Barrack Obama Celebrates His 60th Birthday With Vegan Food

This weekend, the former president of the US will celebrate his birthday (4th August) at Martha's Vineyard, enjoying plant-based food. 

Initially, the Obama party was set to host hundreds of prominent guests, but due to Covid-19 restrictions, it will welcome only closest friends and family. 

The sources leaking the menu told Bloomberg that the party would feature at least one entirely vegan menu, including meat alternatives from Impossible Foods and vegan egg alternative from Eat Just. 

Guests will be able to choose from unique dishes such as Spam Musubi, made with plant-based beef and pork from Impossible Foods and mung bean-based vegan eggs made by California-based startup Eat Just.

The special vegan menu for this event was created in collaboration with musician Questlove, who is known for promoting a plant-based lifestyle and investing in vegan food companies.

The menu will feature his signature Cheesesteak Eggrolls, made with Impossible Foods' plant-based beef and a dairy-free cheese sauce developed by Perfect Day. The California-based food tech startup uses precision fermentation to develop dairy identical whey proteins that are animal-free.

Vegan food is becoming increasingly popular worldwide as awareness of the negative impact of animal agriculture on the environment grows. Although he is not vegan himself, Obama spoke about it at the Global Food Innovation Summit in Milan, where he addressed the connection between animal farming and climate change.

"I think people naturally understand that big smokestacks have pollution in them and they understand air pollution, so they can easily make the connection between energy production and the idea of greenhouse gases," Obama said.

"People aren't as familiar with the impact of cows and methane unless you're a farmer. That doesn't mean that we can't teach you and me to have a smaller steak for our own health. It doesn't mean we can't make progress in educating the advanced world about the need to reduce, just for dietary reasons, the amount of meat that we consume at any given meal," he added.

More global organisations and institutions decide to ditch meat during their celebrations and events to spread awareness of the climate emergency. 

In 2020 Golden Globes featured a vegan menu. This week, the Met Gala, one of the fashion industry's most significant events, announced it would offer plant-based food to its guests at its upcoming 2021 event.