Overview

On October 16, 2019, over 120 people joined us for our 9th Annual Action Speaks Louder Than Pink – Food For Thought fundraising dinner, where we challenged the most egregious pinkwasher of the year with our award-winning Think Before You Pink® campaign. This year we raised our voices against corporate giant 3M, which markets pink ribbon Post-its to raise awareness of breast cancer, but also produces and uses PFAS, a toxic class of compounds known as forever chemicals that may contribute to breast cancer risk

Thanks to the support of people like you, we raised over $70,000!

Check out photos from the event on Facebook here.

Action Speaks Louder Than Pink – Food For Thought

Wednesday, October 16, 2019
6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Green Room, San Francisco War Memorial
and Performing Arts Building
Second Floor, 401 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA

Emcee: Lateefah Simon

Lateefah Simon is a nationally recognized advocate for civil rights and racial justice. She is President of the Akonadi Foundation, which works to eliminate structural racism in the U.S. Before Akonadi, Lateefah served as Program Director for the San Francisco-based Rosenberg Foundation, a grantmaker that focuses on systemic barriers to equity and opportunity for Californians. In 2016, Lateefah helped launch the Leading Edge Fund, created to seed and implement bold ideas from the next generation of progressive leaders in California. Lateefah’s passion for supporting low-income young women and girls and her advocacy for juvenile and criminal justice reform began at San Francisco’s Center for Young Women’s Development (CYWD), now called the Young Women’s Freedom Center. At the age of 19, Lateefah became Executive Director of that grassroots organization. Lateefah’s many accolades include a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Jefferson Award for extraordinary public service. Lateefah also serves on the BART Board of Directors and the California State University’s Board of Trustees.

When not working, Lateefah spends her time enjoying Oakland’s many family-friendly spaces with her two daughters.

Thank you to our amazing chefs for donating their time and talent!

Chef Mat Schuster, chef and owner of Canela Bistro & Wine Bar, specializes in traditional Spanish and Spanish-inspired California cuisine. The restaurant was first established in the Castro district of San Francisco back in 2011. While finishing his undergrad Business degree at Emory University, Mat traveled to Europe where he cultivated his love for cooking. Mat attended the California Culinary Academy’s College of Food in San Diego, taught at the Draeger Culinary Center and Whole Foods Market, then became Executive Chef and F&B manager for the San Francisco Bay Club as well as the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Today, in addition to his role at Canela, Mat consults, teaches, serves on the executive board of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association and is the host of the podcast Food, Wine & the Culinary Mind (iTunes).

Chef Sascha Weiss is a research chef for Perfect Day. In his role, Weiss works on creating non-animal based dairy products. Weiss harnesses more than 20 years of experience in the San Francisco area culinary world, most recently as director of product development at Project Juice. Weiss also spent more than a decade as the culinary director and founding executive chef at The Plant Café Organic in San Francisco. A veteran chef and plant-based food expert, Weiss is inspired to create food that excites and nourishes the body while working alongside exceptional local and organic California farms. He received his training at the Natural Gourmet Institute.

Chefs Catherine and Dimitrios Kalessis are chef and owners of The Argentum Project, a Greek cafe featuring fresh baked Greek specialties, hot and cold coffee/tea/chocloates, certified Marin Organic Lindsay’s Tea, sustainable salads & sandwiches and an extensive boutique featuring Greek honey, olive oil, dips, loukoumi, vegan Spanakopita, wine, beer and more.

Food, in all its forms and complexities, has always been a part of Chef Kadie Vita. Interested from a young age, she pursued a formal education at the University of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality. In 2009, Kadie studied abroad in Florence, Italy where she found a new appreciation for the natural beauty within each ingredient. At Anaviv’s Table, Chef Vita draws on skills learned through years spent in the San Francisco culinary world; and a devotion to respecting the delicate nuances of flavor. Collaborating with Chef/Owner Arnon Oren, Chef Vita creates Anaviv’s Table’s bi-weekly menus.

What began as a search for the tastes of home quickly transformed into success when Chef Veronica Salazar launched El Huarache Loco in 2005 from La Cocina’s incubator kitchen in San Francisco’s Mission District. With a belief that she could make a living doing what she loved, Chef Salazar launched El Huarache Loco, bringing the colors and flavors of Mexico City to the San Francisco – Bay area.

Chef Susanne Stampke studied pastry arts in Hamburg, Germany. She worked with Chef Sascha Weiss as the pastry chef for the Plant Cafe Organic Restaurant group overseeing pastry and baked goods for seven restaurants in and around San Francisco. Susanne is currently operation a vegan food truck called Soul Vood in Germany.

From their humble beginnings with 4 employees in founder Miyoko Schinner’s home kitchen, to a 30,000 sq ft. state-of-the-art facility in Sonoma, Miyoko’s Kitchen is leading the way in transforming the future of the creamery. In just a few short years, their products can be found in 1,000’s of stores across the country and their ‘cheese’ wheels are on the road to global distribution in the near future. They are changing perceptions of vegan food, to inspire people from all walks of life to enjoy a phenomenally vegan lifestyle.

Thank you to our generous sponsors!

Culinary Connoisseurs
Karen Klein and Ben Golvin

Delicious Devotees

Enchanting Planting
Peggy Huston
Lee Ann Slinkard and Maria Morris
Ann and Larry Wheat