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235- The 2025 Vegan News Awards (Part 2)
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Happy New Year! 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 second half of the awards show, they discuss....
The Most Annoying Story
https://www.farminguk.com/news/tory-council-blasted-for-running-anti-dairy-campaign_65937.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0yrd3jlgro
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/vegan-shopper-protest-megaphone-5Hjd5d8_2/
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025-04-29/controversial-chicken-farms-received-millions-in-government-subsidies
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/62/environmental-audit-committee/news/209231/government-rejects-outright-bottom-trawling-ban-despite-pledge/
Vegan Superhero(es) of the Year
https://www.huntsabs.org.uk/merry-beaglers-sabs-stop-seasonal-hare-hunting/
https://plantbasednews.org/culture/media/chris-packham-meat-propaganda-campaign/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8jwywr0p90o#:~:text=Nine%20people%20who%20were%20accused,Aintree%20racecourse%20on%2015%20April
https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/green-party-default-free-vegan-school-meals/
https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/food/vegan-mcdonalds-mr-charlies-expansion/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/animal-rights-activist-sentenced-jail-after-stealing-4/story?id=128106595#:~:text=Rosenberg%20was%20convicted%20in%20November,facility%2C%20removed%20live%20chickens%2C%20stole
https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/ricky-gervais-aims-to-beat-1-9-million-animal-charity-donation/
The Biggest Setback
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/sep/02/plant-based-problem-why-vegan-restaurants-closing-or-adding-meat-menu
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/brexit-reset-could-force-uk-lower-standards-animal-rights-3573162?srsltid=AfmBOoquDe6ihzNd6vcGgTCrKHDuAxYLNgjQI5UaI2tjPZaHFUlaK7up
https://news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-health-and-life-sciences/uk-prawn-farms-could-spark-sustainable-seafood-revolution/
https://www.theanimalreader.com/2025/04/04/slovakia-to-kill-350-bears-after-fatal-attack-on-man/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3w5v75deewo
The Biggest Win for Animals
https://talkbusiness.net/2025/08/shareholder-sues-tyson-foods-to-see-business-records/
https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/food/cultivated-dog-food-on-sale-uk/
https://www.conservation.org/press/new-amazon-protected-area-safeguards-iconic-species-and-indigenous-stewardship-in-peru
https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/landmark-shift-nih-announces-it-will-no-longer-solicit-animal-only-research
https://www.iglobenews.org/administration-stops-animal-experiments/
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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 & Vegan News Awards 2025
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy New Year from everyone at Enough of the Falafel. Now at the very end of 2025, we started our review of last year's vegan and animal rights news with our Vegan News Awards of the Year show 2025. Now if you haven't caught that yet, maybe just pause your podcast playing now and give that one a listen first. So it'll it'll be the previous episode That's on the timeline, so it should be really easy to find. That will have the first four awards.
00:00:28
Speaker
However, if you've already heard that one, you'll know that and you'll be keen to hear Pipe 2. That's probably why you were here in the first place. So, without further ado, buckle up for part two of the Vegan News Awards of the year 2025 with me, Anthony, Shane and Paul.
00:00:46
Speaker
I think vegans go looking for trouble even when they're not looking for trouble. That's not what butt is used for. Brrr! Take your flour-grown meat elsewhere. We're not doing that in the state of Florida.
00:00:58
Speaker
Should I call the media and say, hi, sorry. True education. younger generation are getting know how brutal these practices are. That leaves a lot of pizza delivery companies in problems with things.
00:01:10
Speaker
What is this? What kind of movie is this? It's comedy. Go on the media. Any form of social injustice.
00:01:20
Speaker
As long as you don't get the wee brunions with the horns, you'll be alright. Does veganism give him superpowers?
00:01:29
Speaker
I cannot fly around the city. I don't have laser
Diving into the Fifth Category
00:01:32
Speaker
vision. and Okay, everyone, we're going to get straight into it. If you have not heard episode 1, in this series, then you need to go back to hear the format because we're not going to explain it here. We're just going to go straight in with our fifth category of the Vegan and Animal Rights News Awards of
Scottish Government's Controversial Decision
00:01:51
Speaker
2025. Our fifth category is Most Annoying News Story of the Year. Shane, why don't you start us off? You are going to be talking about Scottish Gamekeepers. What's so annoying about Scottish Gamekeepers, apart from the obvious?
00:02:06
Speaker
Well, you might remember this story from a few months ago because Julie first covered it, and I thought she did such a good job with this. Her tone was kind of one of, all the poor gamekeepers suffering mental torment. And I completely agreed.
00:02:20
Speaker
This is a story about the Scottish government proposing to extend the open season on female deer as part of a measure to control deer numbers and protect woods, and peatlands from overgrazing, but then they decided not to implement that extension because, quote, the gamekeepers would have been, quote, sickened by the prospect of killing a heavily pregnant hind and its large unborn calf, as if they have no choice but to do this, um and that would be so upsetting to them. Apparently, um they took note of the potential distress caused to many stalkers. I think stalkers in United States, we would say hunters, by being required routinely to shoot heavily pregnant female deer.
00:03:04
Speaker
And so they decided not to do that. Again, i think i think that they want to couch this in terms of it's about overpopulation. It's about protecting the environment when really it's about people meddling in nature. and usually making things worse.
Mega Farms and River Wye Pollution
00:03:19
Speaker
I think it's also that they just want to kill animals for sport, but we don't need to feel sorry you know for the deer, for the 100,000 to 200,000 animals killed, but we need to feel sorry for the poor hunters who, according to this article, must kill these pregnant deer if they extend the season. Yeah, it's a very annoying story. Yeah, absolutely. And you're quite right, Shane. the
00:03:42
Speaker
The dial is is dialed up to completely the wrong direction. It's pointing in the wrong way. and I mean, it is upset. Like nature and the wild, it's full of upsetting things. You know, if we were to stop and focus on the amount of suffering that is going on right now outside our houses... in the wild, it is an upsetting thing.
00:04:03
Speaker
We don't get to feel upset about the hurt and harm going on in nature that we have caused. We don't get to do that. That's that's the one thing we can't be upset about. So no, I quite agree. That is a most annoying story.
00:04:17
Speaker
Paul, in the first half of this show, in part one, I talked about how a mega farm being rejected, having the planning permission rejected was possibly the story from the last 12 months that could have the biggest impact.
00:04:35
Speaker
Therefore, it's no surprise to see that you have chosen as your most annoying story, a mega farm being given millions in government handouts. How has this come to pass?
00:04:46
Speaker
Yeah, well, and a more than one mega farm, in fact, for this one. Yeah, so this is quite close to home for me and and previously for you, I guess, Sant, as well. um It's about the pollution in the River Wye, which crosses into many counties, including Herefordshire and Worcestershire, that we're relatively kind of familiar with. It's talking about the pollution that's been caused to the Wye, and it's a big open legal case at the moment, and the focus on that pollution coming from these mega farms, mainly sort of chicken farms and and the ammonia that comes out of of the waste there.
00:05:19
Speaker
if If that wasn't as bad as bad as itself in isolation, this is shining the light on the fact that these same farms have been in receipt of huge government subsidies. um So we're effectively supporting those farms and that pollution to that yeah lovely natural vista and and ah resource that we've got in the counties. and yeah giving millions of pounds to these guys for for what their practice is. Now, essentially, the other aspect to this as well is a ah focus on um the fact that there was, at one point, subsidies provided to farmers for meeting sustainability-type criteria. um That's now being pulled in the in the near future. So you know we as vegans, I think, would be much keener to see subsidies paid. And I know we've talked about this, Ant. I think, I don't know if it's Carlos or someone else who's got quite strong views on subsidies being one of the key things to to help reduce cruelty and and and meat production is and and diversification is to reward farmers for... armours for
00:06:24
Speaker
doing better things for the environment and also um better animal treatment. Although that's a bit of a moot point because we don't really want them producing meat anyway. So yeah, really, you know, it's a kind of double whammy. I think this one is probably fair to say. And really, yeah, really pisses you off when you read it, basically.
00:06:43
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And there's a a very clear graphic in the story for this one, which we've included like all the stories we're going to be talking about. in the show notes um showing each of the counties around the Welsh border um and and exactly how much money has been dished out to farms or businesses involved in intensive poultry farming. Disgusting stuff, disgusting stuff.
Gloucestershire's Plant-Based Campaign
00:07:09
Speaker
My story is um also...
00:07:11
Speaker
relating to a county near the Welsh border, just a bit south actually, Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire Council, they released a ah a series called Swaps in Seconds, a campaign where they were suggesting nudges to to people's behaviour to improve their carbon footprint, i.e.
00:07:34
Speaker
reduce it. This was something that happened just at the turn of the year, 14th of January 2025. This one has been ah reported from um and they suggested as part of that swapping cow's milk for plant-based alternatives such as oat or almond. Councillor David Gray, not the musician, um he's the campaign's chief proposer and a cabinet member for the environment, said that dairy is one of the big producers of methane. So our suggestion is every so often, instead of having milk with your coffee, you have oat milk or soy. Note, every so often. He's not even suggesting you make a permanent switch. He's certainly not suggesting people go vegan. He's saying this would make a small difference in the overall impact of your lifestyle.
00:08:23
Speaker
on the environment. However, regular listeners to the show will probably be able to guess who's been the loudest opponent of this. The Countryside Alliance, which campaigns for rural businesses and farmers, described the move as an attack on freedom of choice and urged the council to drop the demand. Tim Bonner, who's the chief executive group, said it was astonishing that the council would choose to prioritise a milk snatching campaign. I mean, that all of this really does show that um sensitive vegans are not the issue here. is it's It's sensitive carnists. My goodness, all you've got to do is suggest... like occasionally would would you mind awfully considering swapping the very small amount of white fluid that you put into your tea or coffee if if you wouldn't mind I'm getting I'm picturing this being said in Sergeant Wilson's voice from Dad's Army from the 1970s and 80s British sitcom but you All you've got to do is do that. And all of a sudden the countryside allowance is bashing the table with its fist saying, how dare you milk snatchers? This is awful. What a terrible campaign. So yes, a part of me finds it funny. Part of me just thinks, oh, for goodness sake, what kind of a world do we live in where a council Fine, it's a Tory council.
00:09:44
Speaker
Fine, but but like that shouldn't matter. It's a council that should be there to represent everybody's interests. And actually, farmers are a very small proportion of the population. Even if we were wanting to support farmers, they're just a small proportion of the population. How about everyone else whose planet's being wrecked? So yes, I found that most annoying.
00:10:06
Speaker
Which one are we going to choose, though? Which one are we going to choose? We didn't mention the angry shopper who smashed a megaphone of a vegan activist and berating customers for buying Easter lamb. We haven't mentioned the UK government rejecting bottom trawling despite pledging to do so. Which one are we going to choose? Any any extra pressure anyone wants to put on?
00:10:29
Speaker
Phil, mine's pretty strong. I think yours is strong, Ant, but I think it's the expected response, which is weird maybe in a way, but you wouldn't expect anything different, would you, I think, in that one?
00:10:40
Speaker
I think river pollution is pretty annoying, yeah. Yeah. I agree with Paul. Yes, and the fact that they are so clearly the malevolent influence here and they're they're seeming to be rewarded in in millions of pounds. Yes, okay, unanimous. The farms who have been given millions in subsidies despite polluting the River Y and the River Severn, that is the most annoying news story of 2025.
Vegan Superhero of the Year Nominees
00:11:06
Speaker
We're going to swiftly move on and we're going to swiftly flip the mood, hopefully, and nominate our Vegan Superhero of the Year. Honourable mentions go to the Hunt Sabs who are continuing to put pressure on the government as well as stopping wildlife crime happening in the UK. Chris Packham, who this year urged the government in the UK to end the meat propaganda campaign, as he called it. All of those who that really the action took place in 2023, but the people who ah delayed the start of the Grand National Horse Race in 2023. They've all been getting off and ah the charges filed against them. No court case was successful in putting them away or prosecuting them in 2025. So that was a great bit of news.
00:11:56
Speaker
And we focused on them a couple of times, but the Mr. Charlies take away the kind of, quote, vegan McDonald's who are predominantly based in the US, but also have expanded into Australia They've continued to expand their range of takeaways in 2025. So they're all getting honourable mentions, but Paul and Shane and myself have got some different suggestions. Paul, why don't you start us off with yours? Yeah, so mine is about Ricky Gervais. Pretty much well regarded now in vegan circles. Now he has actually gone vegan after all his campaigning and and promotion of of ah animal sanctuaries and and and ah adoption, those kinds of things. So Ricky Gervais on his previous tour donated, I think it was £1.9 million pounds to various animal charities. That was on his previous tour. Now on the tour that has very recently wound up, I believe,
00:12:51
Speaker
And actually, he was basically talking about he wanted to raise more money in his next tour. That's what he's been targeting to do. It was just been announced, I think, literally days ago, that he's donating just under 2.5 million, so more than 1.9, to, I think it's 22 animal charities. And looking down the list of those charities, that contains quite a few smaller charities as well, certainly some I'd not heard of. And, you know, the sort of money he's giving them, £100,000, something like that that, that's major you know i know from working with some of these charities 100 000 pounds is like such a massive thing it could keep them going for several years you know so or build another you know build something or invest in something so really amazing you know and he's he's a he's a gobby bloke and you know there's a bit of a marmite thing with him i think people love him i hate him i think most people really like him he doesn't hold back and he's he's pretty clever about it so yeah fair play to ricky gervais for um donating all that money and you know all of us could you know pool our resources i'm sure on on falafel and we're not going to be to touch that sort of money so more power to him yeah absolutely by ah a factor of many zeros i think yeah ah No, thank you for that one, Paul. Well, from a donation of nearly two and a half million pounds to somebody who liberated four chickens from a slaughterhouse, Shane, your nomination is for Zoe Rosenberg. do you want to tell us a bit more about why? Yeah, so she was ah convicted of felony conspiracy and three misdemeanors arising from a coordinated incursion at the Petaluma Poultry Facility in 2023.
00:14:30
Speaker
And she was recently sentenced to 90 days in jail. And she has to serve 30 days before she's eligible for alternatives for the last 60 days. So I'm assuming that might be like house arrest.
00:14:42
Speaker
And she has also been ordered to pay over $100,000 in and restitution. The concern is that she has type 1 diabetes and I think maybe some other health concerns and i hoping that she's going to get appropriate medical care while she's incarcerated.
00:14:58
Speaker
But despite all of this, despite going to jail for freeing these four chickens, she posted on December 8th and December 9th on Threads And she's not feeling sorry for herself for going to jail. What she had to say was, i will be turning myself in to begin my jail sentence tomorrow evening. My request to all of you is to keep speaking up for the animals as loudly as you can.
00:15:21
Speaker
This prosecution, conviction, and sentence has been about deterrence, about silencing people who might speak up for animals suffering at the hands of agribusiness giant agribusiness giants like Purdue. So let's be even louder than before.
00:15:36
Speaker
And I think that's just a really a superhero attitude that she has. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, when we've been covering this story, like my heart's been in my mouth, like just just thinking of, because at one point it looked like she might be in jail for up to four or five years. And, you know, she's she's only 23 and you you think, oh my goodness, like thinking of somebody's life chances and and all of this. I wasn't actually aware until you've just said it, Shane, about her her type 1 diabetes and So yeah, goodness me, what a brave gamble, I suppose, the the whole procedure has been and we're left in no doubt as to to why she's doing it. it's um
00:16:16
Speaker
It's very incredible stuff. My my nomination ah goes to the current leader of the Green Party. I would say if you're living in the UK, have a social media account and a shown any interest towards anything to do with veganism, social justice or politics, you're going to know who Zach Polanski is. I will say, i i don't know that he's necessarily done anything particularly... Hooray! Brilliant! what What a great job he's done for the animals there. We did report on the 7th of April 2025, we reported on a debate that he was having with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, talking about plant-based food becoming the default in public settings. And obviously that is a great bit of advocacy. I certainly don't want to take that away from him, but I think what he has been doing and the team around him, there's no way he could be doing it all by himself. He'd be um on
00:17:17
Speaker
on Twitter and and Facebook 24-7, I think, is really normalizing the idea of caring, of giving a shit, of social justice, like he is not pulling any punches. ah be interested, Paul and Shane, if you've come across him in the last few episodes, weeks and months. He doesn't seem to be talking in a politicians-like way. He seems to just be just be saying things in a very forthright way. And he's vegan and he's not hiding that.
00:17:49
Speaker
So i think I think good for him. i don't i don't think he's the vegan superhero of 2025 in terms of ah impact that he's had in 2025, but certainly yeah coming to the fore this year.
00:18:02
Speaker
One to watch. Absolutely. Yeah, let's hope so. Let's hope so. So if it's not going to be Zach, good old Zach, who's it going to be then? We've got two opposite ends of the spectrum here. I'm wondering whether we need a joint award. i I think I will say that the sacrifice of individual freedom is always going to trump the sacrifice of money, even though that money is huge and great and kind of going back a bit on what I said, but someone willing to sacrifice so freedom, putting morals above, you know, the law, I think, I think has to win.
00:18:35
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. Yeah. Okay. The award goes to Zoe then. Fantastic stuff, Zoe Rosenberg. And yeah, by the time this episode comes out, her custodial sentence will shortly be coming to an end. And as she mentioned in the In the article that you can read in the show notes, ah in a sense, the biggest thing hanging over her is that $100,000 deposition, which is to be debated, i think, following her incarceration. So hopefully that gets them repealed or significantly reduced.
00:19:09
Speaker
Let's look then at the biggest setback. This is our penultimate category. It is our last particularly glum section, but important that we cover the setbacks as well as the triumphs. Honourable mentions, we covered, I think it was probably the end of November, ah the University of Exeter being very happy about their plans for sustainable seafood and their inland prawn farms that just sounded absolutely horrific and quite um dystopian in terms of how happy and they were jumping up and down celebrating it and we've already mentioned in the first half of this show the EU parliament voting to ban meat names for plant-based foods although that is yet to be confirmed legally so that might go back but if it were to go through I think it's
00:19:59
Speaker
We might downplay the impact of it, but I think it'd be hard to see it as a positive news story. So it it definitely falls in the category of setback. um Shane, why don't you tell us your biggest setback nomination first? What have you gone for and why?
Slovakia's Brown Bear Cull
00:20:15
Speaker
So mine is um the news that Slovakia will allow the killing of 350 brown bears after a man was killed. They're not even sure it was a bear attack. This article says it was likely that he was attacked by a bear.
00:20:30
Speaker
he was So this was last weekend. I assume that was in the last month or so. The country has around 1,000 brown bears, so they're allowing the killing of 350. Animal protection groups are saying that really the focus should be on prevention instead of killing the animals. um And they're saying that bear attacks are increasing because humans are moving into the habitats of bears, and climate change reducing the bear's natural food.
00:20:57
Speaker
They said it's not a real solution to kill bears and that they should have preventative measures like electric fan fences, better waste management, and education programs to avoid human-bear conflicts.
00:21:07
Speaker
So think it's definitely a setback when one person is killed and then that it leads to 350 out Bear is killed. And this, I mean, to me, this being the biggest setback, I would lump in with other similar things. I will say a lot of it's happening in Europe, although we have reported similar stories in Australia and in North America, where it's like, yeah, we've identified a problem. One person's had, one human has had a brush with some wildlife, but Therefore, what that gives us a mandate to to kill hundreds um or possibly even more. I think in in the cases of ah Australia and and um ah the US, ah maybe it wouldn't have been a result of folk brushing with them, but in terms of... livestock huge numbers of animals being sanctioned to be slaughtered it is either something we're reporting on more and and when i say we i mean the media as a whole or it's something that is being seen as more acceptable know whether either of you have a perspective on that ah is this just being reported on more or do we think that it's happening more i've also seen stories about um bear hunts in japan have you seen this Where they were, there yeah, they were i saw a couple of news stories where they're talking about now um having some similar to what's happening in Slovakia is doing some massive bear hunts in in areas of Japan where they're seeing more bears encroaching. And I don't remember in the news story, maybe somebody can write in and tell us, but um if there was an attack on a person. So this is something that is probably just being covered more. Because obviously, like, I would think anytime, mean, like with sharks, or even like in Africa, when there's an elephant that attacks people, that there's usually humans will go and exact some retribution. Was it wolves? I think it was another story, wasn't it? And was there another one? Was it a tiger? another There was something in India, wasn't there?
00:23:06
Speaker
can't remember what it was now, but yeah. yeah so not Not the only example. That sounds familiar. Yeah, and it's it speaks of a lack of human evolution sort of from a, I don't know, a spiritual or whatever perspective. Like it's such a base response like, oh, you killed one of us, so we're going to kill lots of you. Like that's a very primitive response.
00:23:32
Speaker
response isn't it? And if if we're to consider ourselves ah an evolved species, we really have to get past that kind of base eye for an eye sort of reaction, don't we? Okay. Thank you for that one, Shane. So Paul, what's your, your nomination? I'm seeing the word Brexit here. It's sounds like your you're, you're 10 years too late that that ship's. Yeah. Yeah. Well, ah it's the gift that keeps giving, I guess is the, is the thing that and a lot of us feel, isn't it? um And this is, It's funny enough, I i have ah an ex-boss of mine. um who's very not vegan. And I remember saying one of my objections to Brexit was that we were going to see a reduction or a reset of animal rights or animal welfare, at least policy that we managed to put in place. And lo and behold, you know, we're starting to see it now. And this story does particularly focus in on that. It talks about the potential for lowering standards on animal rights. It feels like a a told you so moment for me. Yeah, so basically, know, these hard fought
00:24:33
Speaker
ah welfare standards so things like live exports banning of import of foie gras which is you know one of the most disgusting products that you can be involved in I think to be quite honest um and but yeah it's it's essentially saying that we might have to negotiate with europe now and they are asking for us to essentially lower our standards so we can have frictionless trade with with them and know this has only come about because we've left europe so you know who's the losers here
00:25:09
Speaker
It's the animals. And yeah thanks Brexit voters for that. And I'm sure some of them wouldn't, well, probably most of wouldn't want this. um Like they wouldn't want other things that have happened as a result of it. So there you go. So yeah, upsetting, annoying, frustrating. and And, you know, really it makes you feel despondent that, you know lives are going to be taken as a result of a stupid ass vote that took place. Yes, indeed. Yeah, it's hard to hard to argue that any other way, really.
00:25:36
Speaker
is it No, thank you for that one, Paul. My nomination is something that we've almost um denied or rallied against in in the past. I remember, I think it might have been about 18 months ago, myself, Julie and Kate off the top of my head, we did an episode where we challenged the mainstream media's narrative that the vegan bubble was bursting. and we were saying, well...
00:25:59
Speaker
No, it's it's not. And even if there are temporary setbacks in certain elements of it, that's that's a natural part of growth that's happened in with the internet, with video games, like any new development will will have flux. Nonetheless, we can't deny that in the last 12 months, lots of vegan restaurants and cafes and food outlets have closed. And indeed, Several others have started adding animal products to the menu, so they've not closed. They have just ceased to be a vegan institution, and many listeners might question whether they were ever truly a vegan institution, if that's what they decide to do when times become hard. I don't think this is a direct setback to the animals in 2025 in early when this is going out but I do, I mean, listeners will know that I ran a vegan cafe and also a vegan restaurant for for five years. And i think the power of of doing so, of having places like that in our town and city centers is is huge. Like we live in a capitalist world. And so infiltrating that and putting a big banner that has the word vegan out there or or plant-based if if you choose to use an alternative term, and to and to use them as places for advocacy, of of showing that vegan food is is palatable, that you won't waste away and die, you won't be deprived. I think that's, it that yeah, it's a real good example of ah of a disruptive approach to ah capitalism with a vegan bent. And so to see fewer of them out there
00:27:43
Speaker
is a sad thing. I don't think it's evidence of a wane of veganism. I think it's a symptom of all vegan restaurants and cafes with very few exceptions. I'm thinking of Neat Burger that um Lewis Hamilton financed and there's another chap in America who's... Leonardo DiCaprio was in that one, was he? I wasn't thinking of him, but he's another one. But that there's and there are a few chains that have been financed by the rich and famous, but I probably 90% plus of vegan cafes and restaurants that you see out there are startups. They have been grassroots set up and either crowdfunded or just funded by people's savings.
00:28:24
Speaker
And those are the kind of restaurants and cafes that are going out of business at the moment, vegan or otherwise. It's pure economics. It's nothing to do with veganism being on the way or anything like that, in my opinion. But the fact that there are fewer of them from people who are ah using capitalism as a metric of a social justice cause, it can suggest that the idea is losing credibility or something like that, which will, you know, it's a bump and a hump that we will will overcome and we'll move past it. And yeah, just ah just a word for any institution that's that's feeling like it's it needs to supplement its plant-based menu with animal products.
00:29:07
Speaker
I would suggest if your concept is not working, as a vegan institution, adding a couple of bits of dairy, a couple of bits of egg, a couple of bits of meat, it's not going to make a difference. If you completely change your concept and say, right, we're a steakhouse now, fine. Maybe maybe you're you're in a town that's not ready for a vegan restaurant now, and maybe it is ready for another steakhouse or another kebab shop or whatever. But if you just think that adding dairy to the menu is going to make a difference, it's not.
00:29:36
Speaker
It's not. I would be astounded to find examples of it. And I say this pained that in a few days time, when me and Alex travel up to the Lake District, what was a brilliant vegan place um is now a vegan place. No more because it's it's just added some some dairy and some eggs to the menu. And so we won't go. It's just, if if nothing else, it's too painful. It's it's It's hurtful, you know, a place that you felt was safe and represented everything that you believe in.
00:30:06
Speaker
now thinks that a bit of animal exploitation is
Vegan Restaurants Transition
00:30:09
Speaker
okay. No, it's not. you can You can keep your dairy milk latte. Thank you very much. So yes, I'm clearly ah quite personally annoyed by that, as well as it's feeling like a a setback for the animals. Which one are we going vote for then? Which one wins? Are we going for bears being cold, Brexit lowering animal rights standards, or vegan restaurants closing? What do we think? I think mine again is if it happens, it could be the worst, but it's still a kind of threat at the moment, isn't it? So, and whereas I think the Bears story was kind of, it's like it's going to happen, isn't it? I think if I understood it right. Yeah.
00:30:47
Speaker
Well, I think, and it's part of a wider thing that we're seeing. There are, Yeah, absolutely. yeah Yeah, it's not the only example for sure. Yeah, yeah it's a representative of that human intolerance.
00:30:58
Speaker
Shane's picks are wiping the floor with us today, Paul. She got in first, though, with the selectionist, to be fair. so's Snooze, you lose. Snooze, you lose. Okay, then. Let's move on to our last category, and that is the biggest win for animals. Again,
00:31:15
Speaker
Just a realistic disclaimer here, we're speaking on behalf of animals, this is tongue-in-cheek, but it's just the format we're doing the show in, so ah hold your emails. Honourable mentions to the new Amazon protected area that safeguards iconic species and indigenous stewardship in Peru that we reported on back in June. There is also a landmark shift or so so-called landmark shift. This was reported by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine with the and NIH announcing it will no longer solicit animal-only research. in the US. s
00:31:56
Speaker
However, Shane, Paul and myself have chosen some different nominations for biggest win for animals. Paul, why don't you start us off your your choosing a big old court case? Yeah, I mean, I really like these sort of stories because they're the non, I guess, non-traditional kind of activism, I suppose you'd call it, that I really like. So this is very much focused on, you know, the the the financial markets and and and like you said earlier on, they're kind of playing the capitalist game, I guess, is is probably the other way looking at So essentially what we've got here is an individual shareholder in Tyson Foods, who I suspect has bought shares to kind of do this. And we'll come back to that maybe later on. And he has basically taken Tyson to court to so to basically say he'd asked to see particular corporate records to see how they were treating their animals in a number of um areas and ah that was going to progress and then it kind of stopped and then he essentially took them to court because he says you know you've not provided me as a shareholder with the information I've requested to ensure that my investment is is good, that might not be the right word, um because you know you're you're hiding this information. So essentially he was looking to get information on poultry chickens ah and the water and feed um arrangements that were ah in place, as well as any information relating to abuse to those um broilers caused by workers and contractors. which we've we've talked about on numerous occasions, and there's been video evidence of this all around the world. And he has essentially won that case, I believe. And basically, why I think it's really important is because it shows that um sometimes, I think, you have to play the game. So, like, I wouldn't want to be invest in Tyson Foods morally. However, if I could be a shareholder and have, let's say, £1,000 in Tyson Foods to then carry out this sort of activism that would have a lot bigger impact,
00:34:04
Speaker
It's a bit of a philosophical debate, this one. I think that's okay. ah You could argue that you're putting money into that organisation, but it's the only way of opening the door to have that kind of attack on the corporate side of things that you can't have unless you you've got that kind of pass to get in to do it. So I think it's a Very valid. and And we've seen it with other organisations over here around things like pollution and and what have you. and So, yeah, really, really interesting um approach, I think. And the yeah the amount of damage you can do to the organisation by drawing attention to this is much bigger than the amount that you're putting in to buy those shares. I don't know what the Tyson shares are at the moment, but... You know, I suspect it's not it's not going to be in the same in the same league as the the negative, you know, reputational damage done is is going to far outweigh that. So it's so it a positive activism in my view.
00:34:51
Speaker
Yeah. And again, it it does assume that you're okay with the moral quandary of putting money into them in the first place. But presumably once you've carried out your activism, you can sell the shares. Exactly that, yeah. So long as you can do without the money, in the interim, it ought not to be an expensive one. Yeah. an Interesting one. That one. Goodness. Well, ah from investing in Tyson foods, we move on to Shane's pick for biggest win for the animals, which seems to be bigging up Donald Trump. Is that right, Shane? Yeah. Well, this source is iGlobe News, and I'm a little skeptical of this source because I started reading the article, and then I was like what am I reading here? Basically, I've covered this story ah recently in that the FDA, or Food and Drug Administration,
00:35:43
Speaker
in the United States announced plans to phase out animal testing requirements for the development of monoclonal antibodies. And then the National Institutes of Health closed a Beagle laboratory on its campus. And so this article claims that Trump has become an unlikely ally of animal advocacy groups by clamping down on government-funded animal experiments, which, I mean, I...
00:36:04
Speaker
Cannot argue with that. He is an unlikely ally. um And he has, his administration has been defunding various animal rights experiments. The article does say that his love for animals is nothing new. I've never seen any evidence that Donald Trump loves animals or...
00:36:25
Speaker
cares whatsoever are about animals. I'd argue that he probably doesn't even know what's going on. And I think the real reason that they're cutting costs or is that they're cutting costs. The real reason that they're getting rid of these animal experiments is to cut costs because animal experiments are very expensive. And so Trump administration's big thing is to save money. So I think that's why they're cutting these costs. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an advocate for alternatives to animal testing like computer modeling and so on. But I think before we give Trump the Nobel Prize, we need to look that there has not been any progress or funding toward these alternatives.
00:37:02
Speaker
So I'm wondering if this isn't just a way... to indirectly defund science because ah I think objectively the Trump administration is kind of anti-science.
00:37:13
Speaker
But do animals care why the experiments stop? Do they care why they are not born into labs and a life of cruelty? No. So this is a win for animals, even if um we don't have to celebrate this new story everything that it says we don't have to agree with everything it says yes absolutely yeah if the category is biggest win then it is about what the animals experience isn't it rather than who gets the award and actually i i saw a week or so ago that ah donald trump seems to have paid for a world peace prize at the fifa world cup tree i don't think he needs his nobel peace prize anymore that's that's fine i think he's uh now discontinued failed another failed at trump business he had trump stakes so i think that probably shows you where his real um view on animals is so and his love of mcdonald's isn't it as well so yeah Yeah, hes not it he's not an animal lover. I don't know what this article is talking about. think it's a lot of the closed down the left wing education sector, isn't it?
00:38:13
Speaker
As well as money. that's the That's the front to it. Yes, absolutely. Yes. Well, my pick for the biggest win for the animals is the news that cultivated dog food is on sale in the UK. This was reported back in February. I will say it's not exactly widely available, but I suppose it's an opening of a door, opening of a gate, opening of a packet perhaps. So the um the chain Pets at Home, which UK listeners will doubtlessly know about, they are stocking chick bites, a treat made from cultivated chicken. It is like all cultivated meat in that it's not
00:38:57
Speaker
making up the the majority of the food stuff. So when we've covered in Singapore and in Israel, where there is this food available, it's making up like three to 4% of the food. And then the rest of it is plant-based. It's a similar sort of thing. here however in terms of impact on animals um I think I'm right in saying that 20% of the meat that is consumed in quote high income nations which would include the UK and the US, Australia, New Zealand etc. 20% of the meat that is consumed is consumed by companion animals it's not by humans so if this can be the start of a movement towards that then that's great I mean, I hesitate to to say that this is the biggest win for animals because actually there's already plant-based pet food out there. It doesn't have to be cultivated meat. I was to say, I've just had a quick look. how ah If you don't know, how how big do you think the worldwide pet food business is? And I guess some of this might not be meat, so I suppose you have to think about that. But how much do you think it is?
00:40:06
Speaker
Oh, well, I mean, taking that 20% figure, we're we're looking at billions, surely. $103 billion. dollars yeah Yeah, absolutely. That's 2023. Yes. And you wouldn't have thought it would be a a huge jump to say to folk, look, you can get something that effectively is chicken here. It doesn't just taste like chicken. It it basically is chicken, but no chickens have have had to die for it. Or...
00:40:32
Speaker
Very few. There's obviously when we've we've covered the cultivated meat, that there is different arguments in terms of the impact on animals that has been required to produce it and that it might involve ah fetal bovine serum.
00:40:48
Speaker
the The animal whose original cells it's been taken from might not actually still be alive as a result of that, but it's certainly a huge reduction. And ah lots of lots of folk think this could be a game changer. and So that's why I've chosen it for my biggest win for animals. It's our last category.
00:41:07
Speaker
Anyone going to give a a further backing to theirs or or say something about someone else's? i think yours is a future future one again, isn't it, Ant? Yours could be massive in the future, I think. I'm not sure about now because it's still early early days, which is great. You've haven't you? But yeah, I think yours is a one to watch again, possibly. But then could we say the same about animal experimentation in the US? s Although although we have we have seen moves to to stop certain things almost immediately, haven't we? Like the whole thing. Yeah, it is stopping immediately.
Financial Activism & Future Predictions
00:41:41
Speaker
It's just a very small section of the experiments because I think as I talked about when I did this on like a vegan news show that it's just in these little federally funded and when most animal experimentation is privately funded and it's not affecting that. Okay, well, that leaves us with Tyson Foods. Is it going to be is it going to be for you, Paul? Do you want to say a final final word on why that should be the biggest win for animals? I think it's, again, it's not really ah in itself, but it is, again, a an example of how you could have massive impact in the future by utilising the capitalist system. So I think they're kind of similar and in some respects in that way. there's You can't point to that and go X number of animals saved kind of thing. It's more of a kind of In the future, all of these could be massive, but ah where they are right now, just think they're pretty equal, to be honest. Okay. Well, we can have a no outright winner. Yeah. Yeah. Why not? And as I said, for the ah the bit the best campaign category that we featured in the first part of this show, ah all efforts to improve outcomes for animals are laudable, aren't they? So let's let's finish on that note. Right. We always finish... these vegan news awards shows with a predictions section now last year dominic and julie joined me for the review of the year and they predicted for 25 2025 the following dominic predicted that enough of the falafel would become the most important most celebrated and most sexy podcast for vegans i'll leave it to listeners to decide how many of those categories have been fulfilled um but yes still very much enjoyed that ah julie predicted that solene this is the protein powder that's generated from the air would become available for sale in the uk my research suggests that that has not come to fruition yet but they have featured in our shows in the last 12 months because i think they've got their generally recognized as safe accreditation so not far off not far off but perhaps we'll have to defer that one julie I'm going to say I win this one because my prediction was that the UK government would fawn to farmers following the inheritance tax decision that was made at the tail end of 2024 and I think we've definitely seen lots of that so I'm going to take a win there. um So let's make our 2026 predictions.
00:44:06
Speaker
Paul what's your prediction for 2026 in the vegan news space? So I'm returning to one of my favourite topics which is cars and We've done a couple of episodes on this, and most recently looking at what's going on with some of the materials that used for cars, particularly the interiors.
00:44:22
Speaker
And I think we're going to see, and I think this will happen, absolutely, you're going to see more car manufacturers making standard vegan interiors be non-leather. I think that's that the dial is starting to move.
00:44:35
Speaker
You're seeing on electric cars a lot more, and I think that's going to become the norm. Next year might be a little bit too early, but I think it's definitely going to be more of that. Can I fact check? I'm going to put you on the spot here. Am I right thinking that Renault, all of their interiors are... Not all of them, no. I think it's on the Renault 5. It was... and But there's Mercedes have got a specific model. I was going to say Mercedes is the other one, isn't it? Yeah, that's got a particular model. that's It's the first one that got vegan accreditation. So there was that one. That was on the GLC, I think. But yeah, there's more and more Polestar tests that we've talked about before that are doing it as the standard one. You can still opt to have slaughtered animals to sit on. Weird. But, you know, you can do. but i And I think that will will still be offered, if I'm realistic about it. But I think this the starting point...
00:45:21
Speaker
on the luxury end of cars where we've got that association with leather being luxury that's on the move I think finally I'm thinking of a spoof video that you could record where you go into a car showroom and you ask for a a different kind of specific animal skin to be put on or maybe human skin. i don't I don't know, just to draw attention to how ridiculous it is that people would opt to have cow skin to sit on. um Thank you for that one, Paul. Shane, what about you? What's your vegan news prediction for the next 12 months?
00:45:53
Speaker
I think fur is on the way out and I think more countries are going to be following Poland's lead in banning fur farming. Yeah. And hopefully we see this in marketing too and in and fashion, more more companies following suit.
00:46:07
Speaker
Do you want to stick your neck out and name a country for bonus points? e What's a big country in Europe that does fur farming? Like Norway or somewhere?
00:46:18
Speaker
We did cover this, didn't we? was It wasn't Denmark, was It ah there was ah was a weird country that didn't ah I didn't expect. i can't think what it was now. I'm going to say another European country is going...
00:46:28
Speaker
To ban fur farming. That's specific enough for me. Yeah, we'll take that. Okay, great stuff. ah My prediction, um we've talked a lot on the show about how progress, I think, Paul, you've even said in this recording that we'll be two steps forward, one step back. And I think we've seen some really good strides in 2025 in terms of animal testing being outdated and folks saying that they want to to stop doing it or reduce doing it.
00:46:54
Speaker
ah So I'm going to predict the first six months of the year We're going to see some setbacks in that. But my optimistic nature is going to say that before the end of 2026, we're going to see some more strides forward. That's what I hope anyway. Nice one. Okay. To finish off with, Paul, I'll come to you first and then to you, Shane, and then I'll say something myself. Just any personal hopes for 2026 from a vegan perspective or just just for yourself?
00:47:23
Speaker
So mine is going to be a vegan perspective because it's something that's pissed me off through the year in various conversations I've had. And that's hopefully seeing this common weaponization of the ultra processed food um label and and always linked with vegan food only um being ah going away, especially when you've got people munching on ultra processed food vegan. bacon or something like that, which is, you carcinogenic as well. And they're munching away telling you that vegan food's unhealthy and they wouldn't touch it. So I'm hoping that goes away.
00:47:57
Speaker
Yes. Yes. I genuinely had a conversation with somebody who was eating a croissant whilst, whilst saying this. And you think let's let's focus on flour and butter shall we, like the main constituents of a croissant and maybe sugar too, before we start calling tofu ultra processed. Yes. Amen to that, Paul. What about you, Shane? So I hope that we're going to see more vegan and animal rights media in the mainstream. um You know, A44 was the start. I hope we're going to start seeing others.
00:48:30
Speaker
And I hope that that what we are seeing in the mainstream, that people are going to discuss it as vegan or having an animal rights message. And I would give, for an example, Wicked, the movie Wicked, or the play Wicked, is not a very animal rights message. But whenever you hear people talk about it, critics or so on, they're going to recontextualize the message and find any way they can not to talk about how it's a vegan animal rights message. So I hope that media that does have that kind of message is discussed as such.
00:49:00
Speaker
Well, I mean, you've given me another thing to do over this holiday season because I've not seen the movie or the play and I was not aware of that. So thank you for that little nugget. Yes, yes. Watch it through that lens. you I think you will see it. I mean, it's going to be five hours of your time. but Well, I've got some historical novels I'm going to be reading over the yeah period too. so ah well I'll see what I can fit in. No, that's ah that's a really nice hope. um Mine linked to my biggest setback nomination. I really hope that we start to see some more vegan cafes and vegan restaurants pop up. It's a gruelling thing to do. It is hard work, but I do believe that it makes a massive impact.
00:49:40
Speaker
And I think a lot of the economic factors that have led to small businesses closing in the last few years. I don't know, I was out in in Chester city centre yesterday and it was heaving. There were so many people, I've not seen so many people in one place since COVID and I'm i'm wondering whether economic activity might be on the upturn, which will would be a great time for folk who want to start a vegan cafe or restaurant to to do so. So fingers crossed we can see more vegan labels in big letters over door frames in our towns and city centres. Shane and Paul, thank you so much for your contributions in the last couple of these shows and I'm delighted that as we look ahead to our Enough of the Falafel plan of episodes for um January and February, 2026, that your names are on there in lots of places. So that's a jolly good thing too. Thank you very much.
Listener Engagement & Content Re-releases
00:50:35
Speaker
um Listeners, we always love hearing from you. So send us an email at enoughofthefalafel at gmail.com. You can
00:50:43
Speaker
give us some general feedback, share some ideas for the show, give us some feedback on things that we've said. I've said that twice now, you can tell it's the end of the episode. But yeah, we love hearing from you.
00:50:54
Speaker
Go back into that archive too. And a little nugget for you, over January, we are going to be re-releasing all 18 of our Going Vegan episodes because lots of people try to go vegan or start their vegan journey in January. So we thought it'd be a great opportunity for you to get to hear 18 Enough of the Falafelers vegan journeys too.
00:51:18
Speaker
Anyway, that's enough of the falafel for this episode. I've been Anthony and you have been listening to the Vegan News Awards 2025.
00:51:33
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.
00:51:48
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.
00:52:14
Speaker
This episode may have come to an end, but did you know we've got a whole archive containing all our shows dating back to September 2023? twenty twenty three That is right, Dominic. There's over 100 episodes on there featuring our brilliant range of different guests, people's stories of going vegan, philosophical debates, moral quandaries, and of course...
00:52:35
Speaker
around a dozen news items from around the world each week so check back on your podcast player to hear previous episodes and remember to get an alert for each new episode simply click like or follow and also subscribe to the show thanks for your ongoing support wherever you listen to us from