WASHINGTON—The Chinese city of Wuhan, which was the first to record human cases of COVID-19, has banned the consumption of all wildlife. This follows similar bans in the cities of Beijing, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, and an as-yet temporary nationwide ban on wildlife consumption. Unlike the other cities which have brought in permanent bans, the Wuhan ban will be in place for five years.
Dr Peter Li, Humane Society International’s China policy specialist, said: “Wuhan’s ban on wildlife consumption is extremely welcome as a clear recognition that the public health risk of zoonotic disease spread via the wildlife trade must be taken very seriously if we are to avoid another pandemic. There will however be no less severe of a disease risk from wildlife consumption in five years’ time, so anything short of a permanent and comprehensive ban is still a risk too far. Wuhan becomes the fourth city in mainland China to show such leadership, but we now need cities and countries across the world to step up to the plate and shut down the dangerous wildlife trade.”
The Wuhan ban follows news earlier this week that wildlife farmers in several provinces in mainland China are being offered a buy-out to move away from breeding wild species for consumption, as part of the country’s crackdown on the wildlife trade. Hunan and Jiangxi provinces are among those providing compensation for farmers to transition to alternative livelihoods such as growing fruit, vegetables, tea plants, or herbs for traditional Chinese medicine. Hunan province will offer farmers compensation to the tune of 120 yuan per kilogram of cobra, king rattle snake or rat snake; 75 yuan per kilogram of bamboo rat; 630 yuan per porcupine; 600 yuan per civet cat; and 378 yuan and 2,457 yuan per wild goose and Chinese muntjac deer respectively.
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Media contact: Wendy Higgins, Director of International Media, whiggins@hsi.org
Humane Society International urges farmers to farm for the future of meat-reduced diets
Humane Society International / Europe
Chat Photography/HSIVegan macaroni and cheese
BRUSSELS—The European Commission will promote a shift to planet-friendly plant-based diets, according to its long-awaited Farm to Fork Strategy published today. As well as tackling climate impacts of food, reducing obesity rates and cancer prevention are cited as key health reasons why meat reduction and a shift to a more plant-based diet is necessary. However, the Commission backed down from making a commitment – seen in an earlier leaked version of the strategy – to cease spending millions of Euros each year on promoting meat production and consumption. Instead, the strategy focuses on how the EU can “use its promotion programme to support the most sustainable, carbon-efficient methods of livestock production”.
The shift in emphasis is part of the Commission’s strategy for a sustainable food system. The push for plant-based foods has been welcomed by animal welfare campaigners at Humane Society International who urge Europe’s farmers to get behind the strategy by farming for the future of meat-reduced diets.
Dr Joanna Swabe, senior director of public affairs for Humane Society International/Europe, says:
“Animal farming makes up roughly 70% of all EU greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, and climate scientists have long agreed that big reductions in meat and dairy are vital if we are to have any hope of reaching our climate change targets. So within that context, it is deeply disappointing that the EU has chickened out of ending the practice of pouring millions of euros into promoting inefficient and unsustainable meat production and meat consumption. Climate-conscious citizens across Europe are increasingly shifting their diets to include more planet-friendly and animal friendly plant-based foods and so we welcome the fact that EU research funds will now be dedicated to expanding the availability of plant-based proteins and meat substitutes.
It is, however, lamentable that the Commission has partly kowtowed to a factory farming industry that is wholly based on a high-volume, low-price production model routinely propped up by government subsidies. The Farm to Fork Strategy published today should have put this low-animal welfare model on notice, but it has fallen short. If we want to save the planet, we need to stop producing so much meat and dairy, and support a transition to more sustainable forms of agriculture. Farming for a meat-reduced future is something that all farmers should get behind because they are a vital part of the solution. Far from taking away their livelihoods, the plant-based revolution offers a wealth of new and more sustainable possibilities. We should be supporting farmers to transition to new crops and production models, to grow the peas, pulses and vegetables at the heart of rocketing demand for plant-centric diets.”
HSI/Europe welcomes the Commission’s commitment to revising animal welfare legislation and to align it with the latest scientific evidence. This should not just be restricted to animal transport and slaughter. Much of the present animal welfare law is outdated and poorly enforced by most Member States. It is vital that revised legislation is implemented and easily enforced and the European Union achieves a higher level of animal welfare. For example, it is high time to end the confinement animals on farms. For example, the Laying Hens Directive 1999/74/EC should be revised to phase-out and eliminate the use of enriched cages to confine hens, once and for all. Finally, it is welcome that the Commission will also be considering options for animal welfare labelling as part of the strategy. It is a good idea to use labelling to link production methods to consumer demand.
As ever, the devil will be in the details. The Farm to Fork Strategy does not include any concrete plans to reduce the numbers of animals kept on farm in the EU, nor does it put an end to the CAP subsidies that sustain intensive animal agriculture.
Notes
“The Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system” is an important component of the European Green Deal, which seeks to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050, improve people’s well-being and to protect the natural habitat, while ensuring a just and inclusive transition;
The key goals of the strategy are to ensure Europeans get affordable and sustainable food, tackle climate change, protect the environment, preserve biodiversity and increase organic farming;
The strategy encompasses a range of actions relating to ensuring sustainable food production and food security, stimulating sustainable practices in food businesses, reducing food loss and waste, combating food fraud and promoting the global transition;
A number of issues raised in the strategy are specifically relevant to the protection of animals. A commitment is made to revise existing animal welfare legislation. There was virtually no progress made on advancing animal welfare standards during the previous Commission’s mandate and revision is greatly needed to reflect recent developments in animal welfare science. Only the legislation on animal transport and slaughter were explicitly mentioned, but this does not exclude additional legislation from being updated; animal welfare labelling is also proposed;
Action on antimicrobial resistance, which is also linked to animal welfare, is also included in the strategy. A commitment to the reduction in sales of antimicrobials for animals on farms and in aquaculture is proposed;
The strategy recognises that the current food consumption patterns in the EU are unsustainable from both a health and environmental perspective. Reducing obesity rates and cancer prevention are cited as the key health reasons why meat reduction and a shift to a more plant-based diet is necessary;
The strategy seeks to reduce the environmental and climate impact of animal production through supporting innovative solutions and requiring sustainable animal production practices, rather than explicitly calling for a reduction in the number of animals on farms.
To enable the transition to more plant-based diets, the strategy also commits to dedicating EU funds to research into increasing the availability and sourcing of alternative plant proteins and meat substitutes.
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Media contact: To request further information or interview Dr Swabe, email Wendy Higgins whiggins@hsi.org
Farmers offered $88 per porcupine, $84 per civet cat, or $17 per kg of cobra snakes
Humane Society International / China
Trevor Mogg/Alamy Stock photoLive animals for sale at a market in China in 2020
WASHINGTON—Wildlife farmers in two provinces in mainland China are being offered a government buy-out to facilitate a move away from breeding wild species for consumption, as part of the country’s crackdown on the wildlife trade in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The plans, published on May 15th, see Hunan and Jiangxi provinces provide an exit strategy for wildlife farmers who will be compensated to allow them to transition to alternative livelihoods such as growing fruit, vegetables, tea plants, or herbs for traditional Chinese medicine. Some may choose to switch to breeding other animals such as pigs and chickens.
On February 24th, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress banned wild animal consumption for food, and wildlife campaigners at Humane Society International hope that the province-sponsored buy-out plans will help to ensure the ban is a success.
Hunan province will offer farmers compensation to the tune of 120 yuan per kilogram of cobra, king rattle snake or rat snake; 75 yuan per kilogram of bamboo rat; 630 yuan per porcupine; 600 yuan per civet cat; and 378 yuan and 2,457 yuan per wild goose and Chinese muntjac deer respectively.
Dr Peter Li, Humane Society International’s China policy specialist, said: “By subsidising wildlife breeders to transition to alternative livelihoods, these provinces are demonstrating global leadership on this issue, which other provinces and countries must now follow. Chinese farmers not only have an opportunity to leave a trade that poses a direct threat to human health – something that can no longer be tolerated in light of COVID – but also to transition to more humane and sustainable livelihoods such as growing plant foods popular in Chinese cuisine. This is a model for change that Humane Society International has been putting into practice with dog meat farmers in South Korea for some years, with dog farmers transitioning over to farming chillies, mushrooms, and water parsley. In China you can easily imagine the vast sheds that once factory farmed bamboo rats and other unfortunate wildlife, being adapted to grow mushrooms and herbs instead.”
Dr Li believes the closure of China’s destructive wildlife consumption trade could have the advantageous consequence of boosting the availability of healthy plant-based foods, in line with China’s national dietary guidelines recommending a 50% reduction in meat consumption. “People in China are increasingly interested in plant-based foods, in fact, a more plant-centred diet is far more traditional than one based on wildlife meats, or intensively farmed domesticated animals, as Chinese cuisines have led the way with plant proteins such as tofu and seitan.”
The buy-out plan does have a blind spot, it does not include the vast number of wild animals bred in China not for consumption but for fur, traditional Chinese medicine and for entertainment/pet trade/display. China’s overall wildlife trade is worth around 520 billion yuan ($73 billion/£57 billion), but although global focus has understandably been on wildlife consumption trade worth 125 billion yuan ($18 billion/£14 billion), the largest proportion of China’s wildlife farming – the fur industry worth 389 billion yuan ($55 billion/£43billion) annually – is conspicuous by its absence from any COVID-19 related bans or buy-outs. In fact there are plans afoot in China to reclassify the millions of raccoon dogs, foxes and mink farmed for fur from “wildlife” to “livestock” as part of a new resource list by the Ministry of Agriculture, State Forestry and Grassland Bureau.
Dr Teresa Telecky, HSI’s vice president of wildlife, said: “Rebranding fur-bearing wildlife as livestock doesn’t alter the fact that there are insurmountable challenges to keeping these species in commercial captive breeding environments, and that their welfare needs simply can’t be met. In addition, there’s clear evidence that some of these species can act as intermediate hosts of viruses, such as COVID-19, which is why governments around the world must stop all trading in wildlife.”
As part of the buy-out plans in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces, the fate of the wildlife stock is also a welfare issue of concern. There are three options proposed – release of animals into the wild in suitable and non-residential habitat; utilisation by other industries such as zoos, laboratory research, and traditional medicine; or mass culling.
HSI’s Dr Li said: “While the transition of wildlife farmers to other livelihoods is of course a very positive move for both people and animals, a really sad inevitable consequence of that is that a vast number of the wild animals being mass produced on farms across China will likely be culled or moved to other exploitative industries such as zoos and traditional medicine where animal welfare is typically extremely low and conditions woefully sub-standard. Culling programs in China and other countries in Asia can also involve truly barbaric methods such as live burial, and so we really hope to see the Chinese authorities mandating against such cruelty. The wild animal breeding farms and factories facing closure and transition must not sacrifice animal welfare in an effort to implement the new changes.”
Only farms that have been operating legally with breeding permits before February 24th are eligible for compensation. The initial roll-out covers 14 species of farmed wildlife. A second group of farmed species will be announced after the finalisation of the government’s “livestock” list.
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Media contact: Wendy Higgins, Director of International Media – whiggins@hsi.org
Dulcé Café and Wiesenhof embrace global plant-based food trend and join HSI’s Green Monday South Africa movement
Humane Society International / Africa
Shawn Driman
CAPE TOWN – Dulcé Café and Wiesenhof have teamed up with Humane Society International/Africa to join the global movement towards more plant-based, sustainable food by launching three new delicious meat- and dairy-free dishes for their winter 2019 menus. The restaurant chains’ decision to introduce more plant-based food offerings was inspired by HSI/Africa’s Green Monday SA meat-reduction initiative, encouraging South Africans to eat plant-based at least one day every week to improve their health, reduce their carbon footprint, and make a positive difference to the lives of farm animals.
According to the International Food Information Council Foundation’s 2019 Food and Health Survey, one quarter of survey participants said that they eat more plant-based protein than they did 12 months ago. In another poll, which questioned 850 chefs, catering managers, business owners, and kitchen staff, vegan food was rated a top restaurant trend in 2019, as 25 percent of diners are choosing vegan and vegetarian options.
Leozette Roode, media and outreach manager for HSI/Africa, said: “With more South Africans increasing their plant-based food consumption, eating green is going mainstream. While most South Africans aren’t necessarily adopting a completely vegan lifestyle, they are reducing their consumption of animal products and noticing the health benefits alongside the positive environmental and animal welfare impacts. Retailers and restaurateurs have realised this change in consumer preferences, too, and are embracing the opportunity to put more meat- and dairy-free options on their menus. The launch of Dulcé Café and Wiesenhof’s plant-based menu options sets a great example, and HSI/Africa is pleased to have been part of its development, communication and implementation.”
Kobus Wiese, the former South African rugby union player and owner/founder of the Wiese Coffee Holdings Group, said, “Wiese Coffee Holdings cares for the health of our customers, our environment and Africa’s animals. We welcome the global trend toward plant-based foods and are thrilled to endorse Humane Society International/Africa’s Green Monday SA initiative. Throughout our operations we try to reduce our carbon and water footprint and the impact our restaurants have on the environment. Our plant-based options, which are offered on both Dulcé Café and Wiesenhof menus, include Arrabiata Mash Crepes smothered in a spicy napolitana sauce and topped with sautéed onions, mushrooms and cocktail tomatoes, a warming Lentil and Cauliflower Curry with savoury brown rice and a fresh, high-protein Lentil, Chickpea and Avocado salad that can be enjoyed as a shared side or a main. All three dishes are delicious, and we encourage our customers to order and eat the green options – especially on Green Mondays. Together, we can make a positive difference.”
Many benefits come from a greener diet. Numerous studies indicate that a diet rich in plant-based foods can help improve our health, and that people who eat fewer animal products have lower rates of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis and cancer. Our carbon footprint and water use are also greatly reduced on a plant-based diet, as farming animals requires significantly more water and produces a lot more greenhouse gasses than farming vegetables and grains. Finally, replacing meat, milk and eggs also benefits farm animals, millions of whom spend their entire lives in cages or crates where they are unable to exercise, engage in their natural behaviours and often even turn around because of lack of space.
The Green Monday menu options will be available at all Dulcé Café and Wiesenhof restaurants nationwide from 1 August 2019. Visit https://wcholdings.co.za to find the closest outlets. For more information on the Green Monday SA movement and programs implemented in South Africa, visit www.greenmondayza.org. For information on the benefits of a plant-based diet and for plant-based recipes to cook at home, visit www.greenmonday.co.za.
