The Rainbow Vegetarian Café in Cambridge, England, has announced that it will not accept the new £5 polymer notes, introduced by the Bank of England in September. Last week the British vegan community discovered that the notes contain trace amounts of beef tallow, which is animal fat, and are therefore unacceptable by their cruelty-free standards. A heated online controversy has resulted, including a petition asking the Bank to remove tallow from the polymer.
The Rainbow Café's owner, Sharon Meijland, told The Telegraph that her stance was announced last Wednesday, at the end of a BBC radio interview on the unrelated topic of Christmas food.
"We sponsor the Vegan Fair and announced on Wednesday we would not be accepting the £5 notes because they are dubious ethically. We have been providing food for vegans for 30 years and have tried to be as ethical as we possibly can...This is not just a restaurant, it's a restaurant where tiny details like this are really important."
Is any of our money cruelty-free?
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Tuesday December 06 2016, @05:38PM
Both that and what takyon posted look fantastic. She's got the day off today, so I think she's making fake neat Shepard's pie, but I'm going to try those later this week.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 07 2016, @07:23PM
Where, these days, can you find a shepard that is both neat and fake to make a pie out of? Wouldn't it be better just to drop the vegan pretense, and get a real messy shepard?