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Future Kind, the vitamin company especially for vegans, flexitarians and reducetarians, has announced an expanded line of vitamin products will be introduced throughout the summer and available for purchase in North America. The line includes 100% vegan versions of Super Greens, Omega-3, Liposomal Vitamin C, Organic Vegan Protein, Vegan Collagen Booster, and Vegan Iron.

According to Shaun Cunningham, Future Kind Co-Founder and CEO, “Interest in a plant-based lifestyle continues to increase, as does consumer demand for vegan products. A report published in Research and Markets revealed the global vegan food market could reach $31.4 billion by 2026, which is exciting. So we’re positioning ourselves to support this trend and deliver evidence-based products that contain the essentials people really need, to make plant-based nutrition a little easier.”

The company currently produces a highly successful multivitamin which is specifically formulated for vegans who may not be getting the nutrients they need from a plant-based diet, but don’t want the additional ingredients contained in a traditional multivitamin. These non-vegan filler ingredients include gelatin, carmine, artificial colors, pepsin, and caprylic acid.

Some of the most influential medical institutions in the world have addressed the need for vegans to focus on certain nutrients such as Vitamin B-12, Vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids, to name a few. In a recent article, the Mayo Clinic stated, “The more restrictive your diet is, the more challenging it can be to get all the nutrients you need.”

To develop vitamins specifically suited to vegans and those on diets that limit their intake of animal protein, Future Kind worked with some of the industries’ top scientific and medical professionals such as dieticians, physicians, cellular chemists, and vitamin formulators.

Discussing the need for vitamins for those on varying levels of a plant-based diet, Co-Founder Eliot Cunningham explains, “Many vegans believe they get everything they need from plants, but that can be next to impossible unless you enjoy eating handfuls of dirt or have an algae processing plant in your backyard.” Cunningham adds, “Luckily that’s where vitamins specifically geared to vegans and those limiting their animal protein intake come in, but deciding which to take is often confusing.”

IT’S ALL ABOUT D3, OMEGA-3 and B12
Registered Dietician Nutritionist and Health & Fitness Expert Whitney English addresses that need by stating, “Future Kind is the first supplement of its kind to offer just the essentials—Vitamin B12, Vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids—in a form and dose that is ideal for vegans, those on a vegetarian or flex diet, or anyone exploring eating less meat as many have been, especially during COVID-19.”

Specifically addressing the need for Vitamin B-12 supplements in a vegan diet, Colleen De Bellefonds in Women’s Health magazine writes, “Not getting enough (Vitamin B-12) can put you at risk for a specific type of anemia that can eventually lead to nervous system damage. Signs of deficiency can include fatigue, tingling, speech or memory impairment, and difficulty with balance.”

NEW PRODUCTS IN 2020
The company recently introduced Vegan Sleep and Magnesium vitamins as well as Vegan Iodine and will continue to debut new products throughout 2020 and beyond. “We want to have our vitamins and supplements accessible globally with an accessible price point without sacrificing quality or sustainability”, states Eliot Cunningham.

Eliot adds, “One of the things we’re most proud of is how simple we have made this for those on a plant-based diet. Vegans already have to make a greater number of choices about their diet than omnivores do. Choosing a dietary supplement shouldn’t be a process as well.”

ABOUT THE PRODUCT LINE
Future Kind products are:
Made in the USA
100% vegan and cruelty-free
Third-party tested
Eco-friendly packaged in 100% post-consumer recycled materials
Money back guaranteed for 60 days
Available for purchase at futurekind.com

TOP SELLING VEGAN MULTIVITAMIN
Price is $30/$25 for a subscription (1-month supply)
Created to boost and sustain energy, strengthen immunity, reduce “brain fog” and improve mood.

Additionally, a portion of Future Kind profit is donated to charities that align with their ethos—animal, planet and people.


ABOUT FUTURE KIND
Founded in 2018, Future Kind is a vegan vitamin company started by vegans for vegans. The company’s products are all made in the USA, 100% vegan and cruelty-free. They also care about the environment which is why they are the only vegan supplement company to use 100% recycled and recyclable packaging.

Understanding the need to provide nutritional supplements for anyone on a plant-based diet, founders Shaun and Eliot Cunningham developed a multivitamin that includes nutrients often missing in vegan diets like Vitamin D, Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin B12 while leaving out many unnecessary ingredients found in other multivitamins on the market. Follow Future Kind @wearefuturekind.

Human consumption of wild animals, along with its associated trading activities, were banned this week by the Chinese National People’s Congress Standing Committee.
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This follows on from the worldwide outrage caused by the links between bad animal welfare and animal farming to the spread of the current Coronavirus global pandemic, and others less contagious viruses in recent years.

CNN reported that the $74 billion industry was banned due to public health and ecological security issues, according to a statement by Chinese state news. They also stated that the ultimate aim of the ban was to eradicate the eating of wild animals and the illegal trading of wildlife.

This recent ban follows on from a temporary suspension of the sale of wildlife for human consumption. That temporary ban had been issued on 26th January to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which is believed to have come from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan. It is thought that the disease was transferred to humans by either pigs, civets, or pangolins, the latter being an endangered species that China’s Wildlife Protection Laws already ban the consumption of.

Zhang Tiewei, a spokesperson for China’s Legislative Affairs Commission, said that concerns had been mounting as to the hidden dangers of consuming wild animals even before the COVID-19 pandemic. The disease has further highlighted these concerns.

There is uncertainty about which species will be protected under the new ban, or whether the ban will cover wildfowl or aquatic animals. Livestock, also, is being questioned, as pigs have yet to be ruled out as being responsible for the disease ‘jumping’ to humans. The ban also means stricter procedures for the use of animals in medical or scientific research.

A recent BBC report which cites a Pew Research Centre survey claims that eight percent of black
Americans are strict vegans or vegetarians, compared to just three percent of the rest of the U.S
population.

It is thought that one of the core reasons behind these statistics is a quest for a healthier lifestyle.
Research shows that African Americans have a higher rate of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity and
cancer than most other groups, partly due to diet which is on average higher in salt and fat and lower in
fruits and vegetables.

An article from January in the Washington post which also covered the rise of veganism in Black
communities across America cited holistic nutritionist Afya Ibomu, who said some health disparities ‘been
the by-product of oppression, poverty, food deserts and lack of education but that African American
culture can also contribute to the problem’.

She said: “We use food as a cultural thing, showing someone you love them by giving them high-sugar,
high-fat food. We have higher rates of obesity, cancer, diabetes and asthma. It’s partly our DNA; we’re
not well-suited to a standard American diet.

But socioeconomic factors like poverty, living far from a greengrocer and easy access to fast food have
made it even more challenging for African Americans to eat healthily, according to the Food
Empowerment Project, a non-profit aimed at ending food inequality. Historically, the unhealthiest of
foods were the cheapest and most easily available to low-income, Black and brown families.
This health injustice also extends to a lack of consideration of specific needs of black Americans in official
health guidance. Dr. Milton Mills, who appeared in the documentary What the Health, spoke to the 2020
Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee last year about the issue, particularly on the health dangers of
recommending dairy products to African Americans.

“The vast majority of people of color in this country are intolerant to the lactose that’s in milk. Yet
because they think they have to eat this stuff, they go out, eat it, get sick, and think they have some sort
of intestinal problem. When I encourage them to stop eating dairy, their problems clear up,” he said.
“It’s really outrageous to encourage people to eat foods we know will make them sick, particularly when
the number one reason advanced for dairy foods is its calcium content. But African American women are
genetically protected against getting osteoporosis. So we’re making them sick for no good reason.”

Besides physicians such as Dr Mills pushing for the representation of African Americans in public heath
guidelines, the rise in the number of Black vegans in the United States has been helped by African
American musicians, sports stars and other public figures advocating for the lifestyle.

Celebrities such as Beyonce, Lizzo and tennis star Venus Williams have all either gone vegan or tried
veganism, with Beyonce even partnering in a "plant-based" meal delivery service.

A few years ago the singer famously vowed to give free tickets to her and her husband Jay Z's concerts
for life to a fan who made the switch to veganism.

The representation of Black people in the vegan movement has also been bolstered by events such as
Black VegFest a vegan festival created by and for the black community in New York City.

Clearly representation in all areas matters, and further progress can only help the black community
galvanise around the vegan idea even further.

The repercussions of our abuse of nonhuman animals and the natural world extend far beyond the lives
of those animals and our shared environment. The United Nations states that the two biggest threats to
global human health and survival are climate change and pandemics, and animal agriculture is
undeniably a huge contributor to both of these. It has become widely accepted that adopting a vegan
lifestyle has the potential to alleviate many aspects of climate change, and the unfolding events of 2020
are increasingly proving that our relationship with the natural world needs to go back to the drawing
board.

Not long after the outbreak of Covid-19 in the Western world the correlation between animal farming
and the spread of zoonotic diseases began to circulate in mainstream media with articles surprisingly
advocating in favour of changing our global food system. News publications such as The New York
Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian shared headlines such as "Tofu sales skyrocket during the
pandemic, as consumers search for affordable meat alternatives" and "The Covid-19 pandemic shows we
must transform the global food system".

The common narratives about the origins of the pandemic have always circled back to the Chinese exotic
animal trade, with many Westerners being quick to label it barbaric and unnecessary. As easy as it is to
take the moral high ground, we must face the uncomfortable truth that the principal driver of zoonotic
diseases is industrial animal agriculture, independent of where it takes place or the animals in question.
We only need look as far as the recent pandemic virus threats from influenza viruses such as H1N1 (swine
flu) or H5N1 (bird flu).

While many are eagerly anticipating the end of the current pandemic and regaining a sense of normality,
others - perhaps more with a more sober realism - are bracing for other, perhaps more deadly, strains of
the coronavirus or another zoonotic disease which could originate from any facility in any country where
animals are industrially farmed.

The recent mutation of Covid-19 that has emerged amongst farmed mink in Denmark has proven that
mutations can occur in this virus, particularly if it's associated with coming from other intermediate
animals. These mutations worryingly can affect the immune profile of the virus, meaning it may threaten
the effectiveness of future vaccines.

Before the pandemic, the Netherlands was already in the process of stopping intensive mink farming.
Denmark’s decision to cull its entire population of up to 17m mink was initially proposed by the Danish
government and health authorities as a bold measure to stop the Scandinavian country being the
epicentre of the new wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The cull has sent the country into legal, political, scientific and logistical turmoil as the Danish
Government later admitted that it did not have a legal basis to order the killing of the mink. Many mink
farmers are now in a state of limbo and the general consensus is that there is almost no hope of ever
reviving the industry. According to the Financial Times more than two-thirds of Danish mink have been
killed as of the 13th of November.

Although some have expressed sympathy for the farmers in question, others see the death of the
industry as a matter of progress towards animal justice and step in the right direction with regards to
lowering the risk of future pandemics. The outbreak in Danish mink farms also helps with recognising that
the origin of these issues isn't as geographically exotic as we once liked to think, at least from a Western
perspective. The ideology and mindset that abuses the natural world and its nonhuman inhabitants is
truly global, and it is one that we each have a role in rewriting should we ever want to achieve any
semblance of a secure future.