LindaMcCartneyFoods New TV Advert

LindaMcCartneyFoods (MeatFreeTweets) on Twitter and TV

Linda McCartney Foods, now owned by Hain Europe, tweeted this morning that they are to launch a new TV advertising campaign to claw back some of the market share they've lost to Quorn.

Grassroots vegan activists are dissappointed and exasperated that the Linda McCartney Brand hasn't played to it's vegan strengths to combat egg and dairy containing Quorn. So many of the new Linda McCartney products have dairy or egg in , particularly disappointing are the new vegetarian prawns which contain milk protein making them unsuitable for the Dairy Free, Vegan and Kosher markets.

Other Meat Free Food companies such as Redwoods, Frys, Vegusto, Wheaty, Goodlife, Amy's are managing to keep their Vegan Kudos alive and kicking with a "Sustainable, Delicious and Suitable For Everyone" theme and with a constant stream of new innovative sustainable products that can be enjoyed by all.

Animal Welfare

The trouble is that by adding dairy and egg into the ingredients many of the key USP of the brand and drivers for a greener, more sustainable world fall down. It's not kinder to animals, chickens and dairy cows are some of the most tortured souls on the planet, male chicks are gassed or crushed at birth as they can't lay eggs, baby calfs are dragged away from their mum's so the milk can be used for humans not them.

Health

It's thought that the natural growth hormones in cow's milk to help a calf grow to the size of a shed in a few weeks is like fertiliserfor cancer cells. Certainly it's milk implicated in the China study by Colin T Campbell that he saw switch cancer cells on and off. The other main problem is that milk has so much more saturated fat vs omega 3 fats as most dairy cows don't get a natural diet. Then there's the intolerance, or at least a sub clinical intolerance to dairy protein and lactose that irritates the digestive system.

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says "New vegetarian products need to be not just as good as, they need to be better than meat. They need to be at least as tasty,  need to be more nutritious and need to be more sustainable and ethically produced than meat. Just being 'meat free' is no longer good enough."

Environment

This is the most perplexing as Sir Paul McCartney himself appeared on National News at 10 to highlight the United Nation's Livestock's Long Shadow report. The Dairy Farming industry is one of the biggest culprits in global warming - we simply no longer have the resources left to feed a cow, water a cow, clean up the waste just for some fatty white liquid that nature designed you to give up by 5 years of age. Second hand food is a luxury we can no longer afford. The clever money is moving into plant food. KFC, McDonalds and their ilk are already looking at plant based meat free alternatives for their products. Old school vegetarian products such as Linda McCartney and Quorn are not on the table.

Avatar director James Cameron says "You cannot call yourself an environmentalist if you are not vegan"

Vegfest 2013

Vegans have already given the Linda McCartney TV advert a makeover to encourage people to try more legitimately,  more sustainable options at The UK Vegfests at Brighton , Bristol and London

Vegans Give Linda McCartney TV advert a pirate vegan  makeover

PLANEAT - A BAFTA worthy British Film

PLANEAT

At last a BAFTA worthy UK home grown British film that will enlighten and educate people in an entertaining way about the many reasons why avoiding meat and dairy is such a good idea for health and the environment.

It's got Chad Sarno talking about food so it immediately gets my vote.

Be great to see this win an award BAFTA or otherwise - it's one of the most important issues to put on television.

Goode Family' Cartoon Vegan Family Guy Values

Vegan Heroes -The Goode Family Cartoon Vegan Sitcom

Painfully funny because unfortunately there are a few vegans out there like that. Luckily we're not all like that so we can just wallow in the fact the ideal is getting on national TV on a major network rest assured that humour is a great way to communicate serious issues.

Paul McCartney on ITV ITN News at Ten

ITV - Paul McCartney on ITN News at 10

Paul McCartney is interviewed by ITN News at Ten to draw attention to The United Nations Livestock's Long Shadow Report and how veganism can help to save the planet from catastrophe.

He's been veggie for 30 years but says that the fact that meat eating experts at The United Nations have now admitted cattle rearing is devastating the planet and more harmful to the planet than the effects of all cars and planes, many more ordinary people should sit up and listen.

Sir Paul credits Linda McCartney with turning the family vegetarian but apparently she said it was his decision, Sir Paul said Linda said "it was you that said it you know!"

Sir Paul sidestepped talking about his second wife's long term vegetarianism but she is now vegan and campaigning with UK vegetarian charity Viva!

He admit's despite all the clear evidence that a veggie lifestyle is better for the planet and better for health, people are unlikely to change overnight.

The repercussions if we don't change will be catastrophic for the planet, no habitable land , no water, no clean air - what sort of legacy is that to leave our children.

See the whole Paul McCartney interview on ITN News at 10

Famous Vegans

Vote now in the 2008 Vegan Awards

See reports

CIWF - UN Report - ViVA - The Vegan Society

Donny Osmond Vegan TV Identity is Toughest Test

Identity



On Donny Osmond’s new TV game show on BBC 2, Identity, guessing the vegan identity proves to be one of the toughest identities of the whole TV series.

70’s Pop icon Donny Osmond hosts the new TV show Identity – the ultimate TV mind-game on weekday afternoons on BBC Two.

Already a massive hit in the US, Identity is an intense game of impulse and reasoning. It stretches the contestants' powers of judgement, perception and instinct as they attempt to match 12 complete strangers with their secret identities. The more strangers they identify, the more cash they win.

The Identity contestant has to use all their powers of deduction and perception to work out who is who – from the first Bond girl to the world’s strongest man or the GP to the glamour model. If they can match all 12 strangers to their identities, they can walk away with a cash jackpot of £10,000.

In one of the shows one of the strangers is a vegan and trying to identify their vegan identity proves to be one of the hardest shows of the Identity TV series.

Just what does a typical vegan look like? These days it’s hard to tell, the old stereotypes painted by the media of skinny, bearded, smelly left wing hippies are long gone. There was recently a two page feature in the Daily Mail detailing the diary of one of their journalists who went vegan for a month and cut his cholesterol levels by nearly 25%. With the realisation that a vegan diet and lifestyle can be a recipe that’s kinder to the environment, kinder to health and of course kinder to animals, people from all walks of life and all age groups are becoming vegan.

There are vegan Doctors, vegan firemen, vegan athletes even vegan accountants.

How can you tell a vegan from the average stranger? By the clothes they wear? “Not any longer” says a spokesperson from www.supervegan.org “Fake furs are now better than the real thing, Italian suits can be made in linen and fine spun organic cotton or even hemp.” By their shoes? Not any more, apparently companies such as Beyond Skin and Stella McCartney have haute couture for even the most ethically minded. By their physique? “Not all vegans are super healthy,” say the super-vegans “most vegans adopt a vegan lifestyle for ethical reasons rather than health benefits, however many vegans still manage to look much younger than they actually are.”

So who is the vegan stranger on Donny Osmond’s new TV show. Is it a he or a she? Is he or she old or young? Fat or thin? Old or young? You’ll have to watch to find out, this could prove to be one of the hardest mind games on TV ever –.

Would be contestants are being invited to try their luck and play “spot the vegan” at www.typicalvegan.org.uk

See - Donny Osmond