As local businesses are forced to close their doors to the public and potentially face permanent closure in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, Support + Feed aims to help keep the local restaurant economy afloat, their staff employed and those in need, fed. It’s as simple as that. By encouraging the community to gift meals via participating restaurants, Support + Feed will help facilitate CDC regulated, coordinated food deliveries to hospitals, first responders, senior centers, homeless shelters, and women’s centers across the city.
Until now, Los Angeles – one of the country’s wealthiest cities – has maintained a thriving food and beverage industry and has fast become one of the world’s most renowned hot spots for plant-based restaurants. In an effort to promote an eco-friendly diet, Support + Feed is asking members of the community who can, to support the participating plant-based restaurants, who will, in turn, donate the food to vetted and deserving organizations.
Thanks to the help and guidance from Conscious Cleanup, who have offered their services and extensive experience in safely coordinating between participating restaurants and organizations, Support + Feed will start by working with 10 plant-based restaurants in the Los Angeles area. Each restaurant will start taking orders for a week before embarking on deliveries in one batch, on designated days, to designated recipients. Therefore, ensuring a wide range of organizations and first responders are catered to in a safe and CDC regulated manner, and restaurants can make enough money to cover their staff to provide these services each week.
Support + Feed is the brainchild of Maggie Baird, the mother of global pop-phenom Billie Eilish and FINNEAS, “This started from our family’s concern for the many wonderful, small, plant-based restaurants in LA during this very challenging time. We wanted to support them, and at the same time support people who are in need right now.” Baird reveals. “Our first idea was just to order food from a local restaurant and have it delivered to people who were working late at night and in need. I asked friends for suggestions and was flooded with great ones, and ended up ordering from Sage and having it delivered to the Midnight Mission downtown. I started to think about how this could be a bigger idea and how we might make it easier for many people to do. I reached out to a group of people who jumped into action to make this happen.”
Why plant-based restaurants only? Animal advocate and long-time vegan, Maggie Baird continues. “The benefits of a plant-based diet are extremely well documented as being the healthiest, not only for individuals but in the fight to prevent the climate crisis. Of course and importantly, it is also cruelty-free. We wanted not only to support the incredible restaurants that are promoting this way of eating but also believe that plant-based food would be the healthiest, most nutritious (and safest) food we could provide to those in need.”
The Support + Feed team hopes to inspire others in taking this initiative global in an attempt the support local businesses and those working around the clock during these unprecedented times.
For more information, go to www.supportandfeed.com
The current list of participating plant-based restaurants serving Los Angeles:
Pura Vita, West Hollywood
Real Food Daily, West Hollywood & Pasadena locations
Sage Plant-Based Bistro, Culver City, Echo Park & Pasadena locations
By Chloe, Silverlake
PBJ.LA, Downtown Los Angeles
Donut Friend, Downtown Los Angeles & Highland Park locations
Cena Vegan, Lincoln Heights / East Side
Hinterhof Vegan German Kitchen and Beer Garden, Highland Park
Krimsey’s Cajun, North Hollywood
Sun Café, Studio City
Crossroads, West Hollywood
The current list of Los Angeles based organizations accepting food donations:
Food Shelters
Hollywood Food Coalition
Midnight Mission
St Francis Center
Housing & Women’s Shelters
Ascencia in Glendale
Alexandria House
Angel Step Inn
Downtown Women’s Center
The People Concern
Senior Centers
Pasadena Senior Center
Hollenbeck Palms
First Responders
Pasadena Police Dept.
Culver City Police & Fire
Eight Major Los Angeles area Hospitals
Support + Feed has been made possible thanks to the help and guidance from the dedicated teams at Conscious Cleanup, The Darkroom, Eat Drink Vegan, JRF Consulting, and Two Tree Events.
