Local Startup’s Seaweed Bacon Nabs Award From James Cromwell and PETA

For Immediate Release:
June 21, 2022

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

A Vegan Game Changer Award is on the way from PETA Honorary Board Member James Cromwell to Umaro Foods, the creator of a new bacon made from seaweed that has already made a splash on the menu of San Francisco’s Michelin-starred restaurant Sorrel. As seen on Shark Tank, the Umaro team uses seaweed, chickpeas, coconut and sunflower oils, and spices to create a smoky, salty, chewy, and crispy pig-free bacon.

“I went vegan after spending time with a smart, social young pig on the set of Babe. It was a truly life-changing experience,” writes the Succession star in his letter congratulating Umaro Foods on the award. “I’m delighted and appreciative that you are helping to spare other pigs pain and suffering, and I wish you great success. Thank you!”

More than 120 million pigs are killed for food each year in the U.S. In the meat industry, workers chop off piglets’ tails, cut their teeth with pliers, and castrate the males—all without pain relief. At the slaughterhouse, workers hang pigs upside down, sometimes while they’re still conscious, and bleed them to death. Each person who goes vegan saves the lives of nearly 200 animals every year, and choosing vegan foods improves human health, as the World Health Organization confirms that processed meats such as bacon can cause cancer.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.