We started Thistle motivated by the fact that two of our most intractable challenges – health and environmental sustainability – pointed to a common solution:
We believe nourishing, plant-forward foods can (and should) be the most delicious, convenient, and affordable option out there.
So that’s what we make: food that renews your health and your happiness, while also helping to renew our planet.
It’s not just climate change - given the widespread environmental impacts of raising animals and their feed, eating a plant forward diet is the single most impactful way to reduce your overall environmental footprint.
From greenhouse gas emissions to arable land and freshwater consumption to air and water pollution to deforestation and species extinction, eating more plants reduces the demand for and destructive effects of animals on our ecosystem.
We partner with local farmers, artisans, and producers who are stewards of the land and employ sustainable, regenerative, and transparent practices to help build a better food system.
We purchase all produce on the Dirty Dozen list from certified organic farms whenever possible.
We design our rotating menu to highlight produce that is at its peak of seasonality and taste, enabling us to take advantage of local harvests rather than source from thousands of miles away.
We also reuse our cooler bags and ice packs (leave them out to be picked up during your next delivery!).
But we need to do better! We’re working hard to remove single use plastic packaging once and for all.
We’re testing compostable and reusable containers, and we’re working to offset our packaging emissions. Stay tuned for more, this is a high priority item on our sustainability plan and we’re excited to share our progress!
Food waste is a massive challenge - globally we waste 30-40% of the food that’s produced. We’re proud of the huge strides we’ve made in tracking and attacking food waste at Thistle: we’ve halved our food waste from a year ago, and we currently waste less than a quarter of the average individual consumer. We also hope that by eating with Thistle, we help customers avoid purchasing extra groceries that might end up in compost or landfill.
We’re proud to support the local community by donating hundreds of nutritious Thistle meals each week, and by contributing employee time to organizations feeding the hungry, sick or vulnerable in our neighborhood.
Donated over 10,000 meals to partners including Berkeley Food Pantry.
Regularly volunteer with Project Open Hand, whose mission is to provide nutritious meals to ill or vulnerable communities in San Francisco and Oakland.
To make it easy for everyone to get and stay healthy while building a more sustainable food system.
