Following the choice to serve vegan meals by the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice, and Screen Actors Guild award shows, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which hosts the Oscars, is making similar moves.
On Monday January 27, the annual Oscars Nominees luncheon was entirely plant-based. The menu started off with a first course of a roasted beet and citrus salad, and was followed by a main course consisting of roasted mushrooms, black rice, winter squash, cauliflower, and red curry. It ended with a family style dessert array featuring Tangerine Yuzu Pate de Fruit, coconut macaroons, vanilla and chocolate “HoHos,” and Kumquat Pavlova. Vegan cheese, breads, fruits, and chocolate were also served at every table.
While unlike the other organizations, which serve its guests meals during the ceremonies, in addition to this luncheon, AMPAS’s food offerings available before the actual Oscar show on February 9, in the Dolby Theatre lobbies, will be all vegan. And following the show, at their post-ceremony Governors Ball, the menu will be 70% plant-based.
“The Academy is an organization of storytellers from around the world, and we owe our global membership a commitment to supporting the planet,” AMPAS said in a statement. “For the past decade, the Academy has been committed to reducing its carbon footprint. For the past seven years, the Oscars show has had a net zero carbon imprint. We continue to expand our sustainability plan with the ultimate goal of becoming carbon neutral.”
The organization also plans to eliminate the use of plastic bottles at all of its events, including the Nominees Luncheon, the Oscars, and the Governors Ball.