On this day in vegan history · January 5, 2020
The Golden Globes Go All Plant-Based
For one night the industry that sells everyone else's stories served chilled beet soup and mushroom "scallops" instead of the usual chicken, and said it was about the climate.
The facts
- Date
- January 5, 2020
- Location
- The Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills, California
- Menu
- Chilled golden beet soup; king oyster mushroom "scallops" with wild-mushroom risotto; plant-based opera cake for dessert
- Announced by
- Lorenzo Soria, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
On January 5, 2020, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association served an entirely plant-based dinner at the 77th Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, a first in the ceremony's history. Guests including Ricky Gervais, Brad Pitt, and Gwyneth Paltrow ate a chilled golden beet soup, king oyster mushrooms standing in for scallops over wild-mushroom risotto, and a plant-based riff on an opera cake for dessert, all prepared by Beverly Hilton executive chef Matthew Morgan. HFPA president Lorenzo Soria framed the switch as a response to the climate crisis rather than a culinary stunt, and the ceremony also swapped single-use plastic water bottles for glass ones. The change came together late: Morgan said the fish-based menu was already set before the HFPA asked for the swap.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
-
The climate crisis is impossible to ignore and after speaking with our peers, and friends in the community, we felt challenged to do better.
Lorenzo Soria, HFPA president, announcing the menu ahead of the January 5, 2020 ceremony
Source: E! Online -
We had the menu with fish. Then we got together with the HFPA and they wanted to make this change to send a good message.
Matthew Morgan, Beverly Hilton executive chef, on the last-minute switch
Source: E! Online
Why it still matters
It put a fully plant-based meal in front of the room Hollywood watches most, without a single celebrity spokesperson doing the persuading, just a menu card and a room full of people eating it.
Sources
This history is still being written.
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