A former senior leader of the prominent vegan campaign Veganuary has dramatically switched sides, now spearheading a movement that encourages people to keep eating meat. Toni Vernelli, 54, who spent almost six years as Veganuary's head of communications, is now helping to run a rival campaign that directly challenges the principles she once championed.
From Vegan Advocate to Welfare-First Campaigner
Vernelli dedicated decades to campaigning against animal cruelty, playing a key role in building Veganuary into a global phenomenon. The annual pledge, which asks participants to give up meat and dairy for January, has been endorsed by celebrities like Billie Eilish and Joaquin Phoenix. However, Vernelli now claims the campaign's strict dietary dogma is unhelpful and even damaging to the goal of reducing animal suffering.
She has joined the animal welfare charity FarmKind, which is launching a provocative counter-campaign called 'Forget Veganuary'. This initiative encourages supporters to continue consuming animal products while making regular donations to fund improvements in factory farming conditions, effectively offsetting their 'animal welfare footprint'.
A New Strategy: Funding Change Over Dietary Purity
Vernelli's change of heart stems from a belief that demanding complete dietary change alienates the vast majority of people. "I no longer care what people eat," she stated, "as long as they take steps to reduce animal suffering." She argues that while an individual can only stop eating the meat they personally consume, there is no limit to the good they can do by financially supporting better farming practices.
FarmKind, co-founded by former vegan activist Thom Norman, asserts that most Britons oppose factory farming but still enjoy meat. The charity suggests that for an average person, donating around £15 per month to effective welfare causes would have a far greater impact than eliminating meat from their diet entirely. Norman reflected that years of street activism in London achieved minimal results compared to the potential impact of equivalent financial donations.
Competitive Eaters and a Direct Challenge for 2026
To promote its controversial message, FarmKind has enlisted three of Britain's top competitive eaters: Nick Simmons ('Lifting Weights Cleaning Plates'), 'Franco Feasts', and JJ Da Lion. In a stark visual stunt, they will spend a full day eating only animal products for every meal, donating to animal welfare charities alongside each one.
The 'Forget Veganuary' campaign is scheduled to launch in January 2026, directly rivalling the Veganuary pledge. In response, a Veganuary spokesman strongly criticised the concept, likening it to "deliberately setting a fire and then donating to the fire brigade." They argued that offsetting ignores the root cause—continued demand—and that reducing consumption prevents animals from being born into suffering, a harm donations cannot undo.
This ideological clash marks a significant fissure in the animal advocacy movement, pitting the established path of dietary change against a new, pragmatic focus on incremental welfare funding.
