At Blue Apron, our vision is better living through better food, and we believe it’s our responsibility to help make this possible for everyone.
That’s why we’re introducing Aprons for All, a social impact initiative to advance food equity. We’re committed to using our power as a company to address systemic barriers to health and wellbeing. Our approach is based on three key ways that we believe we can make progress toward better living for everyone:
By providing immediate relief to acute hunger
In 2019, 35 million people experienced hunger in the U.S.—that’s about 10% of all households. Feeding America estimates that in 2021 that number might grow to 42 million people, including 13 million children. Too many people don’t have enough to eat, or don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and there’s a real need for immediate solutions. Today, we’re partnering with organizations committed to fighting food insecurity and its impacts on health.
What we’re doing:
Since our founding in 2012, we’ve partnered with local food banks in our communities to donate millions of meals every year. We also collaborate with regional and national nonprofits to raise awareness and provide resources to improve food security and nutritional education.
By addressing the root causes of food inequity
We know that there are many reasons that people experience food insecurity—job instability, unexpected medical bills, a lack of affordable housing, and a lack of easy access to grocery stores are just a few. We also know that in the U.S., Native American, Black, and Latinx people are more likely to live in food-insecure households than white people. Hunger and food security are issues of equity, and it’s essential that we recognize the biases and systemic inequalities that create them. We’re starting this change from within by creating an inclusive and equitable workplace that creates long-term economic security for all employees.
What we’re doing:
We’re building out diversity, equity, and inclusion programming specifically designed to address unconscious bias, promote anti-racism, and advance equity throughout our organization—from our offices to our supply chain.
We also created Red, White, and Blue Apron, an initiative designed to champion our employees’ voices by getting them involved in the democratic process. Last year, through this initiative, we provided the education, tools, and resources necessary to be able to register, vote, and serve as poll workers. As part of this ongoing initiative, we continue to lend support to important conversations, including publicly supporting voting access, continuing to host voter registration events ahead of elections, and creating a paid company holiday on Election Day.
By managing the environmental and social impacts of our business to support an ethical, resilient food system
Food systems generate more than a third of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions. The consequences of those emissions on our health, our food and water supply, our economies, and on our planet are not experienced evenly by all people. BIPOC, low-income, and vulnerable communities disproportionately feel the impacts of climate change. Advancing equity for our employees and promoting better living for everyone means mitigating the environmental footprint of our business.
What we’re doing:
We’re creating our climate action plan with a focus on preventing, recovering, recycling, and otherwise diverting waste across our value chain. We have teams dedicated to reducing food waste in our fulfillment centers and programs in place to improve the sustainability of our packaging. We also uphold high ingredient standards in our food sourcing strategies, including a commitment to third-party verified animal welfare standards. Learn more about our animal welfare policy here.
Our commitment to transparency:
Our Aprons for All initiative is led by our Head of Sustainability and Social Impact. It will also be supported by the creation of an Aprons for All Team, a group of engaged employees driving grassroots programs that reflect the priorities and values of our workforce.
We know that we have a lot of work to do in pursuit of making better living through better food a reality for everyone—and that we won’t always get it right. We’re committed to sharing our progress and challenges along the way, and look forward to providing regular updates on our programs and partnerships in the months ahead.
Read more about our social impact and sustainability work on our blog.
