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234- The 2025 Vegan News Awards (Part 1)
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Every year, we look back at the last 12 months & crown the winners and losers from the previous year's animal rights & vegan news from around the world. This time around Ant is joined by Shane & Paul; in this first half of the awards show, they discuss....
The Biggest Impact News Story
https://www.v-label.com/news/proveg-nigeria-joins-v-label/
https://vegconomist.com/retail-e-commerce/digital-nudges-in-online-grocery-shopping-promote-plant-based-choices-research-finds/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy710rv54wo
https://vegoutmag.com/news/nat-how-many-people-are-going-plant-based-in-2025-heres-what-the-data-says/
https://www.humaneworld.org/en/blog/poland-and-new-york-fashion-week-ban-fur#:~:text=Poland%2C%20the%20largest%20producer%20of,should%20be%20eradicated%20throughout%20Europe
The Most Surprising News Story
https://www.irishnews.com/news/world/piglets-left-to-starve-as-part-of-controversial-art-exhibition-stolen-KYBYI3LHYZN27HTFXMNBYO2R5U/
https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/crufts-2025/
https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/health/vegan-nun-medal-powerlifting-competition/
https://www.theanimalreader.com/2025/03/24/amazon-forest-cut-down-to-build-road-for-cop30-climate-summit/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c706gg2l7wpo
The Best Film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7IjH3H_EDQ&t=1s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adue0xef8pY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceYG7B88j_c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbWHt7bMKgw (Spanish undercover animal experimentation doc)
The Best Campaign
https://plantbasednews.org/culture/film/could-never-go-vegan-london-underground/
https://www.farmtransparency.org/news/421-dead-piglets-dropped-premiers-office-doorstep-animal-cruelty-protest
https://thetab.com/2025/02/18/these-are-the-russell-group-unis-where-students-have-already-voted-to-go-vegan
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/police-called-as-vegan-activists-target-farms-family-fun-da-322894/
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Enough of the Falafel is a community of people who love keeping on top of the latest news in the world of veganism & animal rights. With the Vegan Week podcast, we aim to keep listeners (& ourselves) informed & up-to-date with the latest developments that affect vegans & non-human animals; giving insight, whilst staying balanced; remaining true to our vegan ethics, whilst constantly seeking to grow & develop.
Each week we look through news stories from the past 7 days in the world of veganism & animal rights.
If you spot any news stories that might catch our fancy, or have an idea for a discussion topic, get in touch via enoughofthefalafel@gmail.com.
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Thanks everyone for listening; give us a rating and drop us a message to say "hi"; it'll make our day!
Paul, Shane & Ant
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Transcript
Introduction to the Vegan News Awards
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello everyone. Now, what news story has made the biggest waves in the vegan movement over the last 12 months? Who has been your animal rights hero of 2025? And what news story had us so flabbergasted that we're only just now picking up our jaws? off the floor well i'm anthony for this very special episode i'm joined by paul and shane and we are here to work out the winners and losers in the 2025 vegan news awards from enough of the falafel i think vegans go looking for trouble even when they're not looking for trouble that's not what butter's used for
00:00:40
Speaker
Roaty! Take your flat-grown meat elsewhere. We're not doing that in the state of Florida. Should I call the medium and say, hi, sorry? True education. younger generation are getting know how brutal these practices are.
00:00:54
Speaker
That leaves a lot of pizza delivery companies in problems with things. What is this? What kind of movie is this? It's comedy gold, maybe. Any form of social injustice has...
00:01:07
Speaker
As long as you don't get the wee brunions with the horns, be alright. Does veganism give him superpowers?
00:01:16
Speaker
I cannot fly around the city. I don't have laser vision. and Well, like I say, we are here to talk about the last 12 months of vegan and animal rights
Podcast Format and Vegan Talk Shows
00:01:27
Speaker
news. Regular listeners will know that that is something that we do each week, looking back at the last seven days of vegan and animal rights news. If you want to listen to those episodes in the past, obviously they'll be a a little out of date now, but they're all still on your podcast feed. So you can go back. They're called Vegan Week and the text on the little pixel is in pink. We have different shows that we do from Enough of the Flaffle called Vegan Talk that are a bit more timeless and they're the ones with the black text. And we'll talk about general themes around veganism and animal rights, but our Weekly news wrap is a big core of what we do. And Paul and Shane are two of the folk who regularly comment on the news each week and will be continuing to do so next year too. Lucky old us. Shane, you you put a really nice message in our our special holiday Christmas card special saying how excited you've been to join the Enough of the Falafel team in the last few months. But what else has made 2025 change?
Personal Highlights of 2025
00:02:30
Speaker
nice and positive for you or maybe just particularly different? Well, one thing that was very exciting was I got to reconnect with a cousin of mine who I probably hadn't seen since we were kids. And he lives in upstate New York. I'm in Texas. And he had come down for a short visit. And I found out that not only is he vegan and his whole family is vegan, but he works at Farm Sanctuary. No way. And Farm Sanctuary, yes, in Watkins Glen, New York. And and that's a very famous, very well-known um sanctuary. And he works there doing like audiovisual kind of stuff. So that was very, very cool. So it wasn't just he was a vegan for health reasons. It was, you know, an animal rights thing. so wow It was exciting.
00:03:10
Speaker
That is amazing. yeah Oh, wow. What a boon. i'm I'm trying to imagine any of my cousins surprising me in that way. And lovely as they are, I can't see that happening. So, oh, no that's that's a real nice standout moment for 2025. What about you, Paul? Have you found any long lost relatives that are actually yeah ah members of the Animal Liberation Front or something like that? No, not that I know of, although I have looked at my family history some years ago, but no, they're all like um serfs and beggars from what I can work out um or or been in prison. So yeah, nothing that nothing like that of that to order, unfortunately. As we were just chatting before we came on, I've um spent quite a lot of time this year following the sad death of my own cat and um fostering some cats for the RSPCA, so local centre, where used to volunteer anyway. I've taken a few cats in and um particularly ones that have suffered with um yeah nervousness um or have been abused and just get them in a position where they can be adopted in forever homes. So um know take some time um i just give them space and and quiet and um hopefully i've again recently um got two of them uh homed to a lovely home and um i've just taken delivery of uh another one today to go with uh the cat i've already got and they're kind of we think they're brother and sister and yeah i'm just sitting in front of them now hoping that they're getting used to my voice so nice nice well what a nice introduction for them hearing you comment on their the last 12 months i was trying to think of a pun with regards to Deliveroo and Cats. The best I could come up with was DeliverMew, but it doesn't quite work. So we'd probably better... Not bad, not bad. Yeah, better move on. um so Anthony, are you goingnna are you going to share anything that was highlight for you? Thank you. Yes. Thank you for the prompt, Shane. i I had thought of something and then I got distracted by Deliveroo puns. I've had a good year's running. I'd say I've had four sort of main events that I've entered... And only one of them went terribly wrong. um And the other three went quite well and I placed quite highly and I was wearing my vegan runner's vest. So that was jolly good. And the one that went terrible was mostly in the dark. So not many people will have seen me in the daylight struggling wearing a vegan runner's vest. But my highlight has to be, as well as moving to to our lovely new house, um me and Alex got married. in August and part of our reception, the food that was served was a lovely selection of falafel, which I can't say we requested. We just asked for some vegan tapas, but that did feel quite fitting. So I've got a nice picture of me and Alex having just about enough.
00:05:47
Speaker
of the falafel, not too much, which are just the right amount of falafel. No, thank you for that,
Awards Categories Overview
00:05:52
Speaker
Shane. So listeners, you might have seen that today's show says part one next to it, and that's because of the eight sections. We're going to cover four now, and the other four you can hear on New Year's Day or any time after then that you choose to download. So this episode, we're going to cover four awards categories for the year's news, the biggest impact news story,
00:06:17
Speaker
The pick your jaw off the floor award for the new story that we simply couldn't believe. The best film, either feature length or short. And the best campaign. And then when you come and tune in for the second half in the new year, We've got vegan superhero of the year, biggest win for animals, most annoying story, biggest setback. And then we're going to look at our 2026 predictions, as well as looking back at the predictions that Dominic and Julie made for 2025. We'll see if they were correct. So the first category is the biggest impact news story.
Nominees for Biggest Impact News Story
00:06:54
Speaker
Now, obviously we we cover about 10 stories each week. So there's
00:06:58
Speaker
potentially 520 stories to sift through particular things of note. I was quite taken by the fact that ProVeg have added Nigeria to a new international partner for their V label, particularly because Nigeria is the the most populous country in Africa. So that seemed like a big deal that that sort of vegan labeling is going to become part of the thing there. And we saw lots of different surveys suggesting that continual trend of the last, I don't know, 15, 20 years of veganism increasing in numbers has indeed been increasing over the course of 2025, which is great news. But let's hear what Paul and Shane have chosen for their nominations, and I have chosen one too. Shane, should we start with you? Yours is featuring something that we we featured on the show, well, really quite recently. So mine is the news that basically the fur industry is collapsing. And two major things have happened. First of all, Poland poland banned fur farming.
00:08:05
Speaker
And um I think that was a very recent story that we did. They are, I think by 2033, they're supposed to ban it. Is that correct? And Poland is the largest producer of fur in the EU and it's second in the world only to China. So this is huge.
00:08:20
Speaker
The second thing that happened was that New York Fashion Week went for free. And that means... that they're not going to be advertising fur, promoting fur on the runway. Condé Nast, which publishes Vogue and Vanity Fair. And then also Hearst Magazines, which publishes like Cosmopolitan. They're all going fur-free. They're not going to have any images with fur going forward.
00:08:44
Speaker
So you know we've had so much bad news over the year, but this is some good news that we can celebrate, that things are moving in the correct directions. Yeah, absolutely. and And good to see, like you say, ah the fact that certain things are happening now, that the Poland ban, like you say, it's it's got a ah really long eight year sort of phasing out. But to see the New York Fashion Week ban happening now, that's we need things happening immediately to to GS up, don't we? Yes, absolutely. But yeah, huge, huge impact there. One of the biggest producers ever. of fur or exploiters of animals for their fur Poland. Paul, your biggest impact nomination is for something bit more techy, a bit more digital. Do you want to tell us a bit more
Jaw-Dropping News Stories
00:09:30
Speaker
about it? Yes, this is an article in Veg Economist, one of the articles, sorry, one of the publications i I quite like because it takes that kind of finance view on things, which is a really important thing to focus on in terms of where we can see change. I think the article in general isn't really one of rocket not sort rocket science, but it basically looks at the opportunity to help guide people towards plant-based options using um what what it terms as digital nudges, which is essentially providing greater info on product of environmental traits and also by grouping products into categories. So if it's sort of vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, et cetera. As I say, I don't think it's rocket science to some degree, but it's an interesting study. It does focus on online shopping, which I gather in the in in the study, at least, was nearly 50% of US shopping routes that take place, which is quite high, I guess. But I think also, thinking about it, the the sort of information they're talking about, as with the environmental labelling and the grouping, could easily apply into...
00:10:35
Speaker
show normal supermarkets as well. The article does miss, I think, some um sort of other factors that can be involved here. So things like, you know the the reality of people making purchases um based on money.
00:10:47
Speaker
And, you know, there's there's many, many factors, I think, that go on other than just labelling. But it does it does of touch on quite a few things. I think for me, what's really interesting with this is that, um you know, we've talked before about labelling on food. and We've talked about RSPCA assured and some of the pros and cons and that. um But I think, you know, we've talked about, I think at some point about if people could have labelling that shows if it was intensively farmed or how something was slaughtered, sort of things that would help really make people think about what they're putting in their trolleys and what they're eating.
00:11:18
Speaker
For me, it says, well, you know, if if we had better labelling, whether something was yeah produced by Monsanto or something like that, I think it would really help people. And we know that a lot of organisations don't like putting labelling onto products to um you know to give too much away. and So I think it sort of helps us think about what could happen in the future, maybe positive stuff that if there was more labelling made available.
00:11:40
Speaker
yeah Yeah, absolutely. And obviously this category is for the biggest impact. And whilst we could say, well, you know do do we want to make small incremental gains for for lots of animals from a vegan perspective, actually in terms of the biggest impact on animals right now, That is definitely something that that has the potential to do so, doesn't it? No, thank you for that one, Paul. Well, my nomination is a story that we've covered a couple of times over the course of the year from Norfolk in the east of England, which is a Cranswick mega farm that had its plans rejected by the council. The initial rejection was in April. of this year and then there was a a sort of rebuttal if you like it it was appealed and that was rejected too i think in the autumn time but this this farm would have seen more than 714 000 chickens and housed at one of these so-called megafarms. And obviously, a lot of the folk who are getting behind the protest there are not vegan at all. See, a lot of people are, and and there is a big animal rights lobby, relatively big anyway for for for us, lobby against these things. But it's capitalising on people's nimbyism, not wanting these horrid things going on in their backyard. Obviously, we would like to see that being generalised and people realising, if I don't want it going on in my backyard, maybe everyone should have the right to not have this going on in their backyard. Maybe I should stop buying these things.
00:13:21
Speaker
But in terms of biggest impact for animals, that's nearly three quarters of a million animals that wouldn't be housed there. Again, I'm aware of the fact that, well, if the demand is there, then they're going to be housed somewhere. But but I don't know, perhaps if we start to see a wave of folk just saying, well, I'm not having this happening near me. Well, I'm not having it happening near me.
00:13:45
Speaker
maybe the feasibility of these industries ultimately does get called into question. And I think that very often we see news stories where something goes in our favour from an animal rights point of view, and then it gets pushed back and there's an appeal and it swings back the other way. um The EU and naming of sausages and burgers springs to mind. That's been going back and forth like a tennis match for years.
00:14:12
Speaker
However, this one has you know has been rejected and the appeal was rejected. And that that gives me hope for for future megafarms in the UK. I know they do exist in other parts of the world and that's obviously not a great thing but got to start somewhere so that is my nomination so let's deliberate can we can we pick out a ah a winner for that category do we think is there anyone want to put a last ah proposal for there saying why there should win Well, I think the second and largest producer of fur banning it is pretty big deal. Yeah. So I vote for mine. Yeah, okay. Shane's putting in for hers. Paul, if you got any comeback? Are we going to... I think I'd be happy to support Shane's because I think my one is more about, is more of a research outcome than an actual outcome for animals as such. So I think, yeah, Shane's has got more current diet dieting, but mine in the future, possibly more. so Yeah, absolutely. No, I'm happy to go with that because as I said, with that with the Cranswick refusal, like that those animals may just be housed somewhere else. So it's, some whilst it's big numbers and we can be hopeful for the future. Yeah. The the banning of fur farming in a,
00:15:22
Speaker
in a very large producer of his big news. So yeah, okay, we are crowning that the biggest impact news story of the... Yay, Poland! Well done, Poland. And yeah, let's hope that transition happens more in the next couple of years than being left until... 2033 to happen. Okay, moving on to our next category then, the Jaw Off The Floor Award. So this is a story that we couldn't believe. A couple of honourable mentions. We covered a story from the BBC back in June where reserve staff at a wildlife trust site were telling families to kill caterpillars. They subsequently retracted the statement but there was definitely a period where that was happening, much to people's disbelief. We also covered um a story from Crufts, the notorious dog show in the UK from March, where two PETA supporters one of whom was a wheelchair user, both peacefully protesting, were violently assaulted by security staff. And there is quite striking photo and video footage of that. However, the three of us have got some different nominations. So Paul, why don't you start us off this time?
Vegan Achievements in Sports
00:16:43
Speaker
You're you're covering the unlikely story of a vegan nun, and their sporting achievements. Go for it, Paul. Yeah, so this is more of a bit of a fun than anything else, really. So yeah, it's about a vegan nun getting her a medal for her first powerlifting competition at the glorious age of 72. So there's kind of quite a lot of facets in there. Vegan, age, the fact she's a nun, maybe even the fact that she's a woman, if you take sort stereotypical view of powerlifting for some. Not mine, but yeah, it's really, really... I think we've covered quite a few stories, haven't we, over the over the years about elite sports and vegans being involved and shown to be succeeding or and not just succeeding, but basically excelling in vegan sports. Yeah, it really gives that ah focus on the fact and spelling the myth of pasty, white, weak vegans, you know, can't get out of bed when you've got people in all sorts of sports now that we know now, whether it's motor racing, tennis, powerlifting, you know, we've got Patrick, um I can never say his last name, Bobon, Bobon, Bobon, Bobon. I was close. Yeah. So all these sorts of things are that are very, very good. And this is just another example of that, I think really, which sort of highlights the fact that, you know vegans can be the best in, in, in sport that they choose to partake in. Yeah. I mean, weightlifting, I think isnt that is a particular one. If we, I know she's a a lady and we, I think for things like maybe like weightlifting and I don't know, like um m MMA or boxing, know, All these things help dispel the myths of like ah the kind of macho crap that you see about um you know vegans are a kind of weak and you've got eat beef or whatever to be um strong and all this sort of stuff. It really helps dispel that myth with actual facts rather than just that sort of some yeah old wives tale, if you like, really. So yeah, really, really good. It was, um, I've also, i don't know if you guys ever heard of Pat Reeves. She's a power lifter in the UK. and She came along to some of our Worcester events to talk about how she became a power lifter. She followed a raw vegan diet, if I remember rightly, and was really fascinating to read. She was in her fifties as well, off if I remember rightly, when she'd been winning. So yeah, really amazing people. She's really diddy as well, like five foot, but super strong. You wouldn't know, you wouldn't know looking at her. Absolutely amazing.
00:18:57
Speaker
And yeah, so I think um the only thing I picked up with this article, which is a bit odd, and i don't know if you've spotted it, is it sort talks about her being in a bit of a unusual position, being a vegetarian in her religious community. And that made me think, well, this is the whole thing about, you know, you assume that nuns might be quite um leaning towards sort of animal care and veganism, but it sounds like that's not the case. that was a bit of a disappointing sentence in that article that made me think, oh, so she's she's the unusual one in having compassion for animals.
00:19:27
Speaker
which seems very odd, doesn't it? so Yes, it does. It does. And perhaps the the influence that she can give others is ah outside yeah her nunnery. But yeah, there must be something about ah people called Pat as well, because her name, I don't think we've mentioned her name, her name is Pat Farrell, sister Pat Farrell. So ah yeah, kudos to her and her her super strength. Now, whilst that might be a sort of lighthearted looking one, although you've you've been very compelling there, Paul, in saying how that can have really far reaching effects in terms of dispelling myths. Shane, your jaw off the floor nomination is one where we are not feeling positive about this. It's ironic and depressing, isn't it? Yes, it's it's hypocritical for sure. um Basically, this article is from March, but I do believe that this came to pass. But the article is talking about in advance of the COP30 climate summit,
00:20:20
Speaker
which took place in Brazil, that they decided to have it in the middle of the rainforest. And that in order to get the um delegates there, they were going to destroy a large part of the Amazon rainforest to build a 13 kilometer road.
00:20:37
Speaker
um And the road was going to split the forest in two parts. And so then not only are you going to have cars going through the forest, but You're basically keeping animals from moving between areas. You're reducing where they can live. You're you're exposing them to danger because they may get hit on the road.
00:20:56
Speaker
And, of course, the whole point of the climate summit is to protect the environment. But instead of protecting the environment, they're cutting it down for a road through the rainforest.
00:21:09
Speaker
And I remember when they were having the summit, which wasn't very long ago, that that I was listening to some of the reporting from there and they were talking about how it was hot and uncomfortable. And I thought, yeah, it's the rainforest.
00:21:22
Speaker
Why would you have it in the middle? of the Why don't you have it in a city where there's already all of the things that are necessary? You don't have to build anything. So yeah, that was a very hypocritical story and a ridiculous thing for Brazil to do. Yeah, absolutely. oh Or why not just do it on Zoom? You know, if if you know that people's pushback is going to be looking for ways in which you are not looking after the environment by having this summit, like, yeah, could find ways. imagine also everybody had to fly there and imagine how how how bad that is for the environment as well. Yeah, absolutely. And the ah the article details, it's not just the road, like they were building new hotels, they were making the airport bigger. Like you genuinely couldn't write it.
Controversial Art Installation
00:22:08
Speaker
It's it's like something out Vizcomic or Monty Python or something like that. Completely ridiculous. It's like someone was asked, come up with the most ridiculous thing you can that will make us look stupid. Yeah. yeah That would have fitted the bill quite well, wouldn't it, with this one? I remember was talking about it. Absolutely insane. Yes, indeed. Indeed. Well, ridiculous, but in another different way, is my nomination for the Jaw Off the Floor Award. This was reported again in March by us at the headline, Piglets Left to Starve as Part of Controversial Art Exhibition Stolen. So if you didn't hear the original report on this, or if you'd just like a reminder, a controversial artist, the Chilean-born Marco Evaristi, was aiming to raise awareness of the suffering caused by mass meat production
00:23:00
Speaker
He chose to do this by having an art installation in Copenhagen where three piglets were being allowed to starve. And then as part of the exhibition, the piglets were taken by animal rights activists. But these animal rights activists were assisted by the artist's friend, Kasper Stephenson. So it it does make you think it it might have all been part of it. I certainly hope so. If not, that... the you've really got to ask questions. i I can't work out whether it's genius or just completely ridiculous. I'm definitely leaning towards the latter. And I think in in a world where very often folk just read the headlines, we we try to get past that in in our Vegan Week show, but that's not how most people consume the news. In fact, I think probably the three of us would admit that most of the news headlines we see, we don't click on. That's that's just how information works.
00:23:58
Speaker
I think that the chances of folk misinterpreting this art installation are massive. They're just going be like, what? Someone's starving pigs? That's horrid. I don't know. Maybe that's the point. Maybe there is an element of genius to it. But I certainly had to read this article several times over when it it first came to our attention to to check I was reading it correctly.
00:24:20
Speaker
So those are the nominations. Starving Pigs, ah Rainforest Being Cut Up to Help the Rainforest, and Vegan Nuns Powerlifting. So anyone want to push forward a second time for theirs? Yeah, vote for mine again. Shane's going for hers again. think Shane wins again. I was thinking this when when you were reading it out, Shane, I was thinking, oh, I'm going to go for hers again, but we can't. We can't have a complete whitewash, but nonetheless, yes, I think it has to be the COP30 Amazon rainforest destruction for the most ridiculous story of 2025. Okay, I've seen which one you're nominating for the film category. The next one, Shane, and I'm convinced that you're not going to win this one. Why don't you nonetheless kick the ball off and tell us what your nomination is for the best vegan film 2025 All right, so my nomination is A44, and just a quick summary of the movie.
Vegan-Themed Films and Reviews
00:25:19
Speaker
It is a about a small town in America where all of a sudden and people start to turn into zombies, and and they realize that it's tied to eating meat, and it so it's a vegan horror film. Was it Oscar-worthy?
00:25:34
Speaker
No. Was it unique in that it was a vegan animal rights fiction film with a unique horror concept? Yes. Yes. And I'm nominating it because I would love to see more fictional animal rights content not just documentaries. So that's why I'm nominating it. Yeah, absolutely. And maybe people making those films could watch A44 first as, you know, for a few pointers of, I don't know, maybe some things they might want to do differently or to avoid possibly. Paul, me and Shane and Mark reviewed this film. It appeared in an episode earlier this month. Is this a film that you're aware of, Yeah. No, it wasn't one I'd heard of before, actually. um And I've never seen it pop up on any of my sort of feeds or anything like that. But so I'm not a traditional sort of ah zombie horror film type watcher, but it's the sort of thing I might have a look at, I think, just to sort of see see what to see what it's going on. It's very popular with a lot of people, isn't it? so Yeah.
00:26:35
Speaker
Yeah, well, you know, if ah don't listen to that episode where we're reviewing it and you can... um There's some spoilers. Yeah, yeah, that's true. That's true. I think I can probably guess the sort of outcome maybe. I don't know if it's... Indeed. Well, we do have an honourable mention for a film, a documentary called More Like Paul, which is focusing on a vegan runner, which I'm pretty sure that Kate, one of our regular contributors, has run with. I think i think she has ran part of an ultra marathon with this runner called Paul. However, Paul, that is not your nomination for vegan film of the year. Which one have you gone for and why? Yeah, I thought that was a bit of ah an easy one to go for. but So I've gone for Food for Thought, which I believe, if I remember right, and yourself, Dom and myself reviewed earlier in the year. I had to remind myself which one it was because my memory is shocking. but yeah This is this is one where we have ah two sort of fairly well-known guys who are i should we say easy on the eye. I remember Dom saying as well. um Very very um kind of appealing at that level. and it's ah it's a bit of a i' say It's quite a general film, but it does... mainly focus on you the growth of veganism. i and I think, unfortunately, when it was released, we had just started to see people talking about um the reduction of of veganism and things like certain food brands no longer producing vegan food and restaurants closing, et cetera.
00:28:06
Speaker
just so came in and released was resist on that sort of point so it's not the best timing but yeah they look at various uh things case studies people going vegan they fly around the world which isn't great i guess but look at different different um case studies i guess in my mind and it's it's i i think it's quite slick i know when we reviewed it i remember right liant you weren't so sold on it i was like yeah it's okay and i think dom quite liked it that was my I mean, it's quite a mix of view. I did just notice um going online now that there was some other reviews that I think came out after we looked at it and they weren't that supportive of it. They kind of got two star reviews and people said, yeah, it's a little bit generic, not not too much going on. But I think, you know, if you've not looked at a vegan film before, it's probably quite a nice starting point. It's not too, we thought, if I remember, there's not it's nothing too graphic in it if you're not, if you're not willing to look or not wanting to look at that side of things. It's quite, let's say, quite slick. And Shane will have to close it here, but it's quite American, think, as well in its kind of view, which may or may not suit suit some audiences. But yeah, yeah, it's what... Worth a look. I've seen better, I think, over the years, but you know we've probably all seen the really early films as well and might have even been sort of influenced by them, so probably hold them up in higher um higher rankings, perhaps. Yeah. Have you seen this one, Shane?
00:29:28
Speaker
No, I have not. I did watch like, um I don't know if it was a trailer or a few minutes of it in preparation for this. And um it it looked interesting. I don't know. It looked like bloopers with the part that I saw. Maybe it starts off that way. I think that that the kind of cold open that they do is like a bit of a blooper reel. And yeah, one of the little critiques that that I had to make of it was that the filmmakers, Dan Richardson and Giles Alderson, I think they are both very fond of their own sense of humour, possibly play to it a bit too often. I'm not sure it's everyone's sense of humour. But I think, like you you were reminding me, Paul, that i you know I did have quite a few nits to pick with it, but I think they were they were a series of little nits to pick and something that we could say about a Dominion or a Land of Hope and Glory or an Earthlings is that we can't fault the integrity of a film like that, but there might be one big problem
00:30:25
Speaker
which is that folk won't watch it because it's too much. And I don't think you could say that about food for thought. I mean, maybe the sense of humour is a bit too much. and But it's not going to have that same big obstacle. They're trying a lot of different things to get people interested and engaged. And I will say, and this is not criticism of A44. Shane and I both had to pay £4, $4 for to watch it, which is perfectly reasonable. But Food for Thought, however, they've managed to fund it. They have put it for free up on YouTube. You can watch the whole 90 minutes now. we'll put a link in the show notes. And you can do that. So in terms of it being accessible, shareable um and therefore influencing more people, it does score good points for that, doesn't it? So, um yes, credit to them for that. My nomination, I have to say, is not a film that I've been able to fully digest in the way that some will have done. because it is a Spanish so ah language film and whilst it I was able to watch it with subtitles, when it came out there's not a dubbed version and in fact I don't think it would really work as a dubbed thing because it is a fly on the wall documentary as well as some talking heads. Based in they ah in my worst Spanish, it is called Infiltrada en el Bunker. which ah English speakers will probably be able to guess ah more or less ah what it's focused on. But yeah, not not necessarily a bunker, but animal testing lab and and that sort of thing. And it's, yeah, it's very hard hitting and it's on Amazon Prime. So it's it's clearly been given the
00:32:09
Speaker
the big It's not Jeff Bezos anymore, is it? But the the big Amazon tick for being worthy of being on that platform, obviously that's behind a paywall, but it's a paywall that many people are already paying into. Kind of similar to what I was saying about Dominion and and Earthlings, we kind of can't fault the integrity of it. I think things like this, where it's exposés, will always... appeal to folk who aren't yet vegan but are interested in unmasking the truth and oh my goodness that sensationalist thing you'll never believe what's going on it was upsetting i wouldn't say it was graphic if if you think of like the worst possible one and a half hours of vivisection that you could be subjected to. It's not that, but um unless you're an absolute sociopath, you wouldn't be able to watch it without feeling upset. Much of it is produced in a very good way in terms of the atmosphere because it's you know it's it's narrow corridors, it's dark, it's It's that sort of thing. There's quite a few talking heads, which gives it context. And I think it's important. Again, I'm maybe not in the best position to comment on it in that, you know, ah I was having to glue my eyes to the screen reading the subtitles for um to understand what the talking heads were saying. So I think perhaps stylistically, if if it's in a native tongue or one that you can understand properly,
00:33:35
Speaker
the talking heads, you don't have to stare at the screen. Anyway, I'm going into my new show here. I thought it was a really good film, really great that it's out there um and really great that it's on a very popular platform. So that is my nomination.
00:33:50
Speaker
So Shane, are you going to plump for A44? Are you going to try and push that a second time? ah I don't think I'm going to push it for best film, no. I think I'm leaning toward your nomination. yeah sounds like it's very um it is an important Sounds like it's an important piece of film. Yeah, I mean, culturally at the moment, we're seeing a ah a sway towards animal testing being being phased out in a lot of countries, so it could contribute to that. I have to say, with time and maybe work, with watching A44 quite recently. i was I was feeling a lot more positive about Food for Thought, your nomination, Paul.
00:34:29
Speaker
i i I might be... I was going to push... i was good but For all its faults, and I think coming back to what you said about accessibility and that entry-level point where we mustn't forget about people that are coming to veganism early on, yeah i think these films are not just to make us feel better about the fact that we're vegan, it should be about reaching out and making change and tapping into people and for all the faults and the kind of um yeah not not not for everyone i would i would stand mine up i think for this one yeah well you know what why don't why don't we do a a joint award then um and we'll we'll commend um I've forgotten the name of the real name of ah Vegan Zombie, that the chap who crowdfunded and produced April 4th. Chris Cooney. Chris Cooney. We'll say well done to him for for following his passion and and putting the first of a genre out there but we'll give the award jointly to Food for Thought and Infiltrada en el Bunker and Spanish listeners can tell me how to actually pronounce that.
00:35:33
Speaker
Okay we've got one last category for this the first episode of our Vegan News Awards 2025. that is for the best campaign. And obviously, I should say that all of these awards, they're tongue in cheek, we're not trying to rank really, you know, what has a bigger impact for the animals than than something else. ah if it if something is done that affects one animal. then that is a worthwhile thing. And that's certainly a sentiment that we would extend to our best campaign. We're certainly not saying that unless you're the best one, your campaign is worthless. Anything anyone is doing is wonderfully worthwhile. There's one honorable mention that I wanted to get in before we hear folks' nominations, and that's one that we got from farmtransparency.org way back in January. which was a story about dead piglets being dropped on the doorstep of Jacinta Allen's office. Jacinta Allen works in Victoria, Australia and is, I can't actually find now what ah what role they have, but they're called the Premier, so I assume they're the most senior politician you can be in the state of Victoria. and but dead piglets were dropped on their office doorstep in animal cruelty protest. Campaigners were saying that, you know, this is ah an animal welfare emergency that is going on. and Jacinta Allen's office in action and cowardice was something that needed highlighting in this way. And it got understandably a lot of traction with that real clear headline.
00:37:12
Speaker
Paul, could you get us kicked off with your nomination for best campaign? This is something that we've we've heard of the last couple of years with regards to plant-based councils, but you're focusing more on the university side of that
Campaigns for Vegan Awareness
00:37:27
Speaker
campaign.
00:37:27
Speaker
Yeah, so I think we've covered, it's probably one of the most common areas we've covered, from my memory at least, um is covering like public sector organisations, be that, like you say, councils, mayoral kind of arrangements, and indeed education facilities that are promoting vegan diets, but it was vegan food being served on their on their premises. um So this particular one covers the Russell Group of universities, which a fairly prestigious university, group of universities so there's multiple universities that are involved here it's it it's kind of a balanced view because whilst there's been a vote to have plant-based food served on site there are some caveats around that that certainly when this article was written that the timelines for introducing this are a bit unclear and i guess there's a worry because we've seen it with other articles that that vote could be overturned. It does actually reference think it's Warwick University where they did vote for plant-based food to be served and then i think about a year later they they reversed that vote and then also it talks about some other votes I think in context where it's not a kind of complete switch to plant-based food but they might go for 50% or 80% or something like that, which, you know, it's it's a step forward. I think what this reminds us so is that in this sort of area, as it as in all areas of vegans, sometimes it is two step forward, one step back, and there'll be changes, and then there'll be challenges to those changes, and those changes would be will be um put back. But it's all about that
00:39:02
Speaker
gradual increase in awareness and and movement. And, you know, as we know, change doesn't happen overnight. We just have to kind of keep have to keep plugging away, keep keep getting pushed again, voted on again. So, yeah, it's kind of reflecting, saying, you know, you've got to keep plugging away. And you will get big wins like this, but, yeah, they might not always last. So, yeah, that's quite quite useful, I think, from that ah perspective. a very very good nomination and it was uh the going vegan episode that we recorded together paul when i was talking about my vegan journey uh it started by going vegetarian at university so it's a it's a good crowd to tap into shane what is your nomination for best campaign and why okay speaking of vegan documentaries
00:39:46
Speaker
um My campaign is about billboard advertisements promoting the 2024 documentary, I Could Never Go Vegan. And these have been popping up in London underground stations. And so basically this film is following this documentary maker, Thomas Pickering, and he's investigating some of the lead arguments against veganism. Like you're not going to get enough B12. It's too expensive to be vegan. Farm animals actually have a good life. And so there's two billboards, but according to this article, that have been popping up. And one of them is featuring the slogan, could you do it?
00:40:24
Speaker
And it depicts um a couple at a restaurant and they're staring at a live chicken who is placed on a platter in front of them and the waiter standing behind them with a knife, I guess, like indicating, okay, you have to kill your chicken before you can eat it.
00:40:42
Speaker
And then the other one is a man holding a coffee cup while he's standing um in a barn with a cow. And the copy on the ad reads, why would a human adult drink the milk made for a cow's calf? These are also commercials, which when I was reading the article, I clicked on the link to watch the commercials. So they're kind of like short little vignettes. So these are actually kind of fictional, which I thought was interesting. And so the the first one, it goes, there's the couple, they're at a restaurant, they're talking about what they want to have to eat. They decide they want to have a chicken platter. And then the waiter brings out the platter. He opens it, there's the live chicken. And then, you know, they're like, what are you doing? What what are you talking about? And then they actually bring out a whole cart with like 12 other chickens, like supposedly under platters, because i guess that the chicken platter would like take like a bunch of chickens, they'd have to kill a bunch of chickens. in order to have a chicken platter and then the second one the guy goes into a um like a cafe and he's ordering ah coffee and then the waitress or the lady at the counter says oh do you want oat milk and he says no I want normal milk and then he gets transported into seeing like this room where he sees all this video of cows being like baby calves being taken away from their mothers and um Then he's in a barn with a cow.
00:41:59
Speaker
So anyway, it looked very interesting. I don't know if it either of you guys have seen this documentary. I had not heard of it, but it looked interesting. pretty interesting based on the advertisements and the commercials. I've not seen it, but I'm i'm aware of it. i think it's one of those where they've done lots of premieres when it first came out in actual cinemas. And they've, I think, understandably been trying to take the, getting back some some revenue for the initial budget that they've put in. So me being a bit tight, I haven't gone out to the cinema and I'm hoping it comes out in a format that's ah a bit more accessible. But it' so So this is actually in theatres. It's not in like streaming. when When it first came out. Yeah. I think, I think that also more recently has been an option to, to stream it behind a paywall, but it's, it's been very well thought of. I know Kate went to one of those premieres and, and said it, it was great. And there's, yeah, the adverts have made a lot of waves too. So I've, I've seen the adverts in, in person on, on the underground. Yeah. Yeah, very effective. And they the arguments that they use, like you say, Shane, they are. I think it's really clever because like if you take the general theme of I could never go vegan with a majority of people who are opposite that billboard will think that, won't they? And so immediately it's resonating with them, therefore getting their attention. Whereas if it says go vegan, folk might be like, oh, whatever. I'm not looking at that. That doesn't apply to me. So it's building a connection initially. And then from that point of connection, it's saying, well, but let's have a look at this a bit more closely. So yeah, kudos to them. Thank you for that one. My my nomination is not a serious nomination. um I just really like the style of it. One of my favorite episodes this year was a vegan talk.
00:43:49
Speaker
episode. Remember, those are the ones that are not sort of focusing on the week's news. But we reviewed a podcast, a parody podcast that has been running for the last 10 years or so, called the Beef and Dairy Network podcast. And they're completely just taking the piss out of animal ag and and and doing so in ah in an authentic sounding, but tongue in cheek way. ah Regular listeners might've come across Ellswood's dog meat um campaign. um Again, which- Elmwood. Yes. um at which No, Elwood, you're right, Elwood. So it's not a, ah it looks like you're looking up at something there, Shane. Do you have a Yeah, I have a a bumper sticker. Oh, nice. Elwood Dogmeat. Yes. So again, things that are not actual companies, but they do things in a parody way to draw attention to things. And as we said on the the Beef and Dairy Network podcast show, if you can make people laugh, if you can poke fun at things, if you can laugh at things, that can often get to the the nub of the issue a lot more directly. So in April, we reported the confusingly named Swan Young Farmers Club in Ashford. It's nothing to do with swans. It's just Ashford in Kent.
00:45:06
Speaker
And there was a family fun day at a farm and police officers were called because there was a a stand where people were handing out leaflets promising a fun packed tour of your local abattoir. Fluffy Tail's Slaughterhouse Tour. Join us for a fun packed tour of your local abattoir and see how those cute lambs are transformed into delicious meat. Adults five pounds, kids free. 10 pounds extra for souvenir lamb's tail, cuddly toy and lamb shop. And there were lots of people there who were very upset by this. And as I say, the police were called. I think some people but found it funny. Some people clearly were were very distressed and very upset. I love the quote from Giles Dealer Boot. I don't think that's his actual name. He was a member of the, quote, Young Slaughterers Association. um And they said, we need to bring back honesty in farming. And I think that parents should have these conversations with the little ones from an early age. And then goes on to make the point, lambing events are the perfect opportunity. But unfortunately, farming is a fundamentally dishonest profession. And yeah, I really like the sense of humour behind it. And I live in an area in in Shropshire that is surrounded by farms. There's billboards for young farmers associations and farm fun days and things like that all the time. And I think infiltrating that and doing so in a way that makes some waves and some headlines is a great thing. But I'm going to withdraw it from the running for a serious event, a serious contender for um campaign of the year because it was just a one off done by a couple of people. So it's between then the I could never go vegan ads and the plant based universities campaign.
00:46:56
Speaker
Any further words to say either of you? I was quite as a fan of the campaign that Shane talked about anyway, so I i could have my arm twisted that that was that was a good one. I think it was good. There's been a few, haven't there, utilising billboards and underground, and I think this is definitely one of the better ones, and and totally for the reason you said, actually, Ant, is that that kind of draw in...
00:47:18
Speaker
and then deliver the message rather than the you're all bastards if you're not vegan kind of thing which is just doesn't you know it doesn't work as straight away people are again not rocket science just simple kind of like getting people in to think so yeah i like that nice one cool okay so the award goes to i could never go vegan and their ad campaign on the london underground. Nice one.
Conclusion and Teaser for Part Two
00:47:41
Speaker
Well, that brings us to the halfway point of this News Awards, which means we're going to end this episode now. So that's all we're going to let you hear for now. But don't worry, we are going to be back with part two of the 2025 Vegan News Awards on New Year's Day. Now, before we go, going to delve into Shane and Paul's personal life and ask them, what are you going to be doing on New Year's Eve? you going doing when the the clock chimes midnight? Do you have any plans? So my mother was born December 28. And then my her sister, my aunt was born, like, I think it's January 4 or something. And so we always celebrate their birthdays on ah December 31. And then my sister brings her kids and they're little. And so we play games and stuff and celebrate celebrate their birthday. So that's what we're going to do. Nice one. That sounds very jolly. What about you, Paul? Absolutely no plans at all.
00:48:34
Speaker
To be honest, I've got no idea. So yeah, no idea, no idea. Playing it fast and loose. That's the Paul way. Well, I'm going to be not at midnight, but a few hours before. There's ah a beautiful vegan restaurant in my nearest town, Shrewsbury, It's called Kanu Poke, and they do Pacific Fusion Food, and they're doing a five-course exclusive one-off ah taster extravaganza. So me and Alex are going to do that. We don't often do things like that, but that is what we're doing New Year's Eve. Anyway, anyway, whatever you are doing, listeners, have a fantastic last few moments of 2025, and we will catch you all for part two 2026.
00:49:18
Speaker
This has been an Enough of the Falafel production. We're just a normal bunch of everyday vegans putting our voices out there. The show is hosted by Zencaster. We use music and special effects by zapsplap.com.
00:49:33
Speaker
And sometimes if you're lucky at the end of an episode, you'll hear a poem by Mr. Dominic Berry. Thanks all for listening and see you next time.
00:49:59
Speaker
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00:50:20
Speaker
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00:50:34
Speaker
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