A Look Back at the Most Popular Animal-Related Stories of 2021
Cultured meat for cats, Greta Thunberg’s vegan message, and the end of the ‘Tiger King Zoo’ are among our most popular news stories of 2021.
This year, Species Unite continued our mission to improve the lives of animals and help humans transition away from animal products in food and fashion. With more than 275 articles and 44 podcast episodes, we’ve reached over a quarter of a million people with content that has to power to create a better world for animals.
Now, we’re taking a look back over some of the leading headlines from 2021, with cellular agriculture leading the charge.
World’s First Lab-Grown Sushi Bar To Open In San Francisco
Our most popular story this year was about the world’s first cultivated sushi bar. In fall, San Francisco-based aquaculture startup Wildtype announced plans for the first-of-its-kind sushi bar, promising sushi without the slaughter.
From destroying habitat and contributing to climate change to threatening marine species with collapse or extinction, the global demand for seafood is wreaking havoc on the oceans. But cultivated agriculture - crafting animal products from cells - is one of the leading solutions to combatting this devastation.
“Global demand for seafood is outpacing supply, so the status quo needs to change. Our pilot plant will showcase the promise and wonder of growing fish fillets using cell cultivation,” said Elfenbein, a molecular biologist by training who co-founded Wildtype.
Jaden Smith To Open A Vegan Restaurant Where Houseless People Can Eat For Free
The second most popular story this year saw entertainment artist and entrepreneur, Jaden Smith, launch the I Love You restaurant to offer free, vegan meals for people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles.
Smith, the son of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, first debuted the "I Love You" food truck in 2019 to deliver free plant-based meals to the houseless community of Los Angeles' Skid Row before moving on to New York City.
The eat-for-free concept is set to evolve into a brick-and-mortar permanent eatery, with the full details of the location and menu to be announced. “I Love You Restaurant is a movement that is all about giving people what they deserve—healthy, vegan food for free,” said Smith.
Although anyone can order from the I Love You Restaurant, those who are able to pay for their meals will be expected to ‘pay it forward’, to provide a free meal for somebody who can’t afford it.
“It’s for homeless people to get free food. But if you’re not homeless, not only do you have to pay, but you have to pay for more than the food’s worth so that you can pay for the person behind you,” Smith explained.
“If We Don’t Change We’re F*Cked’”: Greta Thunberg Calls For The World To Go Vegan
Our third most popular story this year was about a video collaboration between environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, and animal advocacy group Mercy for Animals.
In the video, Thunberg discusses the negative impact of animal agriculture on our present health crises, climate change, biodiversity loss, and animal suffering, and called for a global shift to a plant-based diet to prevent more ecological and health crises.
“The climate crisis, ecological crisis and health crisis they are all interlinked," says Thunberg. “The way we make food, raising animals to eat, clearing land to grow food to feed those animals, if we continue, we will run out of land and food’ not to mention causing the destruction of ‘the habitats of wild plants and animals, driving countless species to extinction”.
Tiger King Zoo Ordered To Surrender All Tiger Cubs To US Government
Since the 2020 release of Tiger King, the Netflix show has continued to make headlines. Our fourth most popular story revealed that the infamous ‘Tiger King Zoo’, once owned by the now-incarcerated Joe Exotic, has been ordered to surrender all of its big cat cubs and their mothers, after being charged with violating animal welfare and wildlife laws.
The G. W. Park zoo was founded by Exotic back in 1999, but has been under the ownership of his business partner, Jeff Lowe, since 2016.
In what was considered a win for wildlife, the U.S. government accused Jeff and Lauren Lowe of violating the Endangered Species Act and the Animal Welfare Act.
The court found that the Lowes’ “failure to provide safe conditions, proper nutrition, and timely veterinary care resulted in harm to a number of animals, including the death of two tiger cubs less than a week apart”.
“The Lowes have showed a shocking disregard for both the health and welfare of their animals, as well as the law,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jonathan D. Brightbill of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
Lab-Grown Mouse Meat - For Cats - Is Here
In 2021, start-ups and food scientists have continued to up their game when it comes to developing cellular agriculture - and readers around the world have continued to be fascinated with this industry that could remove animal suffering and environmental degradation from our food system. One of many exciting releases this year was the release of the world’s first cultured meat product for pets: The Harmless Hunt Mouse Cookies for Cats.
The sustainable cookies contain cultured mouse meat - a cat’s native protein source - without having to harm a single mouse. The cultured meat is 100% meat - but it comes from animal cells that grow inside a vat (like beer) instead of inside an animal, the brand explains on their website.
Because, Animals, the company behind the cookies, describe themselves as the only pet food company growing cultivated meat for dogs and cats. Founded in 2016, the biotech company aims to “make the most sustainable and nutritious food for dogs and cats on the planet — without ever harming any animals or the environment”.
And transforming the pet industry’s consumption of meat is a key factor in a move towards a more sustainable food system. Staggeringly, cats and dogs consume more than 25% of the US meat supply. Products like Harmless Hunt Mouse Cookies could help change that.
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The controversial industry has shipped millions of live farmed animals from the UK to abroad on crowded, grueling journeys, which can last for over 100 hours.