Inside Iceland's blood farms

2023-10-26

REYKJAVÍK – This investigation explored the controversy around PMSG, a hormone used for meat production: How it is produced, why and where it is used, ethical debates, and the complex legal battles around it.

PMSG is extracted from the blood of pregnant horses that is produced in only a small number of countries around the world. Although the hormone is little known to the public, it is widely used in meat production. In recent years it has been at the centre of local controversies over animal welfare conditions and the use of the hormone in industrial farming.

The team visited Iceland, a major source of PMSG and the only country in Europe that is still producing it, to understand how locals are organising around the issue. They then traced the use of the hormone around the world.

Photo credit: Animal Welfare Foundation

Team members

Jessica Abrahams

Jessica Abrahams is a British journalist and membership editor at Devex.

Abby Young-Powell

Abby Young-Powell is an independent British journalist based in Berlin.

James Imam

James is a Milan-based British journalist.

Mentor

Rinke van den Brink

Rinke van den Brink (1955) is a writer who has covered healthcare for NOS since 2005.

Supported

€22,300 allocated on 23/05/2023

ENV1/2023/225

Grant

Environmental Journalism

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