Veganuary

Will, I'm trying to be vegan.

I'm not too strict on it, but since I'm doing Veganuary, right? Yep.

And...

Well,

I was early as far as I was concerned.

Shocking.

So go on, you're trying to do Veganuary.

So

Even Jollibee tested a meat-free burger in select locations last year.

In the UK, over 600,000 people joined Veganuary in 2025, the highest on record.

But here's the interesting twist.

Most people eating plant-based today are not vegans.

However, since becoming vegan, Matthew has become an instrumental part of the vegan movement with his work spanning across business, philanthropy, and activism.

Matthew is one of the co-founders of Veganuary, which, as many of you may already know, is a global initiative which has so far inspired millions of people to try veganism and has led to the creation of countless plant-based options.

Matthew is also the founder of Generation V, which is a global education charity which promotes the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle, and he's the founder of Veg Capital, which is an investment fund which supports plant-based businesses by investing in them, especially at the startup phase.

If all of that wasn't enough, Matthew has also just recently co-founded Project Slingshot, which is a campaign which is specifically targeting factory farming with the aim of seeing an end to it in the UK by 2040.

We're like OGs now of the movement, aren't we? Um, I look a lot older than you obviously, but, uh, yeah, we've been around, haven't we?

We've certainly seen a few things.

Um, but what I'd like to, I think, talk about most in, in today's episode, I mean, we, we can definitely talk about Veganuary and, and, and Gen V and such, but I think it'd be really interesting to talk about Project Slingshot because this is obviously your new campaign and, um, for anyone who's, who's, who's in London or, or has visited recently, there's a probably a good chance they've seen one of your awareness-raising advertisements because you've been doing campaigns throughout the, the London Underground network or the transport network about gas chambers and, and Frankenchickens for the time being.

But I'm wondering if maybe you could go into a little bit more detail about what Project Slingshot is, what your aims are, and I guess why now.

Good job.

See you again soon." I said, "Oh, this is really disappointing, especially in January," which we belovedly think of as Veganuary.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Um, we-

we-The education that we've been able to provide people through events like Veganuary, starting the year off with this whole sort of menu of education, continuing that with the Plant Based Treaty, 35,000 people in the city of West Hollywood.

But anytime people show up at an event, especially an event like Food Day that we're having here in the park right now, um, and they see something that looks different but just as delicious or even more exciting than they've been enjoying to date, um, that's an essential way that we've been able to change the mindset that people are living in.

And we know now more than ever, people are also thinking about affordability.

Yeah

... you know, the, the post-lockdown Veganuary moment-

Yes

... hit, and suddenly vegan options were everywhere.

Then you've got the sort of larger, more complicated stuff.

So, um, doing Veganuary.

Um, it's not the easiest of things.

I've done it a few times, and it's challenging.