Veganuary 2020: What Have We Learnt?
Veganuary 2020
It’s that time of year: time to reflect on the success of Veganuary 2020. As always, it’s very interesting to see how many people have signed up, and to see how that number compares to last year’s number. Whilst it would be tempting to engage in detailed analysis, and some certainly would be tempted to do so, there is simply not enough data to comprehensively scrutinize the trend in such a way that actually gives very detailed information. This is because Veganuary, though now well established, is a relatively new phenomenon.
Nonetheless, just to put the current Veganuary in perspective, we can see that 400,350 confirmed sign-ups were announced at the end of January 2020. By comparison, 250,310 were declared in 2019, and just 3,300 in 2014, the year Veganuary was launched.
Even though established vegans don’t participate directly in Veganuary, other than to support and promote it, it is always heart-warming and encouraging to see the significant and growing number of people taking an interest in the event and in veganism in general each year. It is also encouraging to see the growing degree of high-profile support for the event and for veganism in general. And, of course, the palpable sense of frustration among meat and dairy industry officials at the success of the event and at the success of the movement overall is further cause for celebration.
One particularly encouraging fact of Veganuary is that whilst many people do not sign up, and whilst many do sign up, give it their best shot, and then abandon veganism temporarily or permanently, there are many others for whom veganism becomes their new way of life.
Well done to everyone who signed up this year! Each one of you is making a difference. Every new vegan is another nail in the coffin of animal exploitation and environmental destruction, and another victory against the normalisation of cruelty.
