In a progressive move towards vegan-friendly catering for all in UK hospitals, Senior Advocacy Officer Amanda Baker gave a voice to vegans at the Hospital Food Forum held in London in September 2013. During the meeting for groups collaborating in the Sustain Campaign for Better Hospital Food, Amanda asked the forum to consider the diverse benefits of vegan-friendly catering in hospitals. Soon afterwards, the National Chair of the Hospital Caterers Association, Andy Jones, sought our help in adding exciting, nutritious vegan-friendly recipes to their national database.

The Vegan Society's new-look magazine is praised.

Vegan Society Media and PR Manager Samantha Calvert, was quoted in The Guardian in a piece about Glasgow being named the most vegan-friendly city in the UK by PETA. She was pleased to be able to tell The Guardian that Glasgow University was the first university in the country to be registered to use The Vegan Society’s sunflower trademark.

Inspired by The Vegan Society’s sponsored debate at the Cheltenham Science Festival this year and published to tie in with the Radio 4 programme in July, this article asked whether it is time to stop eating meat regularly and save it for special occasions. Vegan Society CEO Jasmijn de Boo was interviewed by Anna-Louise Taylor of BBC Food.

Read the full article here:

bbc.co.uk/food/0/22803933

The Vegan Society supports IVU VegFest organisers.

At the famous World of Music, Arts and Dance (‘WOMAD’) festival in July, our partner, Ecotricity, hosted a debate between Jasmijn de Boo, CEO of The Vegan Society, and Aine Morris of the Sustainable Food Trust. The question was: ‘Vegan and/or organic – the positive impact of meat and dairy, or not?’ Jasmijn argued ‘not’ on behalf of The Vegan Society.

With a colourful and interactive stall run by staff and volunteers, The Vegan Society handed out resources about veganism to visitors at the Green Party Conference in Brighton as well as goody bags filled with products generously donated by several of our vegan trademark holders (Clearspring, Original Source, Koko Dairy Free, and Creative Nature).

New to 2013, The Vegan Society has welcomed a score of specialist advisors to the team. This will ensure that our research and lobbying activities will be supported by experts in the field. The aim of the new Advisory Board is to provide overall strategic advice to the Society’s Council and SeniorManagement. Working by this model will help The Vegan Society to become a stronger, more effective organisation, and forge important new alliances with academics and policy-makers.

The London Big IF event on Saturday the 8th of June saw tens of thousands of people gathered in Hyde Park to demand that G8 leaders take action to tackle global hunger. Interested campaigners queued up all day to talk to staff and volunteers on the Vegan Society stand, at one of the biggest events we have ever attended.

Vegan Society Patron and Labour MP for Bristol East, Kerry McCarthy, urged for the recognition of animal agriculture and its contribution to world hunger, and pushed for it to be at the top of the G8 agenda.

Visitors to this year’s Cheltenham Science Festival were invited to join The Vegan Society for a discussion about the food we eat and climate change. On Wednesday the 5th of June, our panel discussion – ‘Meat and Potatoes or Two Veg?’ – was delivered to a captive audience of around 200 people.