Plant-Based Food Leaders Consider Coalition to Boost Sector

Could the gestating effort be “too little, too late,” asked Wholly Veggie co-founder John Bonnell, though he thinks an industry alliance may be “the only way to counter the meat and dairy lobby, with pooled resources and national-level PR, one or two clear messages hitting over and over again.”

Climate influencer Andrea Learned said there are precedents to study, and the plant-based food industry should take cues from the renewable energy sector and its successful coalition building.

“It’s the classic rising tide, which requires people to set aside nitpicking and niggling and self-interest to get things done,” Learned said. “All it will take is three leaders to step up and grab the reins: They’ll win so big in the long run—they’ll end up looking like geniuses in retrospect.”