On Tour With Billie Eilish: Vegan Food and Sustainability Initiatives

Known for her vegan diet and frequent sustainability initiatives while touring, the Grammy Award-winning singer Billie Eilish is championing plant-based living again. The 20-year-old pop star is using her Happier Than Ever world tour as a platform for awareness, encouraging fans will to embrace more plant-based foods whilst giving them access to information about worthy initiatives to support.

Environmental organisations will be given a spotlight, thanks to the Billie Eilish Eco/Action Village. At each show location, an area will be set up to give Charity Platinum ticket holders a chance to find out what they can do to support the planet. Participation is free and various non-profits will be present throughout the tour. Support + Feed, a charity founded by Eilish’s mother, Maggie Baird, is confirmed as one. BIPOC and women-led initiatives are given priority.

Climate change awareness on tour

The Eilish tour has eco credentials at its core, as does the musician herself, who has been vegan since age 12. A partnership with REVERB, as part of its Music Climate Revolution program guarantees reduced event footprints. This has led to declarations of a ‘climate positive’ tour that goes beyond net zero. With other initiatives highlighted at venues, potential for eliminating more carbon than is produced by shows is a possibility.

In a bid to underscore her own veganism and the benefits thereof, Eilish will introduce her fans to The Pledge, a campaign launched by Support + Feed that encourages people to eat one totally plant-based meal per day, for 30 days. The idea has garnered support from Wicked Kitchen, Tesco’s in-house plant-based brand that is experiencing global growth right now. Founders Chad and Derek Sarno have thrown their influence behind The Pledge as sponsors.

“There is no better time than now to do what we can to alleviate the suffering in this world, and that starts with any positive impact we can support within local communities,” Chad Sarno said in a statement. “This sense of urgency that Wicked shares with Support + Feed is the driving force of our partnership and will be amplified with the power of plant-based food distribution.” 

Charity begins at home

Baird’s Support + Feed charity is set to benefit from Eilish’s tour. All net proceeds from Charity Platinum event tickets go to the initiative, which was founded to help floundering vegan restaurants during the Covid-19 pandemic. Meals were bought to keep locations buoyant and then donated to people facing food insecurity. Financial support leveraged by Eilish’s tour profits will allow a further 29 markets to be supported alongside Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. 

“We’re so grateful to expand our services and provide resources to community leaders across the country, Baird said in a statement. “There are so many great people already doing incredible work to help their neighborhood and we just want to be part of the solution and their support system. It takes everyone working together to solve the climate crisis. The power of the collective and unifying our efforts is what’s going to really create change.” 

The power of celebrity

Eilish is not alone in using her platform as a vehicle for change. Vegetarian performer Sia shared her thoughts on the future of the meat industry in Fortune op-ed, and they are surprisingly positive. She focuses her attention on the cultivated meat sector and the potential it offers to end the senseless slaughter of hundreds of thousands of animals per year. A self-proclaimed animal lover, she has invested in Boulder-based Bond Pet Foods, which is using cultivated meat to produce cruelty-free animal nutrition. 

Countless celebrities are investing in future food technology. From Robert Downey Jr. and Natalie Portman to Beyonce and Jay Z, everyone is claiming a piece of the pie. However, a somewhat faceless investment is just one way to drive a movement forward. Indian power couple Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli have combined investment and consumer-facing support. Named as newly appointed backers and ambassadors to domestic brand Blue Tribe Foods, they are urging their combined 240 million-strong social media following to try plant-based nutrition.

Lead image courtesy of Billie Eilish/Instagram.