Slappin’ the faces of those that eat you

By Published On: 8 September 2010Last Updated: 17 January 2017

Earth Balance is the most popular choice among vegans for an alternative to butter. And today, Earth Balance showed us vegans a little bit about the culture of the company by sending out this tweet....

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Earth Balance

Earth Balance is the most popular choice among vegans for an alternative to butter.  And today, Earth Balance showed us vegans a little bit about the culture of the company by sending out the above tweet.

And that tweet brought forth much fury in the vegan community.  Folks are pissed that a vegan product is promoting someone who profits off of the lives of animals.  However, Earth Balance has no obligation to promote a vegan lifestyle with it’s products- but, it certainly takes advantage of the vegan niche, don’t they?  All of the product descriptions on their website boasts that the products are vegan.  In fact, vegan is prominently displayed in the right hand corner of each product.

I’m willing to bet that the majority of Earth Balance’s customers are vegan or vegetarian.  I mean, it’s us vegans that made Earth Balance the Number 1 most recommended alternative to butter among us vegans- not folks who eat dairy butter.  So it’s extra baffling that Earth Balance would slap at the faces whom eat their products.

But that isn’t even the real question.  The real question is, how many vegans are going to continue to support a company that promotes the very thing that they advocate against? People will often overlook the power of one, themselves.  Every decision you make affects change, it’s simply what change are you going to affect?

I advocate for animals, and that means that I’m going to use my voting power (money) to support companies that support my values.  There are, gasp, other vegan buttery spreads and you can always make your own.  I don’t want to provide Earth Balance any additional profits (over what I’ve already given them) to advertise for folks who make their profit from the lives of others (IE: Joel Salatin who “can’t live without pigaerator pork sausage”).  And, as much as I may have loved them before, that means that I won’t be buying Earth Balance any longer.

What will you do?

12 Comments

  1. KD Traegner February 22, 2016 at 4:11 pm - Reply

    It is! Have you checked out my vegan butter guide? It has lots of recipes for homemade vegan butter :) https://www.yourdailyvegan.com/vegan-butter/

  2. […] Vegans are using Earth Balance. It’s called “vegan” margarine. Here’s a peak at their company […]

  3. vegangster September 8, 2011 at 8:21 pm - Reply

    […] Just in case you thought it was safe to eat margarines like Earth Balance, study up on palm oil. It is the latest fad these days with mega corporations. It is in practically anything and everything, and sometimes it isn’t even labelled as palm oil, but vegetable oil. It’s the cheapest, greatest thing for a company who doesn’t care about the environment or your health, but only cares about profit. These articles are now available for your perusal: https://www.yourdailyvegan.com/2010/09/08/slappin-the-faces-of-those-that-eat-you/ […]

  4. Noah Cooper September 7, 2011 at 12:06 pm - Reply

    please don’t paraphrase — i didn’t say “having a value system isn’t important”. the point i was making was that being vegan is about preventing suffering, and this is doing it wrong. it is doing more harm than good to make veganism look like an insanely complicated lifestyle that involves researching everything a company has ever said on the internet before buying its margarine, margarine that doesn’t contain any animal products.

    this isn’t a boycott. it’s masturbation.

    • KD September 7, 2011 at 12:34 pm - Reply

      Caring about the ethics of a company that you support (through buying their products) isn’t insanely complicated. We all should be researching where our money goes- vegan or not. Indeed, it’s our only way to let the companies know how we feel. I shouldn’t feel forced to support a company that clearly goes against my own moral and ethics system simply because they offer a vegan product. Veganism is more than what I stuff into my face, it’s how I live my life.

  5. Dreamzofpeace September 6, 2011 at 10:37 pm - Reply

    This is just one more reason to boycott Earth Balance…we need to make a stand for all animals. Earth Balance contains palm oil and they are behind the destruction of the rainforest. Millions of acres of rainforests have been destroyed and more will follow – unless you do something about it.

    This is just one of many websites regarding the corruption, over-exploitation, merciless destruction of rainforests, and the genocide of one of the most charismatic and magnificent animals ever to have graced this earth.

    http://www.born-to-be-wild.org/html/palm_oil.html

    Wake up people…the only way to stop them is to hit them where it hurts most…their wallets! We have the power to change this!!!!

  6. Noah Cooper September 6, 2011 at 12:39 am - Reply

    this is a really ludicrous reason to boycott a company, guys. if you advocate for animals, you should be concerned about the efficacy of your actions; honestly, how many animals’ lives do you think you’re going to save by boycotting an intentionally vegan product, one that is available in practically every grocery store in the united states, right next to the dairy alternative? do you think that maybe, just maybe, your time would be better spent talking to people about the ways in which cows are forcibly impregnated in order to produce milk, rather than worrying about a link earth balance posted on their twitter account? an account which, if i might add, is likely mostly followed by vegans?

    • KD September 6, 2011 at 8:45 am - Reply

      Noah, What would be a really good reason to boycott a company if having a value system isn’t important? EB does nothing to further the vegan cause, they are not a vegan company. And it isn’t simply limited to a link on twitter either. They recently posted this…nonsense on their blog -> http://www.madejustright.com/post/minding-your-manners-on-a-plant-based-diet

      Discussing these things are important. As an individual, you’re power comes in the form of your pocketbook. Instead of spending your money on a non-vegan company (with an accidentally vegan product) – spend it on a vegan company. Reject companies that don’t hold the same values as you do. Otherwise, how are we going to have our voices heard?

  7. razldazl September 6, 2011 at 12:16 am - Reply

    WELL SAID!!! thank you for this blog entry.

  8. Vegangster September 6, 2011 at 12:15 am - Reply

    […] Many vegans these days are using margarine in their baked goods, on their toast, on their baked potatoes with huge smiles on their faces, as they think to themselves, “hey, i am not supporting a cruel industry, and Bessie will not be impregnated on my behalf, nor have her milk taken from her for my sake, and I can sleep well knowing that fact.” Earth Balance is the NO.1 bestselling vegan margarine. Here’s a peak at their company via a tweet: https://www.yourdailyvegan.com/2010/09/08/slappin-the-faces-of-those-that-eat-you/ […]

  9. Sunshine September 8, 2010 at 2:53 pm - Reply

    We stand united against cruelty to animals and support companies that feel the same.

    Please list other alternatives to Earth Balance to make the transition easier.

  10. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Your Daily Vegan and Joseph Mayton, vegangurl1. vegangurl1 said: RT @YourDailyVegan: Slappin' the faces that eat you http://ht.ly/2BkOr #vegan […]

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HELLO! I'm KD Angle-Traegner.

Writer, activist, and founder of Four Urban Paws Sanctuary. I’m on a mission to help people live a vegan life. Read more about KD…

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