Blog
4 min read
#SoylentForGood did more in 2019 than ever before and we could not have done it without you. Because of our dedicated customers, we were able to make donations to a number of incredible organizations, all focused on ending food insecurity.
Since the inception of #SoylentForGood, we have donated 2,526,313 meals and that number continues to grow every day!
Food Insecurity
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines “food insecurity” as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active and healthy life. People that are “food insecure” typically don’t know where their next meal is coming from or they don’t have the resources to access food. This is different than the physical feeling of hunger because it is possible to be hungry without being food insecure.
Right now more than 37 million Americans, 1 in 9 people in the US, are food insecure.
In 2019, we partnered with food banks across the country to donate meals that can be distributed through food pantries and meal programs. Some of our incredible food bank partners are Second Harvest Heartland, Ozarks Food Harvest, and Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin.
Donated Soylent bottles being displayed on food pantry shelf.
Food Insecurity on College Campuses
In January of 2019, the Government Accountability Office released a report which opened our eyes to a massive problem happening on campuses across the country. The staggering data of College Food Insecurity forced us to focus our energy on this issue and expand our commitment to our partners who support basic nutritional needs for students.
45 percent of student respondents from over 100 institutions said they had been food insecure in the past 30 days.
This year, we partnered with Swipe Out Hunger to create a plan that would decrease the number of food-insecure students. Through our partnership, we called on you, our loyal customers to take the lead. With every bottle you purchased during the month of August, we made a donation equivalent to a healthy meal to Swipe Out Hunger. This resulted in over 500,000 meals delivered to students on campuses across the country.
We also hosted more than 35 student leaders across the country with Swipe Out Hunger at their local student summit to learn and bring back valuable information to shape their campuses for future generations. It was an honor to meet all of these incredible young leaders and assist in their fight to end food insecurity on their home campus.
You can watch a video about our partnership with Swipe Out Hunger here.
Our partnerships continued in 2019 with Target. We partnered with the retail giant to develop and sell an exclusive product pack. With every pack sold, we made an additional donation to our partners. With your help, this partnership resulted in another 35,000 meals donated.
Soylent CEO, Bryan Crowley with Swipe Out Hunger CEO, Rachel Sumekh
Our #SoylentForGood initiatives also supported the incredible research and work of The Hope Center as sponsors of their #RealCollege convening which took place in September of 2019.
Additionally, #SoylentForGood was a donor and supporter of MAZON, the leaders in policy work on the issue of Student Food Insecurity. They work with other hunger relief advocates on Capitol Hill to ensure the food needs of all students are considered in the legislative process.
Beyond financial donations to organizations working on the issue of college food insecurity, we also donated Soylent products directly to more than 50 college and university food pantries across the country. One of our incredible food pantry partners is the UCLA CPO Food Closet. They distribute free Soylent each and every month to students in need on their campus!
Donated Soylent bottles being displayed on food pantry shelf.
Homelessness and Food Insecurity in Los Angeles
In the city of Los Angeles, Soylent’s home, there are 36,300 people who are currently homeless.
There is a homelessness and food insecurity crisis happening in Los Angeles because of the consistent growth happening right in our backyard, we decided to get involved. The Soylent HQ is located in Downtown LA and every day we see neighbors in need in and around Skid Row. We support them primarily through our partnership with The Midnight Mission. Over the course of the year, we supported the efforts of the Midnight Mission through volunteering, financial contributions, event sponsorship, and product donations. In total, we made more than 50,000 meals possible through our work with this incredible organization. No one should be without food or shelter and we are committed to continuing to work on this issue in Los Angeles and around the country.
VP of Product Development, Julie Daoust, serves lunch alongside other Soylent leadership team members at The Midnight Mission.
We want to thank everyone who buys our products and supports our mission of making sure that complete nutrition is accessible, appealing, and affordable to all. We couldn’t do this work without you!
Looking forward to 2020, we plan to dive deeper into the issues of college food insecurity as well as hunger and homelessness. We hope that you will continue to join us in our #SoylentForGood work and help us advance our mission.
