Maui Vegan News for October 2026
Lani and Veronica enjoy their forever home, Leilani Farm Sanctuary in Ha’iku.
On 4th July 2026, a calf died after being violently roped around the neck during the Makawao Stampede rodeo in Maui, Hawaii, US, prompting PETA to call for a formal investigation into the incident. Footage obtained by PETA showed the young cow being wrapped around a pole by the neck during the event, which forms part of a long-standing 4th of July tradition on the island. The organisation sent the recording to Hawaii News Now, citing Hawaii state law that prohibits reckless bodily harm to animals, and condemned rodeos more broadly for the way they treat the Nonhuman Animals forced to take part in them. Read more.
The County of Maui Department of Agriculture launched its FY27 Niu, Kalo, 'Ulu Grant program on September 18, 2026, offering up to $50,000 per year for two years to farmers and producers on Maui, Moloka'i, and Lana'i; applications run September 23 through October 23, 2026. The program funds niu (coconut), kalo (taro), and 'ulu (breadfruit).
Despite support for individual crop production, the county’s overall agricultural policy is discouraging. On September 18, Mayor Richard Bissen signed Bill 98 into law, codifying the Maui County Food and Nutrition Security Plan that the Council had passed unanimously. The plan is a food-security win, but it is not a vegan one. It seeks to guide the production of "more plant and animal foods." It does not prioritize plant-based eating and perpetuates meat, fish, and dairy.
EVENTS
Tuesday, October 24 and November 14: UH Maui College's Kauluwehi Biocultural Garden launches the free Pilina 'Ohana workshop series for all ages: dye-making with native plants on October 24, 9 a.m.–1:30 p.m.; and cordage with native plants on November 14, 9 a.m.–1:30 p.m., with support from Kamehameha Schools.
Wednesday, October 25: Tropical Fungi Academy hosts its Wild Mushroom Walk on Maui on the last Sunday of each month, 3–5 p.m., October 25 at Yellow Seed Farms in Ha'iku, and November 29 and December 27 at the 505 Farm food forest in Pe'ahi, led by the academy's Wild Mushroom Food Safety Certified co-founder (listing current as of September 2026).
The Vegan Society of Hawaii hosts online presentations and occasionally in-person events on Maui. Check here for the latest.
Farm-to-table brunches and dinners in Kula are offered by Moku Roots. Email mokuroots@gmail.com to be placed on the mailing list.
NEWS AND TRENDS
Did Big Meat Hijack America’s Dietary Guidelines? Why These Doctors Are Suing the Government. … How Big Meat Distorted the Evidence … The Meat Papers Contradicted Their Own Data
No, our ancestors weren't carnivores. Here's what they really ate and why it matters
The Hard Truth About Why the Vegan Restaurants We Love Keep Closing … Where did all the vegan restaurants go?
HEALTH AND NUTRITION
Vegan Diet Linked to Better Mood and Less Physical Pain, Study Suggests
Vegetarian diet tied to lower risk for chronic kidney disease
Prostate cancer: Plant fats linked to better overall survival
Eating A Handful Of Nuts Per Day Reduces Blood Pressure Risk By 20%
SPORTS AND FITNESS
RESOURCES
Top 20 vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Hawaii
Fall Is Cookbook Season. Here Are 9 Vegan Books Worth Buying
CONNECTIONS
Three Maui vegan Facebook groups are Vegan on Maui, Maui Vegans and Maui Vegan Life. The Vegan Society of Hawaii occasionally holds in-person presentations in Wailuku.
THIS MONTH IN VEGAN HISTORY
Pioneering Primatologist Dies at 91. For over six decades Jane Goodall transformed both primatology and the discussion of how we treat all animals and the horrors of factory farms. (October 1, 2025)
Campus Catering Math Released. A Bryant University analysis publicized in October 2024 argued that a medium-size university serving about 10,000 students could save roughly $650,000 annually by shifting to a plant-based catering model, making October a fiscal moment for campus food policy debates. (October 2024)
Denmark Launches the World’s First National Plant-Based Food Plan. Denmark introduced a government action plan supporting plant-based production, culinary training, research, exports, and greater consumption in public and private kitchens. (October 13, 2023)
Starbucks Makes Plant-Based Milk the Default in Shanghai. Starbucks opened its first Greener Store outside North America with oat milk as the default in most beverages and plant-based items comprising more than half its menu. (October 5, 2021)
Attenborough’s Climate Call Premieres on World Animal Day. David Attenborough’s witness film A Life on Our Planet premiers, using biodiversity collapse and agriculture’s footprint to press for systemic change, including more plant-forward diets. (October 4, 2020)
Hamilton’s Achieves Record Victory. Lewis Hamilton earned his 92nd career Formula 1 win, a milestone he himself and many observers linked to his vegan lifestyle and to the broader platform he uses for environmental and animal-welfare advocacy. (October 25, 2020)
The Game Changers Takes Plant-Based Athletics Mainstream. The documentary reached Netflix audiences worldwide with its argument that athletes can build strength, endurance, and competitive success on plant-based diets. (October 16, 2019)
France Mandates Weekly Vegetarian School Meals. France promulgated its EGAlim law, which required school cafeterias to begin offering at least one vegetarian meal each week. (October 30, 2018)
A Meat Industry Giant Invests in Plant-Based Protein. Tyson Foods became the first major meat producer to invest in a plant-based meat company when it purchased a 5 percent stake in Beyond Meat. (October 10, 2016)
World Health Agency Classifies Processed Meat as Carcinogenic. After reviewing more than 800 studies, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified processed meat as carcinogenic to humans and red meat as probably carcinogenic. (October 26, 2015)
Oktoberfest Serves Vegan Food for the First Time. Munich’s traditionally meat-centered Oktoberfest offered explicitly vegan dishes, including soy cutlets and meat-free versions of Bavarian foods, for the first time in its approximately 200-year history. (October 2013)
Melbourne’s World Vegan Day Moves to October. Melbourne held its first organized World Vegan Day celebration in October 2003, and the event has become an annual October fixture, regularly staged on the last Sunday of the month. (Last Sunday in October, 2003)
Raw Food on Maui Profiled. The Los Angeles Times profiled raw-food promoter Jeremy Safran, noting his plan to open a raw restaurant on Maui; the piece captures the 1990s raw-living surge. (October 31, 1996)
Lisa Simpson Becomes a Permanent Vegetarian. “Lisa the Vegetarian,” featuring Paul and Linda McCartney, brought vegetarian ethics to a mass television audience and permanently changed one of popular culture’s most recognizable animated characters. (October 15, 1995)
Tofurky Introduced. Island Foods developed and introduced the Tofurky roast, tying the brand’s origin to the autumn holiday season when roasts become culturally visible. (October 1995)
Gandhi’s Birthday Adopted for Farmed Animal Advocacy. Animal-rights organizers founded World Day for Farmed Animals in 1983 and set it on October 2 to coincide with Gandhi’s birthday; the date became a global focal point for remembering farmed animals and for mass outreach actions each October. (October 2, 1983)
World Vegetarian Day Declared. The North American Vegetarian Society established World Vegetarian Day; the International Vegetarian Union endorsed it the following year, making October a month of coordinated vegetarian outreach and education. (October 1, 1977)
World Animal Day Anchors on October 4. Although established in March 1925, four years later organizers anchored the annual celebration to October 4, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. (October 4, 1929)
Vegetarian Magazine launched. The first issue under the title The Vegetarian Magazine appears, following the merger or continuation of earlier American vegetarian periodicals. (October 1899)
Elsie Shrigley, Future Vegan Pioneer, Is Born. Elsie Beatrice Shrigley was born October 30, 1899; she would co- found The Vegan Society and help forge the early definition, organization, and advocacy of veganism in mid-20th century Britain. (October 30, 1899)
A Future Icon Is Born: Gandhi’s Birthday, Vegetarian Roots. Mohandas K. Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869; his lifelong commitment to ahimsa, self-restraint and vegetarian practice later became a moral reference point for diet-based nonviolence worldwide. (October 2, 1869)
Victorian Vegan Baking Featured.The Vegetarian Advocate’s October 1848 issue ran inventive non-dairy recipes, including oil-based pound cakes and a mashed-potato-and-oil ‘cheesecake’, an uncanny precursor to modern vegan baking. (October 1848)
Alcott House Launches Reforms. A short-lived early vegetarian experiment associated with Alcott House was formally; it promoted abstention from animal foods and helped seed later vegetarian networks in Britain. (October 15, 1843)