The Stories: the day’s biggest developments, in the sources’ own words
01▲Wins & CultureStory
New York City expands school soy milk pilot from five schools to 12
Photo: plant based news
New York City is expanding its school soy milk pilot from five schools to 12 this fall [146]. The pilot began in May, with organic soy milk on the lunch line [146]. The Plant Powered School Meals Coalition, the advocacy group that ran it, supplied the results below, so they are its own figures [146].
“It’s exciting that my school is part of this pilot.”
Yandel Ramirez, recent graduate of participating school Vertex Partnership Academies · [146]
By the numbers
18.6 percentrise in milk selection in participating schools since May [146]
17.4 percentfall in average daily greenhouse gas emissions [146]
35.6 percentof milk selections were soy during the pilot [146]
59 percentdrop in NYC school food emissions since 2019, per the coalition [146]
National Cancer Institute makes grant applicants justify animal use in public abstracts
Photo: physicians committee
The National Cancer Institute, the largest of the NIH institutes, published guidance in August requiring researchers to justify animal use in the public abstract of their grant applications [16]. Until now those justifications sat in a section hidden from public view [16]. The guidance also encourages cancer researchers to use human-based methods [16]. The Physicians Committee, which opposes animal experiments, praised it and wants the whole agency to follow [16].
“This change will make animal use clearly visible to the public, improving transparency and accountability around taxpayer-funded animal experimentation.”
Trump administration's animal welfare push leaves out nearly all farmed animals
Photo: sentient
The administration is billing its agenda as a new era of animal welfare, but it covers companion animals and animals used in testing, not the roughly 10 billion land animals farmed for food each year [107]. The FDA issued a rule on Sept. 21 clarifying that drugmakers can use non-animal methods to assess drug safety, and USDA plans a 2027 proposal updating welfare standards for dogs [107]. Sentient asked both agencies why farm animals were left out and got no response [107].
“States don’t fill that void”
Delcianna Winders, professor at Vermont Law and Graduate School and director of its Animal Law and Policy Institute · [107]
“extreme speed slaughter means less time to handle and stun animals properly”
Delcianna Winders, Vermont Law and Graduate School · [107]
By the numbers
1potential Twenty-Eight Hour Law violation referred by USDA to the Department of Justice between 2013 and 2025, per a 2026 GAO review [107]
14states had enacted policies overseeing animal farming practices, per a 2022 USDA analysis [107]
175chickens per minute, the slaughter speed Winders says USDA is moving toward [107]
WatchThe FDA's non-animal testing rule takes effect Feb. 4, 2027, unless public comment changes it [107].
FromSentient
04▲InnovationStory
Spiber opens its Brewed Protein fermentation plant to outside protein makers
Photo: vegconomist
Spiber launched Spiber Biofoundry, a contract service running from gene-sequence design to fermenters above 100 kL, built on the infrastructure behind its Brewed Protein fibers [83]. Targets include food ingredients and industrial enzymes [83]. Spiber says contract fermentation capacity at pilot and commercial scale is scarce worldwide, and that its approach raised output for more than 90% of the proteins it tested internally [75][83].
“Developing diverse structural proteins has enabled us to build the technology, expertise, and facilities needed to scale fermentation from the lab to commercial production”
WatchSpiber presents the service at BioJapan 2026 in Yokohama, October 7 to 9, and has published indicative pricing [83].
Fromvegconomist the vegan business magazineGreen Queen
Worth Knowing
Food & Recipes
Plate pick: THIS Isn't Picnic Eggs, a ready-to-eat vegan picnic egg in a sourdough crumb, costs £2.95 for 140 grams at selected Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose stores and on Ocado, and THIS says it has 74 per cent less saturated fat than a traditional one [54].
Activism & Animals
Fires in Indonesia are burning rainforests that hold 13 of the 20 largest remaining Bornean orangutan populations, and the Ministry of Forestry reported 53 Bornean orangutans rescued as of Sept. 22 [90].
Law & Policy
Products made with Sun Bear Biofuture's yeast-fermented cocoa butter substitute were rated equal or preferable in four of five Oxford Brookes tests, though novel food approval is still needed and the company will launch in cosmetics first [144].
Animal Justice is urging public comment on Canada's voluntary sheep code before the consultation closes October 8, 2026, citing tail docking and castration without pain relief among practices it wants ended [121].
Innovation
Wageningen University & Research opened Cibia, an AI-enabled facility for scaling novel proteins and other future foods, funded by two Dutch ministries [74].
BMC Ingredients paid to have one batch of its Rhiza mycelium tested and found ergothioneine and spermidine, and its paper says neither compound has been shown to extend human life when eaten in Rhiza [78].
One Good Thing
Twin brothers Jovan and Josh Cole founded Vegan Vibrationz in 2018, and in 2025 it became the first vegan vendor at the Texas State Fair [147]. Drew Barrymore has now served Woody Harrelson their stuffed avocado on her show, and the stand sells it at the fair through October 18 [147]. Jovan Cole's method is to skip the pressure and let a plate do the talking, one person at a time [147].
Sentient
vegconomist the vegan business magazine
