The Vegan Society
The Vegan Society is both a Charity (registered in England, Wales and Scotland) and a Company Limited by Guarantee.
ID: 052814338340-63
Lobbying Activity
Response to The protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources – Evaluation
8 Mar 2024
The Vegan Society believes the Nitrates Directive 1991 has not worked, is not consistent with current EU policy, & is not fit for purpose. The Directive explicitly aimed for the control & reduction of water pollution resulting from the spreading or discharge of livestock effluents & the excessive use of fertilizers. Yet, two of the biggest human-caused sources of nitrate water pollution are still (1) industrial farming of animals, & failures in their manure processing; & (2) inappropriate use of agrochemical nitrate fertilizers. The Rivers Trust 2024 State of Our Rivers report found 62% of rivers in England fail to reach ecologically good status due pollution from fertilisers or farming of animals, just as in 2019. This call for feedback explicitly admits: "Water quality has improved in the EU, but pollution by nitrates can still be a serious problem. The failures are because EU policy needs to change to coherently & consistently support the urgent transition to intrinsically low nitrate pollution agricultural methods. The EU rapidly needs to move over to plant-based protein farming, & away from industrial artificial breeding of animals for farming, & inappropriate use of industrial nitrate fertilizers. Canada has successfully scaled-up legume farming, including for plant-protein food, during this failed EU agricultural nitrate directive. From 1991, Canada has increased their legume harvest by a factor of five, now sustaining over 5 M ha of land harvested for grain pulses . Legume farming has huge potential to improve water quality, soil nitrogen retention, crop yields & plant-based protein supply. Microorganisms & legumes symbiotically fix atmospheric nitrogen for crops. When legumes are appropriately grown e.g. inter-cropped with a second crop that can use surplus soil nitrogen, this biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) can significantly reduce nitrate pollution of water compared to chemical fertilizer or bulk manure application. The EU must exceed Canadas investment in legume farming. These legumes are of greatest benefit to farmers when grown to be made directly into plant-based protein food products. Farmers are more likely to decide to grow legumes when they get the higher financial returns from pulse-based foods, than from feed for farmed animals. The first priority must be, reducing the numbers of animals in farming. The EU must now rapidly support a plant-based transition in EU protein foods. A steady, strong reduction in the numbers of animals bred for farming within the EU will significantly reduce water nitrate pollution. Legumes will supply the protein we need, along with grains & other plants & fungi. EAT-Lancet shows the central role grain legumes (e.g. soya & other beans, & peas) play in food security. There is significant scope for the EU to increase grain legume production. Suitable land is available, & the scale of increase would be less than Canada has already achieved: c. 2.8 times more grain legume harvested hectares. This will also support other environmental & public health policy targets such as climate change & healthy, sustainable diets. The Vegan Society outlined a policy framework for this transition in the report, Planting Value in Our Food System (2021): https://www.plantingvalueinfood.org/ with steps needed to achieve 2030 policy goals & treaty obligations. The Vegan Society works with many plant-protein food companies our pioneering project, The Vegan Trademark: https://www.vegansociety.com/the-vegan-trademark & is part of Donau Soja, a lead partner in the EU Legume Hub research network: https://www.legumehub.eu/our-projects/ Farmers for Stockfree Farming are demonstrating legume growing in colder climates: https://stockfreefarming.org/one-hundred-ways/growing-crops-for-human-consumption2/ The EU must work with farmers, researchers & food business to rapidly expand EU legume growing, & transition away from industrial farming of animals.
Read full responseResponse to Revision of EU rules on textile labelling
29 Sept 2023
Textile product labelling must be a good, clear summary of key information for the whole supply chain. People seek products supplied with no harm to humans, non-human animals or environment: 'The Rise of Vegan Fashion 2021' https://www.vegansociety.com/sites/default/files/uploads/downloads/The%20Rise%20of%20Vegan%20Fashion%20Report.pdf Textile product impacts must go through the full supply chain, e.g. global life-cycle analysis inc. opportunity costs such as habitat destruction, land use change, direct & indirect animal harm, product disposal. Economic impact allocation for luxury textile products v.s. staple foods & necessary apparel must be done. Cattle leather is co-product: c. 26% of major abattoir profits are from animal skin. The climate impact of cattle leather is over 7 times that of leather alternatives: 'Under their skin: Leather's impact on the planet', 2022 Hakansson, E et al., https://www.collectivefashionjustice.org/under-their-skin The preliminary Higg Index indicates that cattle leather, sheep & alpaca wool, & cotton grown with agrochemicals, cause more environmental harm than synthetic & agroecological plant-based alternatives. A clear summary on product & at point of sale must be backed up by supply chain details made readily available. Product information must be clear about which animals (e.g. cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, pigs, silkworms, mink & other animals) living in what conditions (free-living & hunted, extensively or intensively bred & farmed) have been used, & under what conditions their skin, fur, wool, hair, silk etc. have been taken from them. Textile products also impact human rights & equality. Under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, many groups have protected religious &/or philosophical beliefs, including veganism, which include belief-based opposition to using animals. Universal textile product supply chain information will give direct positive social impacts, empowering people to practice their beliefs, & promoting acceptance of both practitioners & their beliefs. We conditionally support the proposal that on-product labelling address leather & fur authenticity. The animal species from which any textiles (e.g. also wool, silk etc.) are taken should be clearly named on-product in the most recognisable forms in relevant languages. This must also include other uses of & harms to animals & their habitats in textile products throughout the supply chain. The Vegan Society challenge aspects of the proposed labelling domain of authenticity: we urge the EU to re-frame this in terms of ethical production. It is a consensus ethical value across societies that it is wrong to cause harm unnecessarily, particularly harm to sentient beings. Artificially breeding & farming animals so that we can use & make money from their bodies, including their skins, intrinsically causes harm & suffering to those animals. They are denied their freedom to live, form associations, reproduce & other natural behaviours in their natural habitats. EU textile labelling must also ensure that there is full accountability & significant action to ensure real animal body parts such as fur are never misleadingly described. In 2015, HSI UK found that 85% of UK residents surveyed expect real animal fur to be clearly labelled as such: 'Exposed: Real fur sold as fake on British high-streets', HSI UK, https://www.hsi.org/news-resources/real_fur_as_fake_uk_112515/ Footwear is used more widely by more people than other leather products. The highest supply chain information standards must rapidly be extended to footwear. EU textile product labelling laws must help empower people to choose lower harm & animal-free options through full product supply chain information. The Vegan Trademark is a succinct way to achieve this: it is a widely recognised, respected & understood, independently registered statement that animals have not been used to make a given product.
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