrated animal feeding operations, to strengthen the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to require country of origin labeling on beef, pork, and dairy products, and for other purposes’ according to 116th Congress on January 1st, 2020. This essentially means that the bill will cease to support the opening of more large scale factory farms, and limiting the expansion of existing operations.

Unfortunately, the FSRA (if passed) will not be the end of factory farming in the United States, and much more work is needed in order to shut down animal industries. But we cannot deny the importance of this first step in gradually moving the focus of agricultural industries towards more sustainable and ethical practises. This bill, introduced by vegan Senator Cory Booker, is also a reminder of the importance of having vegans in positions of power, where they have the opportunity to make change.

If this bill is passed, the results would be incredible. Not only would it help to prevent animal cruelty in the US, but since the country is somewhat of a trendsetter – we could potentially see other countries following suit in years to come. We commend all involved for their forethought and bravery in pushing such a controversial bill – their reward is, obviously, being on the right side of history.

You can read the bill here.

Pamela Anderson says ‘cruelty free fashion’ with vegan leather handbags

Celebrity Pamela Anderson has recently launched a new line of vegan leather bags in collaboration with Ashoka Paris. Anderson was seen modelling the bags on her Instagram this morning.

Certainly, the photoshoot makes vegan leather look just as good as the real deal. We’re not surprised. Ashoka Paris, who have over 10 thousand Instagram followers, are known for their elegant designs that showcase vegan leather products. We’re glad that more celebrities are choosing to collaborate with brands with good ethical practises – and are helping to popularise vegan alternatives.

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💋 PAMELA ANDERSON X ASHOKA PARIS 💋 (in english bellow) Découvrez la collection imaginée avec PAMELA ANDERSON. Ce partenariat est né, comme une évidence, de la rencontre de 2 lauréats des PETA Fashion Awards 2018. Pamela Anderson, personnalité de l'année pour son engagement envers les animaux et Ashoka Paris, meilleurs sacs vegan. Cette collection est le fruit d'un travail collaboratif mené depuis janvier 2019 avec Pamela et notre designer David Mateo. A l'origine, il s'agissait d'imaginer un seul sac et puis de fil en aiguille, la passion aidant, c'est une ligne de 4 sacs qui a vu le jour. Chaque sac est réalisé en Apple Skin et se décline en 4 magnifiques coloris 🍎 Les fermoirs ont été imaginés et inspirés par Pamela puis réalisés sur mesure. Nous avions dévoilé nos prototypes lors du Veggie World Paris d'octobre dernier où ils avaient été très chaleureusement accueillis. Nous reconnaissons que nos processus sont un peu longs mais pour être transparents avec vous, sachez que nous préférons sortir moins de nouveautés pour privilégier la qualité. Notre exigence : vous proposer des sacs les plus originaux et les mieux aboutis possible. Deux de ces modèles sont en précommande sur notre site pour une livraison prévue fin juin. Une part des ventes de la collection ira à la Pamela Anderson foundation 🙏 Discover the collection imagined with and for PAMELA ANDERSON. This partnership was born, as a matter of course, from the meeting of 2 PETA Fashion Awards 2018 winners. Pamela Anderson, personality of the year for her commitment to animals and Ashoka Paris, best vegan bags. This collection is the result of a collaborative work done since January 2019 with Pamela and our designer David Mateo. Originally, it was a question of imagining a single bag and then, one thing leading to another, passion helping, a line of 4 bags was born. Each bag is made in Apple Skin from Italy and available in 4 beautiful colours…

A post shared by ASHOKA Paris – Vegan Bags (@ashoka_veganbags) on

Comedian Ricky Gervais speaks out against wet markets

Controversial comedian Ricky Gervais is no stranger to boldness – coming back into headlines recently over his divisive Golden Globes Speech and new series ‘Afterlife’ which was recently released onto Australian Netflix.

This week, Gervais is in the news for his comments during a Facebook live event. ‘Pandemics come from eating things you f*cking shouldn’t’ he stated, referring to the dominant theory that Covid – 19 originated in a wet market. Whilst this is the statement Gervais is receiving the most attention for, his qualifying remarks are far more chilling: ‘People keep asking will life ever return to normal. Yes, of course it will. I mean, it will happen again. This will happen again’. Most likely, he is right.

A widely quoted line of Albert Einstein is that the definition of insanity is repeating something over and over and expecting a different result. We need to consider this in regards to animal industries and the spread of zoonotic diseases. We need to change our way of life and re-examine our societal values to stop future harm being done.

Gervais should be commended for his stance on wet markets and against animal cruelty. It takes bravery to use your voice to champion important, but unpopular, causes.

Main image: Ashoka Vegan Bags / Instagram

If you missed our round up from last week then now is your chance to catch up!

About the Author

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Lucy Bailey is 17 years old and has been vegan for 9 months. Lucy is an award winning public speaker and passionate writer on animal issues. For her vegan activism, Lucy has been awarded the Sydney University Leadership Award and a Sydney Scholars Award in 2019.

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