Vegan falafel burgers. Veganuary attracted 400,000 signatories last year. Photograph: Vaaseenaa/Getty/iStockPhoto
Mon 28 Dec 2020 19.01 EST
Last modified on Mon 28 Dec 2020 23.37 EST
Organisers of Veganuary are gearing up for their biggest ever year next month since the meat-free pledge was launched seven years ago, thanks to a surge in consumers tucking into more plant-based foods during lockdown and greater concern about health and the environment.
The UK-based campaign, which since 2014 has asked people to pledge to follow a diet free of animal products in January, has set a target of 500,000 signatories worldwide and expects to reach 350,000 by Tuesday.
A record 400,000 people signed up to the campaign last year, compared with 250,000 participants in 2019 and 170,000 in 2018.
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New vegan fried chicken brand VFC recently launched across the United Kingdom. The new brand was created by businessman Matthew Glover who founded vegan campaign Veganuary with his wife Jane Land in 2014 alongside Source restaurant owner Adam Lyons as a form of protest of the animal agriculture industry. Initially, the duo is launching VFC with three seitan-based and soy-free products (available in original or spicy flavors) through the brand’s website: Bites & Fries, with a tangy barbecue sauce, VFC Bites, and VFC Fillets. “I am a businessman turned activist and VFC is very much a marriage of the two,” Glover said. “There are many ways to dismantle unjust systems, and we intend VFC to be part of the movement that puts an end to factory farming for good.”