The Rest of Our Story

Today I’d like to pick up where I left off in my last letter.

We launched the PlantPure foods business and the nonprofit PlantPure Communities (PPC) in 2016, on the heels of releasing our documentary, PlantPure Nation. The resulting exposure enabled PlantPure to launch a line of frozen entrees, online initially, then into retail chains. PPC also used these products (supplied by PlantPure at cost) to support immersion programs in underserved communities through its Oasis Program.

Simultaneous with the launch of PlantPure, I spearheaded with a separate team the launch of PPC, focused on supporting a rapidly growing network of local support and advocacy groups called Pods. At the end of PlantPure Nation, we issued a call to action for viewers to start or join Pods and thousands of people answered.

Both organizations were on a roll by early spring of 2020. The Pod network included nearly 250,000 people, and in March of that year the PlantPure foods business secured commitments from several large retailers, including one of the nation’s largest supermarket chains, which put us on a path to economic self-sufficiency. But within 2-3 weeks of receiving this news, the pandemic hit full force. The economic shutdowns threw these prospective retail partners into disarray, forcing cancellation of their product introductions (typically an annual sales cycle).

PlantPure found itself struggling for survival during a period when raising investment capital was next to impossible. Without going into further detail, I’ll just say this challenge fundamentally altered our trajectory, but we refused to give up, and in fact have developed an exciting new opportunity.

Under Kim’s culinary leadership, we’ve developed an innovative product concept – a line of meal starters, each of which can be used to make multiple recipes, all contained in an online cookbook at PlantPureNation.com. We’ll fully launch this line over the coming 2-3 months in conjunction with a new online program that enables people to try a plant-based diet for seven days, while also getting daily educational videos. This program will be completed within the next few weeks.

In the nonprofit, we made a key decision to hand off responsibility for support of the Pod network to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, who have the resources and programming to grow the network more rapidly. This decision also freed PPC to focus on media, beginning with the release of our new documentary, From Food to Freedom. (See my earlier letter, Censoring a Message of Healing – a subject I’ll return to again in my next letter.)

And speaking of future media, I should mention we’ve made tangible progress with a very different film project that we believe will accelerate all we’re doing. Initiated prior to the pandemic through PlantPure, this film also will help to grow the plant-based movement. I’ll share more about this, and how all the elements we’ve created (including the events program at Lake Junaluska) are connected within a strategy motivated by our founding vision. It’s been a difficult journey, and we’ve made mistakes along the way for sure, but we’ve not given up, and will not give up, no matter the challenges we face.