Mislav Skrepnik, certified fitness instructor, and Ivana Rukavina, whi is a social educator, plant-based diet nutritionist and Plant-Based Nutrition program participant at Cornell University, are the vegan couple who share a love of bodybuilding, nutrition and crafting carefully designed, daily vegan recipes to enrich their Facebook community, "Herb Power". Through playful billboard visuals, this young likable duo invites everybody to the 9th ZeGeVege Festival (organized by Animal Friends). It will be held on Zagreb's main square from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, September 2, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 3. As part of the festival, they will hold a lecture, presenting their knowledge and scientifically proven facts about the importance of plant nutrition and its impact on the development of the body. Anyone interested in how a vegan diet helps in sports should attend their lecture on Sept. 2nd to witness their successes and seek advice first-hand.

Singer Morrissey announced that he would play only at venues that do not serve animal products during his upcoming Australian tour. During an interview with Larry King, the former Smiths frontman - who released an album titled ''Meat is Murder'' - confirmed he was a long-time vegetarian but recently chose to go vegan. ''It’s the flesh-eaters that are the true cranks, and the farmers who look upon sheep and cows as their property,'' the singer said. ''It is morally wrong to make money from the death of any living being.'' Morrissey successfully had animal products banned from the general admissions area of Madison Square Garden last year, although meat was reportedly served to VIP guests. (vegnews.com)

Impossible Foods, the Bay Area fake meat start-up that’s received millions in Silicon Valley venture funding, is now making a splash within the New York food scene. The completely plant-based burger that oozes a primal red color when squeezed tastes, apparently, just like beef. The company claims its burger uses 95 percent less land, 74 percent less water and emits 87 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than its cattle-derived counterpart. Impossible Foods is one of several fake meat start-ups that is scoring Silicon Valley buzz and dollars, while promising to disrupt the global food industry for the better. Beyond Meat makes a chicken breast alternative derived from pea powder and organic soy. And those meat alternatives can be served with a side of Just Mayo from Hampton Creek, a San Francisco-based food technology company that produces vegan alternatives and uses a varietal of yellow peas to mimic the creamy texture that eggs give to mayonnaise. (triplepundit.com)

Vegans have substantially lower death rates than meat-eaters, a major study has found. The study has been published in the JAMA Internal Medicine Journal and reignites debate around increasingly popular vegan diets amid conflicting medical advice and evidence over their impact of proponents' health. The research was undertaken by scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital, who monitored health and diet records of more than 130,000 people over the course of thirty years. They found every three per cent increase in calories from plant protein was found to reduce risk of death by 10 per cent. The figure rises to 12 per cent for risk of dying from heart disease. The number of people in Britain who follow a vegan diet has increased 360 per cent over the course of the last decade. (independent.co.uk)

A group of Canadian monks from the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society released a reported 600 pounds of lobsters off the coast of Wood Islands on Saturday. The monks purchased the animals from local vendors on Prince Edwards Island and conducted a 20-minute prayer ceremony before setting them free. "Hopefully, we can find a spot where there are no cages waiting for them," monk Venerable Dan said before contacting fisherman for advice about the safest areas to release the lobsters. "This whole purpose for us is to cultivate this compassion toward others. It doesn't have to be lobsters; it can be worms, flies, any animals," Dan said. The lobster rescue follows similar work by Christine Loughead, who spent more than $300 to transport lobster Lobby Joe from a supermarket tank in Ontario to the ocean in Halifax. (vegnews.com)