Veganuary having ‘biggest year ever’ with over 600,000 sign-ups

Annual event sees people follow a vegan diet for the month of January

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More people than ever are taking on the Veganuary challenge this year, the namesake organisation has revealed.

Veganuary, the global organisation encouraging people to try a vegan diet for the month of January, says it has “hit a new landmark” with close to 610,000 people taking part in the 2022 event.

This number surpasses last year’s total of 580,000 participants globally.

Veganuary says that sign-ups for 2022 “continue to remain strong”, so this year’s number is expected to rise.

The organisation says “hundreds” of new plant-based products have been launched this month, including KFC’s vegan chicken burger permanently returning to the fast food chain’s menu, McDonald’s making its McPlant burger available in all of its UK restaurants and Burger King launching the UK’s first vegan “chicken” nuggets.

Celebrities such as Dr Jane Goodall, Joanna Lumley and Venus Williams have all backed this year’s campaign.

“Veganuary’s mission is to make the world a kinder, safer, happier place for all, which makes their January campaign utterly irresistible,” Lumley said in a statement. “I’m in awe of every single person taking part for the climate, our rivers and oceans, forests and wild places, animals and people.”

Dragon’s Den investor, Deborah Meaden, is one of Veganuary’s official ambassadors for 2022 and said eating a plant-based diet helped her to “change how I eat”.

“Now my diet is the best for animals, the planet and for me. If the climate crisis, animal suffering or the loss of wild places and species concerns you, sign up, take part and let Veganuary help you, too,” Meaden added.

Veganuary’s Head of Communications Toni Vernelli says: “It is incredibly exciting to be marking the biggest Veganuary on record with two weeks of January still to go, but it is not surprising. As more people become aware of the incredible impact our food choices have on the health of our planet, attitudes towards eating vegan are changing and so are our diets.”