3 Vegan Food Companies Giving Back to Social Justice Organizations

While most of the world was uploading solidarity posts to their social media feeds, a few companies took their message further and put their money where their mouth was by giving significantly to social justice organizations. All-day on June 2nd, Instagram was flooded with #BlackoutTuesday posts of large black squares to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. A handful of vegan companies put their words into action to donate to causes that fight injustice for black people. 

These three vegan food companies are doing more than social media blackouts; they are donating to places that help combat racism and stand up to injustice, such as The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Black Lives Matter organization.

Purple Carrot makes cooking easy for chefs at all levels with its vegan meal delivery kits. According to founder and CEO Andy Levitt, Purple Carrot believes employees should be taught how to make a positive impact on social justice. Purple Carrot donated $40,000 to Black Lives Matter, and this is only the beginning of their efforts. Levitt acknowledges there is much more for the company to do.

He told Vegnews: “Whatever good Purple Carrot may be doing is clearly not enough. What is happening right now in our country is about the failure to reject racism and all that is so distasteful and disgraceful about it. The broader mission of Purple Carrot is to help people eat more plants. And while that may be inherently apolitical in nature, we have the opportunity to stand on the right side of this issue and express our support to our Black colleagues, partners, vendors, customers, and community.”

Miyoko's Creamery announced it will go dark this week on social media platforms to stand in solidarity as well. The vegan company is beloved for its dairy alternatives like vegan butter and mozzarella "cheese". Founder and CEO Miyoko Schinner told VegNews, "Veganism is not just about diet or animals, it is about larger social justice issues. There is inherent racism in our food system that disempowers people of color. We need to all work together to create a food system that is compassionate and just for all people.”

Schinner announced she plans to donate to Black Lives Matter and NAACP. “Both of these are organizations are on the forefront of creating a more just and compassionate social system.“

Plant Power Fast Food, based in Long Beach, California, takes classic fast food and makes it vegan, such as their "Big Zac," which rhymes with the burger it is mimicking.

The fast-food restaurant will be donating 100 percent of the profits from this coming weekend (June 6th and 7th) to the NAACP and Black Visions Collective. The decision comes after Zach Vouga, the co-founder of Plant Power Fast Food, believes we all have much more to do than just posting a black square on Instagram.

"Plant Power’s entire reason for existence is based upon our polarizing stance on animal advocacy and environmentalism so taking a stand for another cause we feel strongly about was easy for us," Vouga told an interviewer. "We didn’t want to just slap up an obligatory post or two and then step gingerly towards normalcy, either.”

Plant Power Fast Food has also partnered with Support + Feed since the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, to provide food to hospitals, first responders, senior centers, homeless shelters, and women’s centers across Los Angeles.

For more ways to support the fight against racial injustice, you can consider directing your consumer dollars to vegan and plant-based companies that are black-owned. Check out The Beet's story on black-owned, plant-based companies.