These Northern California Food Banks Now Serve the Impossible Burger

This time last year, the Impossible Burger was available in only a handful of restaurants. Since then, it has shown up on hundreds of menus across the country, and when sold alongside beef burgers, the vegan burger outsells its meat-based competitors.

Now the California-based Impossible Foods has committed to providing plant-based meat to several regional food banks, including the Alameda County Community Food Bank and Second Harvest. In a press release, Jessica Appelgren, the company’s vice president of communications, explains:

We are still ramping up and enjoy strong demand for our product from chefs and restaurateurs—but at the same time, we know that people in our hometown regions are struggling to afford food that’s delicious and nutritious. We wanted to launch partnerships very early in our growth curve to address food insecurity and give back to the communities where we live and work.

This is great news not only for Bay Area residents facing food insecurity but for the countless animals who will be spared a lifetime of suffering. Sadly, not a single federal law protects cows at factory farms. The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act pertains only to the slaughterhouse, providing no protection to animals for most of their lives.

Plus, compared to meat-based burgers, the Impossible Burger uses 75 percent less water and 95 percent less land. It also produces 87 percent less greenhouse gas than a beef burger. And by eating this vegan burger, you save 75 square feet of land for wildlife.

Struggling with food insecurity? Here are seven tips for eating vegan when you have (almost) no money for food.