VegWeek 2016 Success: Stars Align & Thousands Try Veg

VegWeek 2016 has been a huge success: the stars aligned, from well-known athletes and celebrities to our partners and recruiters, empowering thousands of friends, family and followers to explore the world of meat-free eating for at least one week!

Spanning April 18-24, VegWeek 2016 marked Compassion Over Killing’s eighth consecutive year of this week-long international campaign celebrating vegetarian eating. The inspiration came from Maryland Senator Jamie Raskin who, in 2009, was the first person to take our pledge, suggesting: “There are 52 weeks in a year. Why not make at least one of meat-free?”

More than 5,400 people joined the fun this year, which means more than 16,200 meat-free meals were enjoyed each day — sparing the lives of countless animals and leaving a lighter footprint on our planet.  With so many reasons to choose veg foods, we asked several people what inspired them to take the 7-Day VegPledge and created this motivating video: “I pledge because …”

This year’s VegWeek also sparked media coverage and attention from news outlets such as Huffington Post, VegNews, Look to the Stars, DC radio station Big 100.3, and more. COK’s Executive Director, Erica Meier highlighted the benefits of eating meat-free on DC’s News Talk with Bruce Depuyt on WJLA – watch the video!

We rolled out the green carpet for the many kind celebrity Endorsers who voiced their support, including award-winning musician Moby, actresses Emily Deschanel (Bones) and Kristin Davis (Sex and the City), actor Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries), and singer Mya, who motivated her followers with daily tweets of encouragement throughout the week!

And of course, the famous VegWeek cast is open to everyone so Esther the Wonder Pig helped spread the word with adorable videos, including this one with more than 60K views – you really helped us Turnip the Beat, Esther! Albert the Super Cow of Asha Sanctuary and Wee Wee the Pig, who was rescued in DC’s Snowzilla blizzard and now lives at Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary, each lent a hand – er, hoof – in support too.

An amazing plethora of VegWeek Partners – dozens of companies from Beyond Meat and Tofurky to Daiya Foods and Miyoko’s Kitchen — pitched in by providing enticing deals, discounts, and meal ideas to all who signed up to pledge.

COK sends our thanks to our Recruiters who spread the word in their newsletters and the many VegPledgers who took to social media to show just how delicious animal-free eating really is, with photos of meatless meals for every day of the week! You can see the delicious dishes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by searching for hashtag #VegWeek.