Impossible Foods has cooked up a new recipe to combat food insecurity in America, which has spiked since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — hosting a world-first Cook-A-Thon.
The Impossible Cook-A-Thon was an all-day virtual variety show on the company’s Facebook page. All donations during the 8-hour gala will go directly to No Kid Hungry, part of Share Our Strength, a global organization working to end hunger and poverty.
Co-hosts were director/actor/author/winemaker Eric Wareheim and award-winning chef Traci Des Jardins.
Viewers got to visit the homes of a wide range of innovators, from riffing with actor and comedian Kal Penn, drinking coffee with Impossible Foods’ CEO Pat Brown, hearing acoustic melodies dedicated to first responders from Richard Marx, to mixing margaritas and making Impossible empanadas with acclaimed chef Mary Sue Milliken.
COVID-19 exacerbates America’s silent hunger epidemic
The need is huge.
Despite America’s status as one of the richest countries on Earth, more than 11 million children in the United States live with “food insecurity.” That means their homes don’t have enough food for every family member to lead a healthy life. In normal times, one in seven US kids suffers from food insecurity.
Vegan News Daily is also rising to the occasion, donating 19% of all proceeds from its Vegan News Daily Dinner Club series to Covid-19 foodbank relief. As a result, in May, Vegan News Daily donated a combined $1,000 to two important food banks with COVID-19 relief efforts–Community Solidarity in Long Island, NY and Center of Help in Annapolis, MD.
The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the longstanding problem of hunger into an acute crisis, with unemployment at levels not seen since the Great Depression. In addition, widespread school closures have eliminated a once-reliable source of free or subsidized breakfasts and lunches. Since April, more than one in five households in the United States, and two in five households with mothers with children 12 and under, are food insecure.
Since the start of the pandemic, Impossible Foods has donated more than 100,000 pounds of product to food banks located close to the sites where Impossible Burger is produced.
“Impossible Foods has sent more than a half a million Impossible Burgers to food banks and frontline medical professionals since the start of the pandemic. But we wanted to do even more to help America’s most precious and vulnerable resources — our kids,” said Jessica Appelgren, Vice President of Communications at Impossible Foods.
