NEWS OF THE WEEK:

Vegans to Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, High Suicide Rates Among Farmers & More, Dec. 2 - Dec. 11, 2017

By Leslie Goldberg

VEGAN FAMILY ROCKS!

Three generations of an all-vegan family are going to put themselves to the test – climbing one of the world’s toughest peaks, Mount Kilimanjaro, in March 2018. The parents, Sharon and Christopher Warner, will be joined by their parents and their kids on the first all-vegan trek up the mountain. The trip will be led by 21 year-vegan Mike Weinberg of Ultimate Kilimanjaro. This new project, dubbed Vegan Kilimanjaro, is “to prove the heights of achievement possible on a plant-based diet,” he said. So far, 16 people have signed up. You have to be “very fit.” (Plant Based News)

GETTING CLEAN

HSUS VP Paul Shapiro is out with a new book, “Clean Meat – How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner.”  In an interview with Modern Farmer magazine, the author, who hasn’t eaten meat for 20 years, said he would have no problem trying the alternative meat. “I don’t have an aversion to animal products because of their molecular structure, I have an aversion because of the way in which they’re produced.” (Modern Farmer)  

THE HIGHEST SUICIDE RATE? FARMERS

Last year, a Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey found that folks working in agriculture, including farmers, laborers, ranchers and fishers, had the highest rate of suicide of any profession. The suicide rate for farmers is more than double the rate for veterans, Newsweek reported. A farmer/psychologist speculated in an article published in the Des Moines Register that the reason farmers experienced higher than average rates of stress is that they contend with more economic uncertainty and social isolation in their industry. However, he implied that exposure to animal cruelty inherent to the business might also be a factor.  (Des Moines Register)

SIA DOESN’T SEE A PROBLEM

Animal rights advocate and singer Sia will now be representing MAC cosmetics, a company which sells beauty products to China. Because Chinese law demands that such products be tested on animals before they may be sold in that country, the cosmetics will, in fact, be tested on animals even though MAC isn’t doing the actual testing. In defense, MAC says it doesn’t support animal testing and is trying to get China to change its policy. Many AR groups including PETA aren’t impressed. (Teen Vogue)

INSTAGRAM STEPS UP TO FIGHT WILDLIFE ABUSE

If things weren’t bad enough for wildlife, they are now being victimized by selfie-crazed tourists who want to get a picture of themselves snuggling a wild animal. Snatching animals from the wild and housing them in cages has become a business. But Instagram is trying to prevent it by notifying anyone who clicks on a hashtag such as #slothselfie what it’s really like for these innocent creatures. Viewers will get a message reading, in part: “You are searching for a hashtag that may be associated with posts that encourage harmful behavior to animals or the environment.” (National Geographic)

NOBODY LIKES TROPHY HUNTING

A recent survey shows the vast majority of Americans across the political spectrum don’t like trophy hunting. The poll was taken just two weeks after Donald Trump said he would continue the Obama-era ban on shipping animal body parts – trophy hunting booty from Africa to the United States. Some 78 percent of those interviewed said they didn’t like the imports versus only 15 percent saying they approved. (Humane Society)