This National Fried Chicken Day, Join Us in Urging Popeyes to Add a Plant-Based Menu Option
Blog
By Maha Bazzi
We’d love some plant-based chicken from Popeyes!
It’s National Fried Chicken Day, a day when the food industry wants everyone to celebrate eating chicken, one of the most consumed animals in America. But the costs of eating fried chicken to animals, people, and the environment are not worth celebrating.
In the US, more than 8 billion chickens suffer unbearable cruelty on factory farms every year to supply an industry that not only abuses animals but also contributes to polluting our air and waterways and harming local communities.
Chickens raised for meat are bred to grow at unnaturally fast rates and endure miserable, pain-ridden lives on factory farms. They are crammed into sheds by the tens of thousands, with no chance to perform any of their natural behaviors only to be killed at merely 5 to 6 weeks old.
What’s more, the waste from industrial chicken farms heavily pollutes our air and waterways, while growing feed for billions of birds contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, one of the main culprits of climate change, and global biodiversity loss.
Popeyes Must Do Better
Popeyes has an opportunity to expose all customers to how delicious meat-free eating can be and find new customers seeking a convenient and tasty meal.
With more than 2,700 locations nationwide, Popeyes is one of the largest and most recognizable chicken chains in the country. However, it has yet to embrace options that cater to plant-based eaters or those looking to incorporate more meat-free meals into their diet, whether for animals, the environment, or health. In a time when an estimated 35% of Americans are actively looking to eat less animal products, Popeyes is failing to cater to evolving dietary habits.
By offering plant-based versions of their menu items, large restaurant chains can play a key role in mainstreaming these options, promoting more sustainable behaviors, and helping create a food system that is better for animals, people, and the environment. It’s time for Popeyes to start playing its part.
The more people opt for plant-based options and incorporate them into their daily lives, the more likely we are to lower the demand for animal products and lead to fewer animals suffering on factory farms.
Tell the chain you’d love some plant-based chicken and help turn this National Fried Chicken Day into a plant-based celebration!