Elite Vegan Athletes to BOCA: Switch for Good and Ditch Dairy

Nine elite vegan athletes are rallying together for a dairy-free BOCA brand through a powerful letter fired off to parent company Kraft Heinz on behalf of Switch4Good and Animal Outlook.

BOCA was once a household name in the veggie burger market–but as it clings to cruel, unhealthy dairy ingredients in many of its products, it’sfalling behind all-vegan competitors like Gardein and Beyond Meat that are paving the way for the plant-based revolution.

Teaming up with Switch4Good–founded by Olympic silver medalist and activist Dotsie Bausch–the athletes participated in a hard-hitting commercial directed by Louie Psihoyos (The Cove) that aired during the 2018 Olympics to bust myths about dairy as a health food. The athletes include Bausch along with six-time Olympic medalist Rebecca Soni, champion volleyball player Dustin Watten, former NFL player Chris Manderino and others.

In their letter, the sports pros urge Kraft Heinz to “offer a healthier, more sustainable, and kinder BOCA brand by ditching dairy.” The athletes note that since cutting dairy from their diets and choosing vegan foods, they’ve “reaped enormous benefits: greater speed, faster recovery time, more endurance, and higher energy levels.”

As elite athletes, vegans have run marathons, broken records, claimed national championships, and even brought home Olympic medals—all while fueling ourselves with plant protein.

They also appeal to BOCA’s parent company, Kraft Heinz, to be kind to cows, who suffer tremendously in the dairy industry, as recently exposed by a heartbreaking Animal Outlook investigation. Mother cows endure a cycle of cruelty until they are eventually no longer considered useful and sent to slaughter. Calves, too, suffer in this industry, each separated from their mothers so the milk produced for them can be sold for human consumption.

Read the full letter–and then join these sports stars in speaking up for cows languishing in the dairy industry. Plus, we’ve designed a new Facebook frame to make sure BOCA sees the dairy-free demand. You can join Dotsie Bausch in putting on the pressure: Update your Facebook profile photo with our new frame in just a few clicks to tell BOCA to make the switch for good by ditching dairy.