In news of progress for our global campaign to ban octopus farming, a federal bill to prevent the commercial farming of octopuses, as well as the importation and sale of commercially farmed octopuses, has been reintroduced by U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).  The bipartisan legislation was originally introduced in 2024 and is being brought forward again now due to continued momentum at the federal level for the bill to become law. It is preceded by the introduction of similar legislation in various U.S. states, including formal laws in California and Washington.    The bill, referred to as “Opposing the Cultivation and Trade of Octopus Produced through Unethical Strategies Act of 2025” or the “OCTOPUS Act of 2025,” prohibits any authorization of commercial octopus aquaculture operations in the United States and its exclusive economic zone. The bill also prohibits the importation into the United States - or the re-exportation - of commercially aquacultured octopus, including any living or dead specimens, parts, or derivatives, or any product containing specimens, parts, or derivatives of such octopus.   We at Aquatic Life Institute (ALI) believe that the reintroduction of this federal bill signifies a watershed moment in protecting against the environmental, ethical, and public health challenges associated with octopus farming. This bill, as well as other recent legislative progress, follows the advocacy efforts of several NGOs, including ALI, Animal Legal Defense Fund, and more. ALI has actively supported this bill via conversations with Senator Whitehouse’s office and by sending the scientific material essential to craft the bill in an evidence-based manner.   More recent progress on the global campaign to ban octopus farming include: * In May, together with Animals Aotearoa and other Aquatic Animal Alliance members, Aquatic Life Institute and 168 organizations signed an open letter urging New Zealand’s government to stop fund

Hello everyone! We have two new announcements for Peru this past month. GRETA Tienda Saludable is a growing retailer that distributes to 21 districts in Lima and has 4 locations. Link https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE4MzY0MDc0MzQwMTk1NzE1?story_media_id=3642493995188931201&igsh=a3U0dWh2NHJjZXFh Scale: National - Perú Who: Arba Failed tactics: None Successful tactics: Working from the beginning of conversations with the entire team. Scalability: New locations are opening soon. Follow-up: We will stay in touch to request reports on their implementation. SAMACA is a store, restaurant, cafe, and bookstore with three locations in Lima and Ica. Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DI4lYftxoEC/?igsh=MXB6dXlpNzVxbzIzbg%3D%3DD Scale: National - Perú Who: Arba Failed tactics: None Successful tactics: Our negotiations were always positive and friendly. Scalability: They are opening new locations soon. Follow-up: We will stay in touch to request reports on their implementation. Thank you very much, Sincerely,  

💻 UPCOMING WEBINAR: Promoting Sustainable Food Service Operations: Lessons Learned from a Climate-Friendly Food Service Pilot Project 📆 Wednesday, June 11th @ 3 pm ET / 12 pm PT Join Friends of the Earth, Greener by Default, and Sodexo as we share insights from our new joint report, Promoting Sustainable Food Service Operations: Lessons Learned from a Climate-Friendly Food Service Pilot Project—which details the outcomes of an 8-week pilot project aimed at expanding plant-based menu offerings at a Sodexo client cafeteria.  GBD CEO Katie Cantrell will be joined by speakers from both Friends of the Earth and Sodexo to discuss how the pilot team harnessed behavioral design interventions to nudge diners towards healthy, sustainable plant-based dishes, resulting in a massive increase in plant-based meals served and an emissions reduction of 11,764 kg CO2e over the course of the pilot—equivalent to driving over 26,000 miles, more than the circumference of the earth!    * Register for the webinar: https://foe-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jjinNQPxRkqh2jhgdSymNA#/registration  * Read the report: https://foe.org/resources/promoting-sustainable-food-service-operations 

Hi FAST Friends!!! I have exciting news! A California court has ruled that LIC's cruelty lawsuit can proceed against well-known dairy operation Alexandre Family Farm, which supplies Whole Foods and other large grocers.  Legal Impact for Chickens (LIC) is the plaintiff in the lawsuit. We allege that Alexandre workers pour table salt into cows’ eyes, drag disabled cows across concrete, and starve cattle.  The lawsuit followed Farm Forward's April 2024 exposé revealing “systemic deception, cruelty, and animal abuse” at Alexandre Family Farm. Farm Forward documented and released those findings with the help of rancher whistleblowers who came forward to bring these activities to light.  The Humboldt County Superior Court's well-reasoned eight-page ruling affirmed LIC’s power, as a California society for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCA), to prevent cruelty through civil litigation:  > “[T]he Court finds that an SPCA filing and prosecuting a civil action to enjoin violations of animal cruelty laws . . . is one of the multiple avenues for the enforcement of California’s animal cruelty laws.” We hope other companies that abuse animals will look at this and start to rethink their behavior. Alexandre is also the subject of a separate federal class action alleging that it falsely represented Alexandre Family Farm products as “humane.”  LIC's Equal Justice Fellow, Isabella Nilsson, did the oral argument. She crushed it. Thank you to everyone in FAST who helped make this happen in various ways. <3 <3 <3 Here's to standing up against cruelty. Sincerely, Alene & LIC

Hello everyone, We are excited to share that Aurora Coop, the third-largest pork producer in Brazil and a major exporter, has officially committed to implementing a pre-implantation system (complete phase-out of the use of crates during gestation) in all its new units with an immediate effect. With this new commitment, we now have five of the largest Brazilian pig producers with pre-implantation systems in new units (JBS, BRF, Aurora, Alibem and Pamplona). You can read the official commitment here (in Portuguese). * Scale: Brazil. * Timeline: 6 months of campaigning by Sinergia Animal and several years of negotiation. * Other organizations involved in dialogue with the company: Fórum Animal, Humane World for Animals, and Alianima. Monitoring and Follow-up: Aurora Coop will report its progress annually. Sinergia Animal will monitor the implementation through meetings, analysis of sustainability reports, and updates in our Pigs in Focus report. For more details about this commitment or our campaign strategy, feel free to reach out to me at: rborges@sinergiaanimal.org Thank you! Raquel Borges Corporate Engagement Lead – Brazil Sinergia Animal