England gives vegans prison rights; Alberta shields rodeo from law

Alberta carves rodeo and chuckwagon racing out of animal protection law

Stronger welfare law for Alberta's animals, with a specific exemption for the ones in the arena.

Alberta's Animal Protection Amendment Act (Bill 22) received Royal Assent on May 14, 2026, the province's first major animal protection overhaul in more than 20 years [64]. It raised penalties and broadened the definition of distress. It also inserted a carve-out placing chuckwagon racing and rodeo inside an exemption for "reasonable and generally accepted practices," removing them from legal accountability when provisions take effect this fall [63]. Animal Justice and the Calgary Animal Rights Effort began protests at the Stampede grounds on July 4 [64].

• 110animals killed at the Calgary Stampede since 1986, per Vancouver Humane Society, excluding training deaths [63]
• 4horses killed in 2024 chuckwagon races, the highest single-year toll since 2019 [63]
• 75%of Stampede rodeo competitors are American, claiming the majority of prize money [63]

Proven"Alberta just strengthened its general animal protection law, yet completely gutted protections for the vulnerable horses and cows who endure rodeo and chuckwagon events every year" (Animal Justice) [64]. Bill 22's rodeo and chuckwagon carve-out is confirmed in the official legislative record; Royal Assent was May 14, 2026.

FromAnimal Justice

England and Wales give ethical veganism formal standing in prison food law

Sixteen years after the last update, prison food policy now treats veganism as a matter of conscience, not a catering preference.

England and Wales's Food in Prisons Policy Framework, published February 9, 2026, recognizes ethical veganism as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 and frames vegan practice as a human right to freedom of belief [71]. Vegan meals are now minimum-menu requirements at both lunch and the evening meal. Prison catering managers must proactively consult vegan prisoners about whether food meets their ethical needs, and The Vegan Society is named an authoritative consulting source. The 2010 guidance listed veganism as a dietary option. This one places it inside equality law.

• 16years since the previous framework, which treated veganism as a dietary option rather than a protected belief [71]
• 2meals per day (lunch and evening) now requiring vegan options as a minimum menu item [71]

Proven"refers to ethical veganism as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010" (UK Government Policy Framework, February 2026) [71]. A binding public-sector document invoking the Public Sector Equality Duty, published February 9, 2026.

FromThe Vegan Society - One world. Many lives. Our choice.

AI generates a million burger recipes and finds a mushroom version that beats the Big Mac on environmental impact

Train a model on 2,200 recipes, generate a million more, and you find the ingredient combinations that decades of plant-based product development kept missing.

Stanford-led researchers trained a diffusion-based AI model on 2,200+ burger recipes, generated one million new formulations, and screened them for taste, nutrition, and environmental impact, publishing results in npj Science of Food [31]. A mushroom-based burger scored more than ten times lower on environmental impact than a Big Mac. A bean-based formulation nearly doubled the Big Mac's Healthy Eating Index score at roughly one-sixth the environmental cost, though it rated lower on taste and texture. Two palatability-optimized recipes matched or exceeded the Big Mac in blind flavor and overall liking scores among 101 San Francisco participants [31].

• 2,200+existing burger recipes used to train the model [31]
• 1 millionnew formulations generated and screened [31]
• 101participants in the San Francisco blind taste trial [31]
• 63.12 vs. 33.71Healthy Eating Index score: AI bean burger vs. Big Mac [31]

Solid"a mushroom-based burger...achieved an environmental impact score more than ten times lower than a conventional Big Mac reference burger" (researchers, npj Science of Food) [31]. Published in a Nature portfolio peer-reviewed journal; LCA methodology and sensory data publicly available; limits include a single-city taste panel and LCA assumptions not independently replicated.

Solid"a bean-based burger with nearly double the Healthy Eating Index score of the Big Mac and roughly one-sixth of its environmental impact" (researchers, npj Science of Food) [31]. Same study; authors acknowledge participants "rated it lower for taste and texture," the persistent barrier to adoption.

Fromvegconomist the vegan business magazine

Five Milan Fashion Week sponsors exit over fur in 2026

Five out, and the voluntary guidelines are starting to look like stalling.

Tech company Lutech dissolved its Milan Fashion Week partnership on June 17, 2026, the fifth major sponsor to exit over the event's continued use of fur [69]. DHL, Visa, and Wella had already left; mineral water brand Acqua Fiuggi followed 40 protest actions and a 47-day CAFT campaign across Europe, North America, and Asia. Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI) issued voluntary guidelines asking designers not to show fur but stopped short of a ban. New York Fashion Week has banned fur; Louis Vuitton debuted faux fur at Paris this year [69]. Milan holds out.

• 5major sponsors cut ties with Milan Fashion Week over fur in 2026 [69]
• 47days CAFT ran its campaign before Acqua Fiuggi exited [69]
• 40protest actions across three continents [69]

FromPlant Based News