Blog
4 min read
Each morning, the majority of us wake up and begin our day in a relatively ordinary manner. Some days we wake up feeling rested, while other days we wish we had a few more hours of sleep, but most of us wake up hungry and ready for breakfast.
For many of us, there’s rarely a moment in our morning routines in which we pause, stricken suddenly with deep anxiety, forced to ask ourselves “do I have enough food to eat today?”
Breakfast is a small bump in our morning. A feeling of hunger reveals itself, a sliver of time is lost, something is quickly purchased or nibbled on, some coffee sipped, maybe it’s even a bottle of Soylent, and we’re right back to work, right back in the swing of things. We have all experienced physical hunger, but this is different from food insecurity, which means you don’t know where your next meal is coming from.
An Ugly Truth
According to Feeding America, for 42 Million (1 in 8) Americans, breakfast is not certain—neither is lunch or dinner. Every day is a grueling battle to secure food. This is an awful and unseemly circumstance that we face in our great nation.
When our founders created Soylent, a nutrient-rich, mixable powder that could be made affordably and sustainably, we realized there was enormous potential presenting itself in the design of our products and the platform we had to talk about larger societal issues, including hunger and malnutrition. We knew we had the potential to take charge and do something more significant than just making meals and snacks nutritious and convenient.
So, we launched our #SoylentForGood Program. The program is designed to donate both our products as well as financial resources and knowledge to organizations and partners who work on the front lines of hunger relief every day.
We believe in democratized nutrition and that everyone has a right to access and afford healthy food for themselves and their families. In 2020, we expanded our program as the need was heightened due to the pandemic impact.
Crossing a threshold
Today, we’re honored to announce that we’ve donated 5 million meals to food banks and homeless shelters, hospitals, and hunger relief organizations all across the United States and Canada.
When the throes of the pandemic tossed society upside down, we decided to buckle down and give away more meals where they were needed—with nearly 2 million of the 5 million donations coming since the beginning of the pandemic.
Soylent meals donated over time.
Trust us, we love making nutrition as easy and appealing as enjoying a tasty drink. And that’s a big part of what we do.
But our mission has always been to make complete, sustainable nutrition accessible, appealing, and affordable to all.
“To all”, those two words are what matter most. That’s where our heart lies.
You’re in this too
For us, an 8-year-old startup with big food dreams, donating 5 million meals was always a lofty target. And, of course, we didn’t go at it alone.
We want to thank you for making this possible, for trying Soylent, for integrating it into your routine, for giving our shakes a shot and for thinking of nutrition in a new way. A company is nothing without its customers.
Here’s to the Moms and Dads who could use 53 extra hands, the college students up late and up early, the working people striving for something great without an ounce of free time to cook, the backpackers, the adventurers, and everyone in between.
Another big shoutout to our retail partners, such as Walmart, Target, Walgreens and others. Partnerships such as these have allowed us to amplify our donations, have been instrumental in reaching new audiences, and have joined us in providing consumers with better-for-you, nutritious options where they are already shopping.
We also want to thank our gracious partners who we have the honor of supporting their work, their staff, their outreach, and their programs. We are only able to do good because of the amazing organizations we partner with. Shout out to our dozens of food bank partners across the country including Greater Chicago Food Depository, Northern Illinois Food Bank, Feeding America, Ozarks Food Harvest, and Second Harvest Food Rescue of Canada. We also work closely with Los Angeles-based organizations Swipe Out Hunger and The Midnight Mission.
"Soylent was the first notable company to commit, and in very meaningful ways, as a key corporate partner to Swipe Out Hunger 's mission of ending college student hunger," said Rachel Sumekh, Founder and CEO, Swipe Out Hunger. "Through its steadfast thought partnership and campaigns, like their 'Back to School' give back program which provided thousands of meals to support our campus partners, Soylent has shown up for us and most importantly, our students. We look forward to an ongoing partnership where we, together, can take action on the very real and prevalent issue of college food insecurity."
Not stopping at 5 million
#SoylentForGood isn’t a small charity arm or something we do passively to “do the right thing”. It’s a substantial part of our company and who we are from top to bottom. Every department at Soylent approaches this program as part of their essential duties, which is a really beautiful thing.
We’re going to continue to do our part with food donations and other support in all communities that we are present, and we are confident that together we will continue to get closer to ending food insecurity everywhere.
Thanks for all your support on this ongoing and ever-growing project. We look forward to making Soylent better and more impactful every step of the way, making your life easier, and continuing to make nutrition accessible, appealing, and affordable to all.
On to 6 million!
Cheers,
Demir Vangelov
Soylent CEO
