113
Impossible Foods CEO Says The Plant-Based Sector Became Too 'Woke And Partisan'
(plantbasednews.org)
this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2025
113 points (95.2% liked)
vegan
3467 readers
31 users here now
Please also check out Lemmy.vg for a great set of well-run communities for vegan news, science, cooking, circlejerking. It is a nice, cozy, all-in-one space for vegans.
We ask that the you have an understanding on what veganism is before engaging in this community.
If you think you have been banned erroneously, please get in contact with one of the other mods for appeals.
Moderator reports may not federate properly and may delay moderator action. Please DM an active mod if an abusive comment remains after reporting it.
Welcome
Welcome to c/vegan@lemmy.world. Broadly, this community is a place to discuss veganism. Discussion on intersectional topics related to the animal rights movement are also encouraged.
What is Veganism?
'Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals ...'
— abridged definition from The Vegan Society
Rules
The rules are subject to change, especially upon community feedback.
- Discrimination is not tolerated. This includes speciesism.
- Topics not relating to veganism are subject to removal.
- Posts are to be as accessible as practicable:
- embedded images of text require alt-text
- posts with an image of text should have a transcription in the body or alt-text
- paywalled articles must have an accessible non-paywalled link;
- use the original source whenever possible for a news article.
- Content warnings are required for triggering content.
- Bad-faith carnist rhetoric & anti-veganism are not allowed, as this is not a space to debate the merits of veganism. Anyone is welcome here, however, and so good-faith efforts to ask questions about veganism may be given their own weekly stickied post in the future.
- before jumping into the community, we encourage you to read examples of common fallacies here.
- if you're asking questions about veganism, be mindful that the person on the other end is trying to be helpful by answering you and treat them with at least as much respect as they give you.
- Posts and comments whose contents – text, images, etc. – are largely created by a generative AI model are subject to removal. We want you to be a part of the vegan community, not a multi-head attention layer running on a server farm.
- Posts linking to Twitter/X or any similar site will be removed.
- No brigading, either off-site or on-site. An incitement to brigade includes two elements: a call to disruptive action and a specific direction outside of this community in which to take that action. Exceptions include:
- Calls to boycott.
- Calls to in-person protest of a government, high-profile individual, or company/organization.
- Votes provided they have a sufficiently broad target audience or provably effective controls against vote brigading.
- Petitions.
- All Lemmy.World Terms of Service also apply.
Resources on Veganism
A compilation of many vegan resources/sites in a Google spreadsheet:
Here are some documentaries that are recommended to watch if planning to or have recently become vegan:
- You Will Never Look at Your Life in the Same Way Again
- Dominion (2018) (CW: gore, animal abuse)
Vegan Matrix Instance:
Vegan Dating App Veggly
Vegan Fediverse
Lemmy:
Mastodon:
Other Vegan Communities
General Vegan Comms
Circlejerk Comms
Vegan Food / Cooking
!homecooks@vegantheoryclub.org
Debate a Vegan
Vegan Food Scanner
Attribution
- Banner image credit: Jean Weber of INRA on Wikimedia Commons
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
And using “wOkE” to describe it, which instantly tells me someone is a childish idiot.
and a conservative. conservative is the sole user of woke, anyone says they arnt conservative but uses woke is being disengenious.
No. He's literally using the exact phrase and sentiment to describe the challenge of marketing his product to half of The customer base.
It was apt, succinct, and perfectly describes the challenge.
The broader point he's making - that having his brand associated with one side in a polarized political landscape is terrible for profits - is legitimate. The problem is he's saying it using the language of the other side, which isn't helping either.
From the article:
I get why companies are doing this, but I also lose all respect for them. These things either represent important ideals or they don't. If you believe they do, and then distance yourself from them, it shows a lack of integrity and moral fortitude. If you don't believe they do, then the fact that you embraced them to begin with means you were simply pandering for profit.
I agree with your first paragraph, but I've got a different take than your second one. I don't think they're abandoning their ideals, just the way they're presenting their goals. The product still does all the good it has from the start, but the sad reality is that an upsettingly large percent of the population has been brainwashed to see that as an opposition to their way of life. Instead of using messaging that is an immediate turn off to that sector, or making people think they're taking a political stance by supporting something plant based, it seems win/win to find another way to talk about this. The company can be more profitable, which is obviously good for them, but in doing so it means more people are open to consuming something that isn't hurting the planet or their own bodies. I think the point he's trying to make is a good one. This shouldn't be a political issue, but the once apolitical and admittedly niche stance has been tainted by smear campaigns. To make a bigger difference, you need a bigger audience. To get a bigger audience, you need to become appealing beyond your current one.
Once he said "The company is too woke," he made it political.
But I'm not just talking about this company. I don't know if they have any history of supporting diversity, but a lot of companies did and now have walked that talk back in order maintain profits. If I take a stand for something, and then abandon that stand if it impacts me financially, then I'm literally abandoning my ideals. That's what many companies have done.
I feel like the rest of the comments here are validating his pov even further. Agreed with your take here completely
Regardless, whoever uses phrases like that is cringe as fuck. I hate this timeline and how political discourse has been reduced to brain rot terminology.