Coffee retailer Starbucks has launched its Iced Coconut Milk Mocha Macchiato—its first-ever coconut milk-based drink—in the United States and Canada. The beverage contains espresso, white chocolate mocha sauce, and a caramel and mocha drizzle on top, and can easily be veganized thanks to its single origin Sumatran coconut milk base. News outlet Business Insider noted that it is clear Starbucks launched the new drink in an effort to both respond to customer demands and capture the growing $6.7 billion dairy alternative market, stating that "its role in highlighting non-dairy options represents the growing appeal of dairy alternatives, both to lactose-intolerant customers and those simply seeking new flavors." The coconut milk-based macchiato is the newest addition of vegan-friendly options Starbucks introduced this summer, with recent additions including Caramel Espresso, Youthberry White Tea, and Strawberry Lemon Limeade granitas. Starbucks added coconut milk to its menu in 2015 as an alternative to soy milk. (vegnews.com)

According to Swedish news source The Local, the popularity of meat-free days in Swedish schools has increased by 80 percent during a two-year period. Lund University and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions analyzed an environmental survey sent to all Swedish districts by environmental magazine Aktuell Hållbarhet. Districts were scored on their adherence to environmental policies, including the promotion of meat-free days in schools. Meatless Monday campaigns have found success stateside with many students at schools such as Stanford University and districts across California, Philadelphia, and Ohio ditching meat in favor of plant-based foods. (vegnews.com)

Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google's parent company Alphabet, has named the number one "game-changing" trend of the future as the consumption of plant-based proteins instead of meat. In a report by Fortune, Schmidt spoke to thousands of investors and business executives at the Milken Institute's Global Conference. Replacing meat with plant proteins helps the environment, and lowers food costs for impoverished communities, particularly in developing countries. Organizations like the Good Food Institute are already connecting investors with funding opportunities for plant-based companies. They also work with restaurants, grocery stores, and cafeterias to increase the availability of plant-based menu items. With pressing issues like environmental degradation and global food scarcity, it is now more important than ever to look to the future of plant-based proteins. (idausa.org)

The Culinary Institute of America and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Nutrition, are working to encourage a widespread shift away from animal protein within the restaurant industry. Through a project called Menus of Change, these two groups want more chefs and restaurant owners to do the "Protein Flip." Menus of Change has released two documents, including a lengthy infographic that outlines all the facts regarding animal protein and the consequences of current consumption rates, and an 8-page toolkit called Protein Plays that provides tangible solutions for redesigning menus in a less meat-focused way and addresses certain food myths. (treehugger.com)

New figures released last month showed that half a million Brits are vegan - but this video shows a world in which we have all turned our back on animal products. In the clip, titled Hope, vegan Schindler's List actor Jochen Nickel plays a grandfather walking with his grandson through ruins of an abandoned factory farm."Who are we?" he says in voiceover. "What defines us? We pretended they couldn't feel. What was it that made us so blind? Our compassion buried beneath selfishmess. Who gave us the right?" But even though he says that in his memory he "sees their pleading eyes", the farm is shown to be one of thousands closed when humans stopped eating animal flesh. "Their screams still echo in my ears, the smell of their fear stuck in my nose... Their blood on our hands, on our plates. No water will wash it away. No eternity will make it fade." But the video shows a future which may one day become a reality. Made by PETA Germany, the pair leave the past behind and walk into a sun-drenched field, which the charity are hoping may one day be a reality. (mirror.co.uk)