Last week, Living Social released results from their “Dining Out” survey of consumer behavior, which polled 4,000 online Americans and found some surprising facts about eating habits, culinary choices, and favorite foods.

In an event sponsored by the conservation group WildAid, Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group made an appeal against the consumption of shark fins to a group of 30 of China’s richest and most influential business people in Shangai.

Thanks to furious protests by hundreds of thousands of animal rights activists, Officials in Hutou, Zhejiang province, eastern China have decided to ban a 600-year-old dog meat festival, where around 15,000 dogs were due to be boiled alive, butchered and then eaten over a period of three days in October.

This startling infographic highlights how Americans consume an average of 200 pounds of meat, 31 pounds of cheese, 16 pounds of fish, and 415 pounds of veggies on an annual basis. Wondering how this compares to what we were eating in the 1950s?

Although there are currently no slaughter facilities in the United States to process horses for human food, it is not illegal to truck American horses to Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered for meat.

Sweet Cheeks Vegan Bakery plans to open a location where they will also offer workshops on vegan nutrition, animal rights activism, and entrepreneurship and business training for women.

Not only does Graeme the cat drop his owner, Nicole Weinrich to the station every morning, but he also waits there all day and then trots over to the opposite platform to greet her when she returns home from work.

Homosexuality has been documented in more than 450 species of vertebrates signaling that sexual preference is biologically determined in animals

The Harvard School of Public Health seems released its own Healthy Eating Plate in order to address what it saw as shortcomings in the government’s My Plate. “My Plate mixes science with the influence of powerful agricultural interests, which is not the recipe for healthy eating,” said Walter Willet, chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Nineteen vegan artists living in New York City and beyond will display their photography, illustrations, drawings and other words at an all Vegan Art show that will remain open until October 28, 2011.

PETA came up with this super cute vegan baking cheat sheet and we just had to share it!

We’re happy to report another small vegan victory! U.K. based MuLondon, maker of natural organic skincare products has announced that its exclusive, naturally moisturizing skincare products are officially 100-percent vegan and registered by The Vegan Society.