Europe's alt-protein funding jumps 56% as a beluga dies at Shedd
Europe's alt-protein companies raised €236 million in the first half of 2026, up 56% year-on-year, though fermentation pulled in most of the growth while plant-based investment fell sharply.
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Europe's alt-protein companies raised €236 million in the first half of 2026, up 56% year-on-year, though fermentation pulled in most of the growth while plant-based investment fell sharply [155].
02
Beluga whale Peekachu died less than two weeks after Marineland shipped her to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, echoing a 2021 transfer in which three of five belugas sent to Mystic Aquarium also died [133].
03
Hackney's mayor pledged what campaigners call the UK's first council ban on meat and dairy ads on public land, joining the nationwide Gag Big Ag campaign [90].
04
A Florida Atlantic University study of 17,024 men found the heaviest ultra-processed-food eaters faced a 24% to 31% higher prostate cancer risk [39].
05
SaladStop pledged to source at least 60% of its protein from plants across its 80-plus Asia-Pacific shops, which serve more than five million diners a year [107].
06
A University of Stirling study found food nostalgia, not meat itself, is a "major barrier" keeping meat-eaters from going vegan [157].
Beluga Peekachu dies weeks after Marineland ships her to Shedd Aquarium
Photo: animal justice
“Given the government's public assurances that the health of all individual whales and dolphins would be thoroughly and independently assessed before transport, it is deeply concerning that Peekachu was likely suffering from compromised health when she was exported from Canada.”
Kaitlyn Mitchell, director of legal advocacy at Animal Justice · [133]
By the numbers
23 years oldPeekachu's age when she died, less than two weeks after arriving in Chicago on Aug. 13 [133]
3 of 5belugas Marineland exported to Mystic Aquarium in 2021 died after pre-existing health conditions were found, the same pattern Animal Justice says played out with Peekachu [133]
6 belugasremain at Marineland awaiting transport [133]
Hackney pledges UK's first council ban on meat and dairy advertising
Photo: vegan food
“Communities across the country are blocking new factory farms, from sheds housing millions of chickens to inland salmon farms. Most people in the UK are opposed to animals being confined in sheds with barely any room to move.”
Nicola Wilks, campaign coordinator at Adfree Cities · [90]
By the numbers
56%of UK adults support an outright ban on factory farming; at least 73% oppose strict confinement of chickens, pigs, and dairy cows [90]
£110 millionspent by McDonald's and KFC alone on UK outdoor advertising in 2024 [90]
85%of UK farmed animals live in intensive conditions, including 95% of chickens [90]
Heaviest ultra-processed food eaters face 30% higher prostate cancer risk
Photo: sciencedaily
“Among adult men in this nationally representative U.S. population, those who consumed higher amounts of UPFs had significantly higher risks of the subsequent development of prostate cancer.”
Charles H. Hennekens, senior author and professor of medicine, Florida Atlantic University · [39]
By the numbers
24% to 31%higher prostate cancer risk for men in the top ultra-processed-food intake groups, adjusted for age, race, smoking, and poverty status [39]
17,024US men analyzed using two decades of NHANES dietary data [39]
Ultra-processed foods supply nearly 60% of US adults' calories and 70% of children's [39]
FromNutrition Research News -- ScienceDaily
Worth Knowing
Wins & Culture
Try The Happy Pear's high-protein vegan poke bowl: glazed crispy tofu, edamame, brown rice, mango, and pickled ginger deliver 35 grams of protein per serving [159].
Law & Policy
Sobeys still sources roughly 80% of its eggs from caged hens, a decade after promising to go cage-free by 2025, drawing Animal Justice protests at the National Bank Open [132].
Innovation
NASA-funded researchers at Southern Illinois University engineered yeast to turn PET plastic bottles and crop waste into an edible protein cookie called µBites [111].
General Mills removed artificial dyes from every US cereal, including Trix and Lucky Charms, ahead of a full portfolio phase-out by the end of 2027 [106].
Belgian mycoprotein maker MAASH raised €12.15 million and Iowa gave ADM $2.23 million in tax credits toward a precision-fermentation hub for Every Co.'s OvoPro, even as UPSIDE Foods walked away from its $50 million bid for Believer Meats' US site [92].
Rotterdam's Fooditive became the only European finalist in New York's Grow-NY accelerator, competing for funding to license its animal-free casein technology to dairy manufacturers [112].
Activism & Animals
Costa Rica's legislature unanimously required wildlife crossings on roads shown to threaten animal safety, after advocacy from the Sloth Conservation Foundation [118].
Environmental groups notified US regulators they intend to sue over the failure to consider Endangered Species Act protection for Eastern Pacific gray whales, whose population fell nearly 30% between 2019 and 2023 [123].
A Faunalytics review of New Zealand's Predator Free 2050 program found the public prefers predator eradication over ongoing suppression campaigns, largely because eradication has a clear endpoint to the killing [127].
In Java's Menoreh Hills, former songbird hunters turned conservationists have helped sightings of the critically endangered Javan blue flycatcher rebound since enacting a local hunting ban [126].
PETA's Global Compassion Fund is assessing how to help animals caught in the deadly floods in Nepal and Tibet, working through local shelter groups in Chitwan and Pokhara [129].
Research & Nutrition
Only 20% of men know dairy consumption can raise prostate cancer risk, a Physicians Committee survey found; the Adventist Health Study-2 found vegan men had 35% lower prostate cancer risk than non-vegetarians [41].
One Good Thing
Thirteen white-lipped peccaries rode a truck and then a boat across Costa Rica's Golfo Dulce at midnight, under shooting stars and bioluminescent water, to bring the species back to a forest where hunters wiped it out 18 years ago. Veterinarian Dennise Ortiz Angulo listened as the herd hummed to each other inside their crates once they settled, a sound she compares to the animals reassuring themselves they were safe. Osa Conservation calls each peccary a "pill" for the forest: as they root, wallow, and scatter seeds, they rebuild the habitat that jaguars, pushed toward smaller and scarcer prey after the peccaries vanished, need to come back too [120].
This easy jeera dal converts simple ingredients into incredible flavor! Red lentils cooked to creamy and scented with sizzling cumin, garlic, chili oil tadka. (gluten-free…
30 min2 servings15 ingredients
See the ingredients
3/4 cup split red lentils (masoor dal)
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/2 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups water (or vegetable stock)
1 tablespoon oil
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 hot green chili (such as serrano or Indian chili, finely chopped, or use a milder chili of choice)
Animal Justice
