"We particularly empathize with the perspective of Veganuary staff and community members. We acknowledge that the campaign may have been deeply demotivating to those working on diet change and we are sorry."
Thank you for saying this, Thom and Aidan. Ultimately, we’re all here because we believe there’s a better path forward for our food system, even if we disagree on the best strategy to achieve it. In the spirit of minimizing further infighting risk, I want to confirm that this summary of our communications fairly reflects the sequence of events. Veganuary and FarmKind will continue reflecting on what happened together behind the scenes, and my hope is that we can now collectively shift focus away from internal process challenges and toward the more productive conversation around execution and overall impact. Onward from here.
Thank you to everyone on the EA Forum who has shared their thoughts and reflections so far.
We would like to clarify that Veganuary was not involved in developing the “Forget Veganuary” campaign and had no role in shaping or approving its messaging or execution. While we were given advance notice that FarmKind was planning a campaign promoting offsetting as an alternative to trying vegan in January and were kept informed about media timing, we did not have sight of the website content until after it was launched, nor of the final PR framing. We share some of the concerns raised in this discussion about the potential risks associated with this approach.
Our organization supports both dietary change and effective philanthropy. We see the value in open discussion about the most effective ways to reduce harm to animals. We recognize that everyone involved shares a desire to end factory farming, even where we disagree on strategy/tactics.
As this discussion has arisen during our busiest period of the year, our focus is now on executing an impactful Veganuary 2026 and delivering a norm-changing campaign that reduces demand for animal products at scale and incentivizes corporations to shift the food environment toward higher availability and visibility of cruelty-free options. We may not be able to engage deeply in real time now, but we’re open to further discussion and evaluation post-January.
"We particularly empathize with the perspective of Veganuary staff and community members. We acknowledge that the campaign may have been deeply demotivating to those working on diet change and we are sorry."
Thank you for saying this, Thom and Aidan. Ultimately, we’re all here because we believe there’s a better path forward for our food system, even if we disagree on the best strategy to achieve it. In the spirit of minimizing further infighting risk, I want to confirm that this summary of our communications fairly reflects the sequence of events. Veganuary and FarmKind will continue reflecting on what happened together behind the scenes, and my hope is that we can now collectively shift focus away from internal process challenges and toward the more productive conversation around execution and overall impact. Onward from here.
Thank you to everyone on the EA Forum who has shared their thoughts and reflections so far.
We would like to clarify that Veganuary was not involved in developing the “Forget Veganuary” campaign and had no role in shaping or approving its messaging or execution. While we were given advance notice that FarmKind was planning a campaign promoting offsetting as an alternative to trying vegan in January and were kept informed about media timing, we did not have sight of the website content until after it was launched, nor of the final PR framing. We share some of the concerns raised in this discussion about the potential risks associated with this approach.
Our organization supports both dietary change and effective philanthropy. We see the value in open discussion about the most effective ways to reduce harm to animals. We recognize that everyone involved shares a desire to end factory farming, even where we disagree on strategy/tactics.
As this discussion has arisen during our busiest period of the year, our focus is now on executing an impactful Veganuary 2026 and delivering a norm-changing campaign that reduces demand for animal products at scale and incentivizes corporations to shift the food environment toward higher availability and visibility of cruelty-free options. We may not be able to engage deeply in real time now, but we’re open to further discussion and evaluation post-January.