The image on the left shows Taylor Swift dressed in a Starbucks apron, ready to write on a cup. The text around that image reads, "I've got a blank space baby... and I'll write your name." On the right is a photo of Stephen Merchant, holding a coffee cup in a scene from The Good Place. The text around this image reads, "Actually, I brought my own mug!" Starbucks Lovers: Bring your own darn mug!

Starbucks Lovers: Bring your own darn mug! PS: Free coffee!

In this post I’m going to outline a game plan to incentivize all the lonely Starbucks lovers to finally start bringing their own reusable cups! The bonus stars that you earn by bringing a personal cup will score you a free bag of coffee beans in no time. If you select organic beans, this will put a little extra pressure on Starbucks to source ethically. Continue reading Starbucks Lovers: Bring your own darn mug! PS: Free coffee!

A photo of the Matiere Premiere discovery set, opened to reveal 10 small boxes each labeled with a perfume name, from Vanilla Powder to Parisian Musc.

An excursion into the world of ethical perfume – Matiere Premiere

I was surprised to see that actually not much has been written about ethical perfumes. Here I take a look at Matiere Premiere, a fairly new French perfume company that aims to be ethical. It’s the only major perfumer to grow its own raw materials – organic roses and tuberoses in the Grasse region. I picked up a Matiere Premiere Discovery Set at the Parfumarija in Dublin and share my Green Stars rating. Continue reading An excursion into the world of ethical perfume – Matiere Premiere

As described in the caption, the image is a composite of food images. The left side shows the composition of the actual diet consumed in the Lancet study, dominated by white bread, cake, cookies, confectionery, pizza, soda, etc. A logo for Quorn occupies a tiny portion of the image, annotated with "In reality, plant-based meat substitutes represented only 0.2% of caloric intake!" On the right is a selection of images of plant-based meat products such as Quorn and Beyond Meat, representing a plant-based diet implied in the Lancet paper.

Ultra-processed food: How meat and dairy are co-opting the narrative

This is the first of two posts detailing how the UPF conversation is a front line in the war against plant-based food. As a case study, I take a look at a high-profile research paper, published in The Lancet last month, and the media coverage that delivers a very misleading message. Continue reading Ultra-processed food: How meat and dairy are co-opting the narrative

Meat versus legumes. On the left are images of various legumes, a bowl of tarka dal, and a box of Beyond Meat burgers. On the right is an image of cows tethered to a feed box and and piece of beef.

The war over the most critical ethical dilemma

Beef and legumes, the most popular sources of protein in the animal and plant worlds, respectively, are at opposite extremes in terms of environmental and social impact. There has been a large-scale war playing out over this dilemma – here is a summary of some of the battlegrounds. Continue reading The war over the most critical ethical dilemma