“I just lost respect for what was once a great Tennessee company.”
“Are you kidding me? Who do you think your customer base is? I still order the double meat breakfast and it’s not even on the menu anymore.”
“YOU CAN TAKE MY PORK SAUSAGE WHEN YOU TAKE IT OUT OF MY COLD DEAD HANDS!!1 DON’T TREAD ON MY PIG!!1
“There are no such thing as sausages made from plants! Call it what you want, but it’s still not sausage. Just like ‘transgender’, call it what you want, but… well, you know.”
As we say about accepting anything you don’t agree with, from abortions to same-sex marriages, what’s your business? No one asked for your opinion. If you don’t like it, then don’t marry someone of the same sex, don’t have an abortion, or eat the damn veggie burger.
For me, Cracker Barrel was just one of those places you see off the road when driving from state to state. But boy was I wrong. It is a beloved institution founded in 1969 in Lebanon, Tennessee. And in that history of more than 50 years there is a deep streak of racism and discrimination much more relevant than a vegan sausage.
washington post reports that in 1991 Cracker Barrel was denounced for allegedly fire gay employees whose “sexual preferences do not demonstrate the normal heterosexual values that have been the foundation of families in our society.” The company eventually ended the policy after heavy pressure from gay rights activists, Los Angeles Times reported.
But in 2004, the Department of Justice settled a lawsuit against the chain after numerous allegations of racial discrimination against black customers.
Lists of complaints against Cracker Barrel include:
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“white customers seated before African-American customers who arrived earlier”
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“provided inferior service to African-American customers after they were seated”
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“treated African-Americans who complained about the quality of Cracker Barrel’s food or service less favorably than white customers who made similar complaints”
The reality is that restaurants like Cracker Barrel, Burger King, Carl’s Jr. and others are not trying to be political. They are trying to make money. And from heart disease is the leading cause of death for all people of most racial and ethnic groups in the US, Impossible Sausage may help some people live a little better. It won’t change everything, but at least it’s a start.
And that adds to the impact of our meat consumption on the planet. According to the folks at UCLA Sustainability, “From a greenhouse gas emissions perspective, it is without a doubt; significantly better for the environment to eat plant-based foods.”