FARM’s 2025 Year in Review for Animal Rights Advocacy

2025 was a big year for the FARM team and the animal rights movement. While our focus remained on our mission to end the use of animals for food, we also took time to reflect on a significant milestone and highlight the 50th anniversary of the modern U.S. animal rights movement.

Five Decades, One Mission

Throughout 2025, we turned the animal rights movement’s 50 years of history into forward momentum by showing up in communities, festivals, media, and public spaces nationwide. We also honored our movement’s roots with the release of Five Decades, One Mission, a six-part series capturing how this movement began and why it still matters today. This exclusive 3 1/2 hour documentary features interviews with ten of the most important voices in the movement.

Proclamations, Outreach, and National Impact for MeatOut 2025

This year, MeatOut once again showed us just how powerful a simple ask can be. Official MeatOut Day proclamations came from cities such as Annapolis and Columbia, MD; Madison, WI; Montgomery County and Laurel, MD; and Nashville, TN. The media coverage reached a potential 19.7 million residents. Asking people to give up meat for just one day opens the door to curiosity, compassion, and a willingness to rethink what is on their plate.

On the ground, FARM volunteers brought the MeatOut message to life at events like the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC, by distributing thousands of leaflets and hundreds of vegan food samples, sparking honest conversations. From vegan cheese giveaways to Ditch Dairy demos with informational leaflets, these moments made plant-based choices feel easy, accessible, and genuinely enjoyable.

Educating Communities on Vegan Living at the Planet Series Events

Highlighting Sustainability at Planet Virginia

In April, FARM brought Planet Virginia to the George Mason University campus, where dozens of vendors showcased their plant-based and vegan products. A series of compelling talks from leading experts in sustainability, health, and environmental policy further energized the festival’s atmosphere. This day hosted presentations from healthcare professionals, renowned ecological advocates, and scholars, fostering a rich dialogue on the future of our planet. Notably, Congressman Suhas Subramanyam addressed the crowd, sharing his vegan journey and emphasizing the urgency of climate action and the role of policy in driving sustainable change.

Promoting a Healthier Future at Planet Maryland

Then, in June, FARM once again hosted Planet Maryland at Elm Street Urban Park. Here, Montgomery County Councilmember Evan Glass issued an official proclamation declaring the day Planet Maryland Day to his constituents. The proclamation read:

“The County Council of Montgomery County recognizes the organizers of Planet Maryland for bringing together vegetarian and vegan thought leaders, activists, and everyday changemakers committed to saving our planet, protecting animals, and promoting a healthier, more compassionate world. Here’s to a kinder, greener future.”

Pride Outreach, Veganism & the LGBTQIA+ Community

FARM reached out to thousands while attending World Pride in Washington, DC, Baltimore Pride, Pride Puerto Rico, and New York City Pride. The four massive events rooted in joy, identity, and justice drew more than 4 million people. These events provided an excellent platform to connect vegan values with LGBTQIA+ values, such as liberation, fairness, and care for the most vulnerable. Our team helped normalize compassionate food choices in spaces that shape culture and community with parades, tabling, and more than 10,000 Pride-themed brochures and vegan starter kits. We are proud to strike the sparks that get people thinking differently about food, animals, and the kind of world they want to live in.

Taking the Vegan Message on the Road with National Vegfest Tour

This Fall, FARM’s Executive Director took FARM’s mission to Syracuse Vegfest in Central New York, Vegfest Colorado in Denver, and Asheville VeganFest in Asheville, NC. He shared important messaging about FARM’s programming and animal rights from center stage in front of thousands of people. This series also kick-started World Day for Farmed Animals, which was happening just a few weeks later.

42 Year Legacy of Advocacy with World Day for Farmed Animals

World Day for Farmed Animals (WDFA) remained a cornerstone of FARM’s work in 2025. Now in its 42nd year, WDFA once again brought people together on October 2 to honor the lives of farmed animals and speak aloud the truth that animals are friends, not food. This year’s observance included official proclamations from the State of Maryland and the Governor of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico recognized WDFA for the third time in a row in 2025.

FARM PR, the Puerto Rico/Spanish-language division of FARM, continued to demonstrate and attend events on the island, promoting plant-based eating and a vegan lifestyle. The vital work of activists in Puerto Rico extends to other Spanish-speaking countries and neighborhoods, helping to unite a global message of compassion.

Empowering Grassroots Action with WDFA Mini-Grants

One of the most exciting developments in 2025 was the launch of FARM’s WDFA Mini-Grant Program. With small grants, we helped grassroots activists (many of whom were students or first-time organizers) host local events, vigils, and outreach without financial barriers. At the same time, the Compassionate Activist Network mobilized volunteers across the country through tabling, campus outreach, and the global #FastAgainstSlaughter. These efforts showed, once again, that when we provide people with the tools and support to act, they show up in powerful ways.

Normalizing Compassion Nationwide Through Social Campaigns

Media outreach, social campaigns, and Letters to the Editor reached hundreds of thousands of people, connecting the suffering of farmed animals to broader issues like health, the environment, and justice while offering plant-based living as a hopeful way forward. By placing pro-animal, pro-vegan letters in hundreds of newspapers across the U.S. and Canada, FARM reached millions of readers in communities where these ideas might otherwise never appear. These letters normalize compassion, lend credibility to our message, and turn everyday news cycles into opportunities for change, one paper, one reader, one moment at a time.

Building a Kinder Future Together with FARM

FARM’s programs, including MeatOut, World Day for Farmed Animals, EdLetters, Compassionate Holidays, Pride outreach, and more, work as one to bring compassion and veganism to the masses. We are excited to meet people at city halls and festivals, in newspapers, at parades, during holidays, and in moments of reflection.

In 2025, we reached hundreds of thousands of people, sparked countless conversations, and helped move compassion from the margins into everyday life. And with your continued support, we can’t wait to do more sustained, visible, values-driven work to keep building toward a kinder, plant-based world in which animals are no longer used for food.