Former Veganuary champion quits to run meat-eating campaign - saying vegan dogma is 'damaging' to goal of reducing animal suffering
Toni Vernelli, 54, spent decades campaigning against animal cruelty and was head of communications at Veganuary for almost six years.
By OLIVIA ALLHUSEN, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER
Published: 16:47 GMT, 27 December 2025 | Updated: 09:56 GMT, 28 December 2025
A former senior figure at Veganuary has turned her back on the vegan movement, claiming it is 'damaging' to the goal of reducing animal suffering.
Toni Vernelli, 54, spent decades campaigning against animal cruelty and was head of communications at Veganuary for almost six years.
The annual campaign, which encourages people to give up meat and dairy each January, has been embraced by celebrities including Billie Eilish and Joaquin Phoenix, helping to turn veganism into a fashionable lifestyle movement.
But Ms Vernelli has now turned her back on the campaign entirely, urging people to 'forget Veganuary' and claiming its dogma is not only unhelpful but actively damaging efforts to reduce animal suffering.
Instead, she has joined animal welfare charity FarmKind, which is launching a provocative new campaign encouraging people to eat meat while donating to causes aimed at improving conditions in factory farming.
The charity's 'Forget Veganuary' drive will ask supporters to continue consuming animal products while offsetting their 'animal welfare footprint' through regular donations.
To promote the campaign, FarmKind has teamed up with three of Britain's top competitive eaters, who will spend an entire day eating nothing but animal products for breakfast, lunch and dinner - while donating money to animal welfare charities alongside each meal.
Toni Vernelli, 54, spent decades campaigning against animal cruelty and was head of communications at Veganuary for almost six years
But Ms Vernelli has now turned her back on the campaign entirely, urging people to 'forget Veganuary'. Pictured: Animal rights activits of PETA are arrested by police as they demonstrate naked and only covered with a banner near Red Square
Ms Vernelli said years of pushing diet change had convinced her that asking people to give up meat alienates those who want to help animals, while placing strict limits on the impact they can have.
She argued that while an individual can only stop eating the amount of meat they personally consume, there is no limit to the good they can do by funding improvements to farming practices.
The former vegan campaigner said she now believes diet change should not even be part of the conversation, adding that she no longer cares what people eat as long as they take steps to reduce animal suffering.
FarmKind claims most people oppose factory farming but still enjoy eating meat - and that pretending the two positions cannot coexist is what stops many from helping.