Delicious is our Trojan horse to fix the broken food world

Simple Feast is LA’s new meal kit service that aims to heal the planet through delicious food. If all goes according to their diabolical plan, the team at Simple Feast will turn the world on to delectable, chef-designed meals that just happen to be made of plants. Simple Feast CMO, Kate Hironaka, talks about working to help more people adopt a plant-forward lifestyle – something she thinks has the potential to be our generation's greatest contribution to our bodies and our planet.

We asked her to tell us more.

CAN VEGAN FOOD BE DELICIOUS?

Kate Hironaka: “If we can’t make plants taste great, we’re in trouble — as a planet and a people. Delicious is everything. Delicious is our Trojan horse to bring everyone, even non-vegans and plant-averse eaters, into the fold, so we can fix the broken food world and finally begin to rectify our climate crisis. People aren't going to eat more plants because it's the right thing to do. They'll do it because it’s an enjoyable thing to do. Eating should be fun. We don’t want to take that away from people. It’s not like we’re saying meat is bad. We’re saying plants are very, very good. We celebrate all kinds of feasting at Simple Feast. We know we can’t win over a majority of the planet and convince them to change their behavior if we’re judgmental about eating, one of life’s greatest pleasures.”



ISN’T IT A LOT OF WORK TO MAKE PLANT-BASED MEALS?

Hironaka: “It’s not that hard to make plant-based meals at home, but it is hard to make them tasty. We knew that to affect real behavior change, we had to make it easier to prepare truly delicious plant-based meals at home. That meant doing all the shopping, chopping, prepping, portioning, sautéing, and seasoning for our busy audience. So every week our culinary team, composed of former Michelin restaurant chefs (from the likes of Noma and The French Laundry), designs and prepares an array of feasts that get delivered to the front door. Within 20 minutes or so, anyone can serve a mouth-watering, multi-course, plant-based feast.”



WHAT ABOUT ALL THE PLANT-BASED COMPANIES AND MEAL KIT SERVICES OUT THERE? WHAT MAKES SIMPLE FEAST DIFFERENT?

Hironaka: “We’re willing to put the work in to do this right. We’re starting in LA first, so we can build support for regenerative farms like Frecker Farms, and make sure we pick local artisans like our friends at Semolina Pasta. We’re in this for the sustainable long-haul. Doing it the right way also means not taking shortcuts like adding chemicals. It's tricky to pull a mushroom up out of the ground and make it taste like meat without engineering it in a lab. But we’re not trying to replace meat with plants. We’re simply trying to showcase the abundant flavors that come naturally to the plant kingdom. At the end of the day, doing it the hard way is the only way to achieve the most crowd-pleasing result, which is also, not coincidentally, the best way to nourish and heal our bodies and our planet.”