Proclamation issued this week recognizes Veganuary, students, and other local organizations for advancing plant-based advocacy in the city
(West Hollywood, CA – February 4th, 2025) – West Hollywood commends Veganuary and several local organizations that helped raise awareness for Veganuary in the area. The proclamation states that animal agriculture is a leading contributor of climate-changing gases, and a key driver of deforestation and species loss.
At the City’s Council Meeting on December 16th 2024, the City of West Hollywood, CA, under the guidance of Mayor Chelsea Byers, voted in favor of a resolution to promote Veganuary to residents, City staff, and businesses. This effort, an implementation of their recently-signed Plant Based Treaty, aligns with the city’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2035, and aims to demonstrate how small lifestyle changes can collectively contribute to reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved public health.
At the City’s Council Meeting on February 3rd 2025, Mayor Byers announced the Veganuary proclamation.
The proclamation says “the City Council of the City of West Hollywood hereby recognizes Veganuary, Plant Based Treaty, Animal Welfare Alliance, and Plant Futures at UCLA, in advancing plant-based advocacy. The City encourages residents and community members to explore the benefits of plant-based diets for personal health, environmental sustainability, and ethical well-being.”
Throughout the document, several local initiatives and organizations are listed:
- This January, the City of West Hollywood proudly participated in the Veganuary challenge, encouraging participation from community members, local businesses, and City staff.
- Animal Welfare Alliance, Plant Futures at UCLA, Lives Without Knives, and Bruins Opposing Speciesism launched the first university Veganuary challenge in the US, securing nearly 100 student sign-ups and hosting the Plant Powered Revolution, a week-long series of events, including a VegFest with over 800 attendees. Their efforts led to the creation of a University Veganuary Challenge guide to help expand Veganuary to campuses nationwide in 2025.
- In October 2024, the City signed the Plant Based Treaty to put food systems at the forefront of combating the climate crisis to halt the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems caused by animal agriculture and to promote a shift towards healthier, sustainable plant-based diets.
“I am proud to bring Veganuary to the City of West Hollywood! This action is a continuation of the City’s ambitious climate goals and ongoing support for animal rights and welfare,” said West Hollywood Vice Mayor Chelsea Bryers at the December resolution meeting.
“I believe that college campuses are uniquely positioned to inspire the next generation of professionals, leaders, community members, and parents to adopt a lifestyle that benefits animals, the planet, and themselves,” says Sarahjeet Dosanjh, a third year undergraduate Public Health student at UCLA.
“We are excited about this proclamation and commend the City of Hollywood for being the first US City to run such a comprehensive Veganuary program! We also appreciate and congratulate the local organizations and students who helped raise awareness for Veganuary in the area!” says Veganuary’s US Director, Sandra Hungate.
“We were happy to introduce Veganuary to West Hollywood as part of the Plant Based Treaty Resolution implementation. Veganuary is an incredibly impactful campaign with a high individual retention rate for trying out plant-based foods! It perfectly complements Plant Based Treaty’s outreach, education, and awareness efforts with cities, universities, and businesses. We are so happy to see that West Hollywood has embraced the Veganuary Campaign and we hope it will empower their constituents to take action for years to come!” says The Plant Based Treaty LA Team.
Click here to see photos of the proclamation event.
Participate in the 31-day eating challenge in January and beyond:
Veganuary supports people who are curious about eating vegan by providing free recipes, shopping tips, restaurant guides, and meal plans on its website. Since 2014, Veganuary has inspired millions, and has gained many celebrity supporters, such as Woody Harrelson, Maggie Baird, Joaquin Phoenix, Alicia Silverstone, Richa Moorjani, Sarah Jeffrey, Daniella Monet, and many more; some of them even reside in the area.
The Veganuary Workplace Challenge for employees:
The Veganuary 31-day pledge encourages employees to try vegan for a month, enhancing sustainability, employee health, and satisfaction. Veganuary offers resources to HR, employee wellness, and sustainability leaders, such as email templates, prompts, and posters. Employers such as EY (Ernst & Young), City of San Antonio TX, City of Vancouver, WA, LUSH, and hundreds more have participated with their teams.
Businesses celebrate Veganuary by adding plant-based options:
Hundreds of US businesses participated in Veganuary, launching new vegan products and restaurant menu items and utilizing Veganuary’s free marketing assets. Restaurant chains such as Veggie Grill by Next Level, Ike’s Love & Sandwiches, and Salt & Straw introduced special menu items, while others, like Voodoo Doughnut offered special offers.
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About Veganuary: Veganuary is free to join, and people can take part at veganuary.com to receive our Celebrity eCookbook, the Official Veganuary Starter Kit, and 31 daily emails packed with nutritional info, delicious recipes, meal plans and helpful advice.
Since Veganuary launched its first pledge in January 2014 – millions of people, coming from almost every country in the world, have taken part. From humble beginnings on a kitchen table in Yorkshire, there are now official Veganuary campaigns in the UK, US, Germany, Chile, Argentina, India, Spain, Australia, Austria, Brazil, France, Greece, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland and Canada. It has truly become a global phenomenon. Veganuary is grateful for the support of its official Veganuary 2025 US sponsors Vitacost, Field Roast, and Lightlife.
About Plant Based Treaty: Plant Based Treaty promotes a shift towards a just, plant-based food system that would enable us to live safely within our planetary boundaries and reforest the Earth. Since its launch in August 2021, the Plant Based Treaty initiative has received endorsement from 34 cities, a quarter million individual endorsers, 5 Nobel laureates, IPCC scientists, and more than 3000 groups and businesses.
About Animal Welfare Alliance: The Animal Welfare Alliance at UCLA aims to improve the welfare of humans and non-human animals. They strive to do this by working on intersectional projects and building this alliance with organizations seeking to make the world a better place for all sentient beings. They believe veganism is the best way to reduce the exploitation of animals, thus promoting the welfare of all sentient beings.
About Plant Futures at UCLA: Plant Futures strives to equip young professionals at UCLA with pathways into a plant-centric future through career networking, professional development, and community building. Their mission is to foster the next generation of leaders who will create the plant-centric food system of tomorrow. This organization is part of the larger organization of Plant Futures.
About Lives Without Knives: Lives Without Knives is a youth-led social enterprise aiming to simplify, advocate, and implement a plant-based, sustainable lifestyle.
About Bruins Opposing Speciesism: Bruins Opposing Speciesism’s mission is to raise awareness of and fight for the fundamental rights to freedom, life, autonomy, protection, and rescue, for animals on campus and off.
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