We as a company stand with our Black Apeel family members and citizens. We stand with Black Lives Matter and will not tolerate racism.
And we are humbled by the fact that we have a lot more to learn and understand about what it truly means for those who are not equally served by the systems of our nation. We’ve seen, and continue to painfully see, far too many of our fellow US and global citizens continue to be denied the most basic, fundamental human rights.
Apeel was founded on a belief that we can address systemic failures in the context of the food system. We saw an existing system that was not capable of supporting everyone it should and otherwise can. Addressing a broken system is not easy and it requires an integration of multi-layered solutions to create true systems change. It also requires people who are capable of bringing forward new solutions for long-lasting impact. One of the greatest challenges we see is a clear lack of leadership and leadership within the system to bring about meaningful change and equality. We want to support these kinds of individuals in our local communities.
We agree that there’s much more that we can do to more actively participate in furthering issues of social, political, and environmental justice, and that we can start today with a commitment to contributing to the furtherment of the Black Lives Matter mission.
We want to invest in a new generation of leaders that will make a positive impact on matters of racial equality. The Apeel idea only came to life when others invested in our ambitions to bring forward meaningful, systems-level change. And we know the potential for change exists within the nature of our society and its bravest thinkers, loudest voices and purpose driven organizations.
This week, we are soliciting input from our team members who are closest to the issues at hand to thoughtfully inform what organizations might benefit most from having their voices and leadership amplified.
We hope that, in sharing what we stand for and looking for ways to invest in leadership and change, we – the entire Apeel Family – can take a first collective step as a company towards supporting the systems change that will make a tangible impact on this critically important issue in our communities.
- James, Jenny, and Lou