The Oscars Mimic the Golden Globes with a (Mostly) Plant-Based Menu
Looks like the 2020 Oscars want in on one of awards season’s budding trends: plant-based menus. Last month Joaquin Phoenix convinced the Golden Globes to go vegan, with a menu that included mushroom “scallops” and a “vegan opera dome”—and now it appears the biggest night in Hollywood has followed suit. This year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will serve only plant-based menus during a Monday nominees luncheon and before the show on Sunday, Variety reports. The post-show Governors Ball, however, will still include some vegetarian and meat-based options.
Awards season menus seem to garner more attention now than they had in previous years—or at least, they generate a different kind of attention. The push for plant-based menus has not taken over every awards ceremony; Sunday’s Grammys, for instance, served a 64-ounce steak alongside a “zen garden crudité.” But the meatless menu buzz is only growing—and with the Oscars now on board, it seems safe to bet more shows are likely to follow suit in the future.
Climate change and sustainability have gotten more attention this awards season than during any other in recent memory. Phoenix pressed the issue last month during the Golden Globes, where several celebrities discussed just how dire climate change has become. Jennifer Aniston and Cate Blanchett specifically referenced the fires consuming Australia to demonstrate how important it is to act in any way possible, and during his own acceptance speech that night, Phoenix said, “I would like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press for recognizing and acknowledging the link between animal agriculture and climate change.” He later added, “It’s great to vote—but sometimes we have to take that responsibility on ourselves and make changes and sacrifices in our own lives.”
“We don’t have to take private jets to Palm Springs for the awards sometimes—and back,” Phoenix said at the time. The line got a laugh in the room, but it appears Hollywood has actually begun to take this more seriously—seriously enough, at least, to use it as a solid source of PR.
While the Oscars’ pre-show fare will be entirely vegan, the Governors Ball menu will be 70 percent plant-based, Variety reports; the remainder will include vegetarian options, as well as fish and meat. All of the food, Variety says, “will be responsibly sourced and sustainably farmed.”
In a statement to Variety on Monday, the Oscars touted their culinary decisions: “The Academy is an organization of storytellers from around the world, and we owe our global membership a commitment to supporting the planet,” the statement reads. “For the past decade, the Academy has been committed to reducing its carbon footprint. For the past seven years, the Oscars show has had a zero-carbon imprint. We continue to expand our sustainability plan with the ultimate goal of becoming carbon neutral.”
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