The Field Roast booth with the giant Field Roast sign.
2nd UPDATE: The person who ran this booth without Field Roast’s knowledge has responded in the comments under the name “Walter.”
UPDATE: The owner of Field Roast has responded to me with the following comment:
“Hi…this is the doofus owner of Field Roast. It wasn’t a Field Roast booth and we had no idea that he was going to register as Field Roast. Walter May has been selling Field Roast for years at World Fest….i’m sorry for the confusion. We will certainly talk to Walter, we had no idea that he was registering the booth at Field Roast. We have never met him but wish him well…as he is putting out the vegan food for all. Peace – David.”
Frankly I find this to now be an even more shocking story. Someone registered this booth as Field Roast, it was listed on the WorldFest website as a Field Roast booth, it had a giant Field Roast sign on the booth, and they were selling stuff as Field Roast (for example: “Our corn dogs”) that weren’t actually Field Roast, and yet the owner of Field Roast wishes the mysterious Walter May well? A little research shows that this booth was also registered as Field Roast last year! Why would WorldFest allow this to happen? Could I have registered a booth as, let’s say, Odwalla, hung a giant Odwalla sign, and then sold a different company’s juices with signs that said “Our famous carrot juice” and this would have been fine with WorldFest? This is something the Attorney General’s office will need to look into, as well as the Department of Recreation and Parks. The vegan community has been scammed. I think I will find a class action lawyer to get involved.
ORIGINAL POST:
I was really excited. I looked at the website for WorldFest, which bills itself as “L.A.’s Largest Veg Festival” featuring a “Vegan Food Court” and I saw that Field Roast was going to be one of the exhibitors. I thought this might be a chance to try some of their foodservice items that aren’t available in stores. I was even hoping they might have the Field Roast burgers, which as far as I knew were only available at Safeco Field, the Mariners’ ballpark in Field Roast’s hometown of Seattle.
In fact, I was so excited about trying these items that I decided it was worth a pretty far drive, a $9 admission fee, and $5 to park. I tweeted @FieldRoast to see if they’d be selling their burgers but of course they didn’t respond since their social media is awful and they rarely respond to questions and comments. But I did see on their twitter that they were also at the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago today. That’s impressive, I thought, that they could handle two events in two different cities in one weekend.
Well, it turns out they can’t, or they didn’t, I’m not sure which. You see, @VeganEvents, which if you’re not following them on Twitter and you live in Southern California what are you waiting for?!, was nice enough to see my tweet and let me know that the Field Roast booth at Worldfest was selling corn dogs. Okay, I decided, they’re there and selling Field Roast items I can’t get in stores, so I’m going.
I drove out, paid to park, paid to get in, found the Field Roast booth with the big Field Roast sign, and waited on a long line to order.
When I got to the front of the line I was really excited to see a whole bunch of items I’d never seen before. Meatball subs! Corn dogs! And yes, Veggie Burgers! Score! I didn’t know what to get so I was prepared to order a whole bunch of things. “I’ll take a meatball sub,” I said, when it was my turn to order. “And a corn dog! Oh, and a veggie burger, too! And I suppose I should get some fries to go with it all!” Man, was I psyched for a feast.
Then the thought occurred to me: are these the Field Roast veggie burgers from Safeco Field or the Field Roast coconut cutlets foodservice item I’d seen on their website. So I asked that question. “Uh…” the woman replied, they’re these,” at which point she picked up a bag and handed it to me: Gardenburger Flame Grilled veggie burgers, a frozen pack like the kind you’d get at Costco, full of hydrogenated oil and other garbage. The kind of stuff that’s not even allowed to be sold at Whole Foods because of the junk ingredients they contain. And yet here was Field Roast passing them off as their own, to unsuspecting customers who didn’t think to ask what they were buying.
I was stunned. So of course I didn’t order one. I just got the meatball sub and the corn dog and the fries and paid. And I was overcharged by five dollars by the way, an error I only realized because the price seemed way too high, but I think this was probably just an honest mistake, and they corrected it. Anyway, while I was waiting, the thought occurred to me: Is it possible that these meatballs aren’t a Field Roast item? Now keep in mind, the Field Roast classic meatloaf is my favorite Field Roast item as well as my favorite vegan meatloaf, so I just assumed it was made of something like that. But now I decided to ask. “Excuse me, what are the meatballs in the meatball sub?” The woman was very nice and went and got the bag to show me. “Whole Foods 365 Meatless Meatballs.”
Are they kidding me? Look, I knew Field Roast was not the best-run company, because I’d spoken with the owner at the Natural Products Expo and frankly, I found the guy to be a total doofus, but I had no idea he was capable of something like this. So then I had to know more: “Uh, and that corn dog I ordered, is that Field Roast?” She didn’t know and couldn’t find a bag, so she went behind the tent and asked one of the guys cooking the food. He came out and told me he’d check and then returned to tell me they were Cedar Lake brand corn dogs. Okay, I’ve eaten Cedar Lake products before. You can get them at Viva La Vegan or at some of the Seventh Day Adventist stores, like the one I sometimes go to in Glendale. They’re pretty good actually. But they’re frozen food! And they’re NOT FIELD ROAST! (And note that the sign in the photo of the menu above says they are “our” corn dogs.)
So after asking some more questions it turned out that the only thing Field Roast at the entire Field Roast booth, of the six different items they were selling, was the sausage! How the hell was this a Field Roast booth at all? Which raises the question: Was it? It sure says clearly on the WorldFest website that it was. There sure was a big sign up at the booth saying that it was. And there was even this sign taped to the inside wall of the booth saying clearly that it was, with this name, whoever the hell that might be.
But was someone pulling a fast one on Field Roast? Or did Field Roast, in their endless idiocy, authorize someone to falsely sell other companies’ cheap frozen products as their own gourmet items? Because while I’m not a lawyer, I have to wonder if that counts as criminal fraud. In fact, I am going to write a letter to the California Attorney General’s office, as well as the state of Washington’s Attorney General’s office and the FDA, and submit my evidence and photos, and let them decide if Field Roast was victimizing the vegan community here, or was itself perhaps the victim of a fraud.
And I didn’t even get into the customer service, which was abysmal. Now look, I get it, it was a fair, with long lines, so I’m not going to dwell on it, but even by those standards what was going on at this booth was horrific. I waited half an hour for those french fries, only to watch them finally arrive, be put onto two separate plates, and given to two other customers who supposedly were waiting even longer than I was. And that was it, that was all the french fries that were made. But I, and about five or six other people, were also waiting for fries. Sorry, we were told, the fryer also has to be used for the corn dogs, so we can’t cook too many french fries at once. Really? You can only cook enough for two orders? After I waited 30 minutes for them? Well, how long till more come out? Twenty to thirty minutes, I was told. At which point I asked for my money back and was given it. And by the way, while I was waiting, there were several people waiting for all kinds of food that they hadn’t received, including some people who’d been waiting since before I ordered. And then they announced that they were out of meatballs, prompting people who’d been waiting for their meatball subs to react with anger. Like I said, a complete and utter disaster.
But lame service is one thing. Like I said, it’s a fair. But falsely passing off cheap supermarket items as their own gourmet products is another matter altogether. One for which Field Roast owes the vegan community an explanation. We’re waiting.
insufferablevegan 
On the other hand, you missed out on eating a seriously disgusting corn dog. I got some when we went on our last shopping excursion and I did not care for them.
But in the end, it beats the HELL out of eating a dead pig/cow…………….Have you actually seen what goes on with THAT process ?(a cow/pig/chicken ) landing on your plate. LOL I would rather eat the root of a tree than that of a dead animal that suffered it’s whole (short) life just so you could taste it for a few minutes & then shit it out.
Whoa, that’s messed up.
I love your detailed posts. Anything else you can write about from the festival?
Thanks. I went specifically for the Field Roast booth, and because they took so long I didn’t have time to see much else.
Hi…this is the doofus owner of Field Roast. It wasn’t a Field Roast booth and we had no idea that he was going to register as Field Roast. Walter May has been selling Field Roast for years at World Fest….i’m sorry for the confusion. We will certainly talk to Walter, we had no idea that he was registering the booth at Field Roast. We have never met him but wish him well…as he is putting out the vegan food for all. Peace – David.
I am shocked the owner would not be more concerned after reading your description of what was going on at that booth! Although I am not an expert, I think the vegan business world is competitive enough that you do need to worry how your name is used. Yikes.
I know a very good class action lawyer and I think you might just have a case here. First off, go ahead and write those letters you mentioned, to the Ca and Wa Attorney General’s offices, FDA and Department of Recreation and Parks. Also, add to your list the County Board of Commissioners, Corn Dog Suppliers of North America, and Wolverine. We’ll use these letters, along with your photographs and other evidence, as a foundation for our lawsuit. Based on the giant sign, Field Roast is clearly responsible for these sordid violations. (Henceforth, please refer to them as ‘Puppet Master’ as this is our previously established code name.) We knew they had expanded beyond the greater Seattle area…we simply didn’t know they had begun to infiltrate the veg festival circuit. Also, can you provide a detailed description of the perps? Did you hear anyone being addressed as ‘Papa Dog’? We think they might be current and former Puppet Master operatives, part of a notorious criminal ring known to pass off counterfeit corn dogs AND if we have proof that these corn dogs crossed state lines, …well let’s just say this could be one of the biggest vegan fraud cases in history. Thank you for breaking this story. All future correspondence will be done only through secure channels.
Dear Brian/Magnum, thanks for your comment and all the tweets today, @btothedubkc. You have finally convinced me. There was nothing wrong with telling people they were buying one thing but serving them another. Hundreds if not over a thousand people. All day long. From 10:30 to 7. For two years running. People who thought they were buying gourmet Field Roast items but instead were being served Gardenburgers full of transfats. Are you friends with the Field Roast guy or just a self-hating vegan? P.S. I think it’s awesome that you’re a self-described “planet lover.” What does that involve? Dipping part of yourself into the planet every now and then? Cheers and give my love to everyone at the KC Cafe Gratitude. Thanks for keeping me real.
You miss the point, entirely, young sherlock holmes. The issue with your post is not that you call out the owner of the booth (or the organizers of the festival for that matter), but that you presume Field Roast is somehow culpable. And that you do this with such petty name-calling only adds to the repugnant and childish nature of the attack. It’s interesting that you would accuse me of being ‘self-hating’. The only hatred on this blog, including its comments section, is coming from you, brother. Sorry my ‘self-indulgent attempt at humor’ didn’t make that point more clearly. Good luck with your lawsuit and whatever peace it brings you.
And for the record…my initial reaction to your post:
‘Kinda sounds like the fault of the rogue salesman and not Field Roast. Lighten up.’
…to which you replied:
‘Thanks for the advice, poser.’
My actual advice to you, by the way, would be: try being a little less angry and accusatory, especially when you don’t seem to have all the facts, Jack.
Yikes! Even worse than a self-hating vegan, you’re one of those “apologist” vegans who keeps saying they’re sorry for avoiding animal products? Yeesh.
You don’t view telling someone to “lighten up” — let alone a stranger — as a hostile act? Next time someone in your life is furious with you, try telling them to “lighten up” or “relax” and let me know how that goes for you. But then again, maybe people don’t get mad at you since you’re a “music loving” “animal loving” “earth loving” bro.
On the other hand, maybe you’re right and I’m wrong, and you sending me what, a dozen unsolicited tweets today, plus a couple of blog comments, is not at all a sign that you’re the one who needs to “lighten up” and “chill out.” I’d suggest a comfortable chair and some of that music you love so much — it just might do the trick.
Ya;ll need Jesus
What a good american….sue, sue, sue…shows you what a great country this is. And the fact that you said you know one makes you sound like you would sue me if I gave you a ride to the hospital for not getting you there fast enough, drove through a yellow light, drove too slow, drove too fast. You sound like quiet a piece of work. As fir this person complaining that the didnt respond to her fast enough..maybe she didnt try using her phone. Oh she twittered, oh i facebooked, oh i instagrammed…oh I forgot to actually use the phone for the purpose it was made for…oh must be the organic LSD she took before the fest. What a bunch of losers you are. I actually dialed the number on the package and Oliver picked it up on the second ring. Its not my fault your parents raised a deadhead for a daugher.
You sound smart.
Y’all are a special bunch!
“My actual advice to you, by the way, would be: try being a little less angry and accusatory, especially when you don’t seem to have all the facts, Jack.”
AGREED!
What an angry, disgruntled cry baby! There was Field Roast at the booth so no one was “deceived.” Maybe if this guy would stop being such a DRAMA QUEEN he could look past his anger and not waste his energy trying to poo-poo a great company with wonderful products. Sounds like this guy is all pissy because he didn’t like whoever represented themselves at the Natural Expo West show and had poopy pants about not being invited to the party after. WAH-WAH. I am personally going to tell everyone HIS blog is a waste of their time, just like his threat to take Field Roast to court is. HA!
Maybe he should spend more of his energy helping others instead of being such a whiny ass douche bag.
Anne, thank you for reading my blog and for the distinguished commentary. All viewpoints are welcome, whether from friends or employees of Field Roast or not. I’m glad you managed to work into your reply that Field Roast is a “great company with wonderful products.” It sounds like you are in love with Field Roast — you should marry it! I enjoy their “Classic Meatloaf” very much myself, though none of their other products do much for me, but hopefully they (you?) will release some new ones soon. As for your promise to personally tell everyone that my blog is a waste of time, please do! That doesn’t sound like a waste of *your* time at all! If I had t-shirts for my blog I’d send you one, but instead please simply accept my eternal gratitude. People like you make it all worthwhile. And if you get a chance, come back in a few days from now and let me know how many people you have personally told. Thanks! xoxo
Unfortunately, you sound a bit insane! How can you blame Field Roast when they didn’t know what was happening nor endorse it?
Define “insane.” Also, “Insane Jane” rhymes.
Nope. Don’t work for the company or know anyone who does – I just live in Seattle and have been on a tour of their facility – great folks, fine product. But, yet again, your ASSumptions prove to be idiotic.
Keep up the good work!
I see. You just happen to live in the same location where they’re located, eh? That’s simply a coincidence. And I guess it’s also a coincidence that you had a big enough stake in this to see that I mentioned the Expo in my post, go back and find the post I wrote a couple of months ago, read through it and find the updated part about the Field Roast party? Wow, a lot of research — and concern — for someone who just happens to like their food. In case you don’t realize, it’s pretty obvious on the Internet when a commenter has a stake in what they’re commenting on. It usually manifests itself in the form of a fury that simply wouldn’t reside in a casual outside observer. And let me tell you, you’re not doing David any favors by posting comments like this. It makes you look like a goofball. Or worse.
This guy is clearly a hateful f*%k. Your evidence clearly shows that they were NOT passing themselves off as Field Roast. If they were, then they would NOT have had the packaging to show their patrons (as your photos clearly show). So you had to wait in line, boohoo SO WHAT, they were busy (as your photos show). There wasn’t a McDonald’s sign or any other Fast-Food sign posted (as your photos show). You mentioned the corn dogs, well, the sign did NOT say that they were Field Roast corn dogs (as your photos show). You said that you were over-charged but then they cleared it up. How is that of any importance here? Wal-Mart has made such mistakes. So has every single company and person on this planet. Just hatred! You have never made a mistake is adding? You have never pushed too many buttons on a calculator or register? You have never made a mistake while doing math in your head? People today want things as fast as a txt message or email. People want to be so hateful. Thank you internet for that. This guy can hide behind his f*%king keyboard in efforts to spew hatred against a company and hardworking people. Oh, and you bitched about the money you spent to get into the event claiming you were going specifically for Field Roast. Well, if money was an issue, why didn’t you just go to http://www.fieldroast.com/where-to-buy/ and look up where you can buy Field Roast products locally with no event or parking charge. You hateful cry baby f*%k.
Awesome. Simply awesome. Let me tell you, I have seen some terrific outbursts since I started this blog, but yours takes the cake for sheer lunacy. It made my day. I’m guessing you heard from WorldFest that you’re not welcome back next year. Sorry, but you brought that on yourself. Making people wait was not the problem, as I clearly said in my post. It was registering the booth as Field Roast without their permission or knowledge, and not revealing to the 99 percent of your customers who didn’t ask that most of your items weren’t Field Roast at all, but instead cheap frozen food. Like I said, you brought this on yourself. And I heard it wasn’t the first time, either.
Ok, hypocrisy abounds in this comment: “People want to be so hateful.”
While this comment starts with the sentence “This guy is clearly a hateful f*%k.”
VeganVirginia, if you can’t see the irony, you’re failing the internet.
Also, you can tell A LOT about you when you lead with “Wal-Mart has made such mistakes.”
I rest my case.
This is Walter. Being a business owner and doing Worldfest for about 8 years, I have to say I was very hurt by your blog. When you go to get your license the name has to match the name on the sign. This is why the registration was under Field Roast. I apologize to Field Roast, Worldfest and my customers if they feel I have misrepresented Field Roast or the other products I sold that day. All the decisions made that day were my decisions; Field Roast had nothing to do with decisions. We placed the product packaging in public view to allow the public to see the brand names and ingredients before buying. Additionally, there were signs that listed Field Roast sausages and the flavors that were available. We never listed anything as Field Roast that belonged to another brand. It has always been my goal at Worldfest to make my customers happy by serving delicious Vegan food and that’s why I serve Field Roast. We had a lot of positive responses in doing so. If your experience was a bad one, that’s not Field Roast’s fault, it is mine and I would like to extend an apology for this.
Walter, your response is very troubling. So if I decided I wanted to sell food at WorldFest, and went to one of those Kinko’s-type places and had a big Daiya banner printed, and then went to register as a vendor and was told that the name I’m registering with must match my big sign, so I registered as Daiya even though I knew I was doing this without Daiya’s knowledge or authorization, and so “Daiya” is the name that WorldFest listed on their website and publicity materials, and then when people deciding whether to go to WorldFest looked on the WorldFest website and saw there were going to be vendors like So Delicious and, hey look, Daiya, and so decided to come down to WorldFest, and then waited in a line twenty-deep in the hot sun at my Daiya booth, and saw signs I’d hung up offering five different kinds of vegan grilled cheese sandwiches, and then were served sandwiches made with inferior, cheaper vegan cheese that I’d bought at some warehouse or supermarket, then that would all be completely okay with you ethically if the nachos I sold that day actually had Daiya on them even though the five other cheese items I served did not?
Seriously, is just a bunch of doubletalk to cover your behavior or do you really believe the nonsense you’re spouting? And as to your comment that you “placed the product packaging in public view to allow the public to see the brand names and ingredients before buying” — well, that is just a flat-out lie. Did you not see the photos I posted of your booth — and there are many more I took but did not use — and in none of them will you see any packaging publicly displayed. The only way I found out what you were actually using was by asking. And after I asked, your employee was nice enough to go get the bags and come back and show them to me. But I imagine 95 percent of your customers did not ask, because they assumed, as would pretty much anyone, that the Field Roast sign and Field Roast name on the WorldFest website meant that this was a genuine Field Roast booth, not one set up without the knowledge and authorization of Field Roast.
If you look at my Instagram you will see that many people who purchased food at your booth are angry and feel that you ripped them off, so don’t act like I’m the only one who had a bad experience. In fact, as I stated on my blog, most people were standing around complaining because they’d been waiting a half an hour for their food. And in that half hour that I waited I didn’t hear a single positive response, only negative, and rightly so.
As to your comment that you “never listed anything as Field Roast that belonged to another brand” — take a look at the photo of your sign which reads: “Ask about our WorldFest famous vegan corn dogs.” Here’s a link to the Merriam-Webster definition of “our” which when written on a sign hanging directly under your giant Field Roast sign at the booth that’s registered and listed as Field Roast certainly implies that it’s Field Roast.
Your reply is self-serving and just as disgraceful as your booth. And to top it all off, you’re going to cry boo-hoo about how you were “hurt” by my blog after you did this to your fellow vegans all day long? That is just pathetic.
No one cares about this or you anymore, dude. Let it go.
You mean except for you, who cared enough to come back to the page to check it again today, AND to leave another comment.
So true. Why come back if you don’t care? I think someone doth protest too much.
all the items i served was vegan if i was hiding any thing you wouldnt have got the product packaging from us. everything i told you is the truth, i dont care if you believe it or not. i will be successful in life you will still be on this blog whining and telling lies to who ever wants to listen, i will not do world fest any more you can pass that on, its people like you that the world can do with out. the people that responded above see through you ,they were with me. the people who were not with me is because they believed your lies. i am done with this i have more positive things to do in my life.
Walter, you are kidding yourself. Almost everyone who learned of this, including the owner of Field Roast and the organizers of WorldFest, not to mention many of those who bought food from you that day, thought you were in the wrong. I never said any items you served weren’t vegan so I don’t know where you got that from. Maybe it’s the only thing left for you to cling to. How can you say that everything you told me is the truth after you said the bags were displayed publicly and I produced photos to show that wasn’t the case. Maybe you will be a success in life monetarily if you continue to rip people off, but if that’s what you mean you have a different definition of success than I do. As fas as you not coming to WorldFest next year, I think I speak for just about all vegans when I say Good Riddance! Why would we want you back next year after what you just did? I just hope Field Roast finds a way to keep you from using their logo to rip-off more vegans elsewhere. You are a cancer on the vegan community.
Incredibly wrong. Please stay true to your word to never do World Fest again. I don’t go there to eat cheap, frozen supermarket food
Insufferable Vegan: I actually am glad you brought this up and seriously, Field Roast needs to make sure that just because someone is selling their products that they don’t use their signage as false advertising (and that’s EXACTLY what it would be if this was challenged to the BBB) while selling other products. I love their products but hope they won’t be making this mistake in the future by KNOWINGLY allowing people who aren’t affiliated with the company to use large signage that makes people think that all products are from Field Roast (a large Field Roast banner as opposed to a small sign along with other branding signs).
The largest (and ONLY) signage I see is the large banner that was hanging atop the booth. This pisses me off and I’m glad you had the courage to call this out. While some might think this is inconsequential, it’s important to call out false advertising when we see it. I think it’s pretty messed up that the WorldFest allowed this Walter guy to use misleading signage, even though I’m sure that they knew he wasn’t an employee of Field Roast.
Keep up the good fight (despite the haters),
Kim
I just found this blog and read most of the posts above. Actually I Googled Field Roast to try to understand ALL the ingredients in their very tasty products. As far as I’m concerned, I can never be too overly cautious about the food I eat as there are so many bad products on the market.
I am appalled at most things I read here. I’m totally appalled at Walter and his obvious greedy deception. I’m appalled at the nonchalant response from Field Roast (how could they not “get it” that there was obvious deception using their name?). I’m appalled at “WorldFest” and their obvious poor screening of their vendors. And finally I’m appalled at the other people who made negative comments about the guy who wrote this blog.
I wish more people really cared about right and wrong. Thanks InsufferableVegan!
Thanks, Ted!
I Googled Field Roast and wound up on this page and read literally the whole thing. The entire time I was reading the comments I was unsure of who to side with. I would have been irate if I were you! What they did wasn’t right. You really taught them a lesson in the comment section though.
Also,
Doesn’t your headline of this blog ” DID YOU EAT A TORTURED ANIMAL TODAY?” have that snide, alienating attitude that people associate vegans with? If I were you I would change that, because you come off less like someone mature whose opinion we should respect, and more like an 18-year-old who just watched Earthling for the first time.
“Doesn’t your headline of this blog ” DID YOU EAT A TORTURED ANIMAL TODAY?” have that snide, alienating attitude that people associate vegans with?”
No, it doesn’t. Thanks for reading.
Yeah it does. Stupid ass hippy.
What’s an ass hippy?
“Doesn’t your headline of this blog ” DID YOU EAT A TORTURED ANIMAL TODAY?” have that snide, alienating attitude that people associate vegans with?”
Agreed.
It’s funny, you probably would have a lot of people understanding where you are coming from, but you are just such an absolute ass. If you weren’t so many people wouldn’t stop to tell you that you were. Seriously, for your own sake, lighten up. This too shall pass..
So I’ve still got the people at Field Roast this upset after six months? I must be doing something right!
Your conspiracy theory is comical. You’re blinded by your own arrogance and self-importance. Is it that outrageous that people (normal, non-Field Roast employees) think you’re a petty little prick, when you sit behind your little keyboard and type up the most whiny bitchfest ever to pollute the interwebs? You’re the reason people hate vegans. I’m gonna head to KFC now, and order a bucket of tortured, fried, and deliciously seasoned animals, and enjoy every last fucking finger lickin’ good morsel. Enjoy your mushrooms, fuckface.
Lovin’ the love! You rock! Thx for reading vegan blogs!
I just wanted to give you my appreciation for your story on the ostensible Field Roast booth you encountered earlier this year at a vegan festival. I stumbled upon it out of boredom when I looked up the Field Roast company after buying some of their product for the first time. What really struck me is the complete lack of concern for the authenticity of the product from not only Walter, the vendor, but from the owner as well. If I’m being sober about the entire situation I suppose it should not come as a shock seeing that Walter and the entity that is Field Roast are profit driven machines. They are simply marketing to a target demographic, namely vegans. What is important to recall here is that the ultimate prize for Walter and Field Roast is profit. As your blog post shows, any shortcuts that can be taken without being noticed by the general public are fair game to these people. Although I know this and should not be surprised, it is always a bit disheartening to see that the same driver (profit maximization by any means) that pushes Walmart is the very same one that these supposedly more environmentally friendly vegan alternative companies obey.For me the message, learned once again, is that people like Walter and the owner of Field Roast do not care for the principles behind their product only insofar as it allows that to maximize capital, which to me rings very insincere.
As for the naysayers who have posted on this forum I can only imagine they do so, because they despise the fact that they are confronted with the reality of their choices. There is no harm in asking if someone ate a tortured animal today. That is the reality of the situation for those that eat meat. Should we hide this reality solely to appease their insecurely held beliefs and feelings?
Mitch,
Thank you for seeing things clearly and stating them so well.
one of the biggest problems i see with “veganism” is that its most often made out to be about food and the needs of humans.
vegan has nothing to do with food. it has to do with the moral and ethical responsibility we have as cohabitants and sharers of the planet.
if you have no moral compass and no desire to make that your utmost priority; you have nothing!
there are a lot of special and powerful messages throughout all of the comments on this topic – that’s really cool.
thank you to the insufferable vegan on this topic. glad i found this,since i had never heard of it before.
glad someone on the internet is getting pissed about something important – instead of being upset about some pop music star that showed their private parts in public.
it’s neat how i was doing some research on vegan corn dogs for a local grocer and found this great piece.
i like a few field roast products, but i never see them at any of the local animal abolition events – they are a capitalist business like every other – not wanting to rock the boat in fear of jeopardizing their empire (that’s one of the many things we do as people – “we are horrible”).
you can be rest assured that behind the scenes, they are not being so touchy-feely about any of this.
thank you and keep it up.
i love you
You need a real issue to worry about. This is pathetic.
Ah, yes — another Field Roast staffer weighing in with some nastiness. Thank you for reading! I’m not surprised, given what happened at WorldFest, that you don’t care about people getting ripped off. Also, I like it that you don’t see it as pathetic that you’re reading a seven-month old blogpost and leaving nasty comments. You are too funny and you made my day. Luv ya!
your beef is with Walter. Leave Field Roast alone. this rising to the top of google searches isn’t right.
insufferable – name says it all.
My beef? I’m a vegan!
Proving that even Vegans can be morons
You insult me by association sir
Hello,
Your invitation at the bottom of your blog to add what I have to say is accepted.
I say “thank you” for the blog.
Field Roast is a featured brand at our local “Brat Fest” and I wondered about it, so I Googled It.
At this point, I won’t be buying Field Roast products nor will I attend “Brat Fest” as vegan fare is all I was interested in anyway.
I will do more research on Field Roast company and it’s products, as well as the other companies offering Vegan products, it’s only fair.
Tom
I bought the Field Roast brand veggie burgers and quite frankly, I haven’t had a more disgusting burger since dining in my public high school school cafeteria. Absolutely awful tasting! The company should rename them turdburgers ‘cos they look as if someone stepped in dog crap and packaged it for human consumption.
It’s tough to be vegan!
I’ll be putting together most of my food in my kitchen…those fake burgers are interesting… And put out by for profit companies, doing business in a tough environment!
We found a walnut – chickpea recipe that is fantastic – we make up a batch and use it like a burger or like chili.
Great on top of a grilled mushroom cap.
So…
I think vegans will get more joy out of self sufficiency!
No?
You are a total wacko to go to all this detail!
Why not spend your energy planting a tree or something worthwhile!
Where is a good place to plant a tree? The desert since they don’t have any?
I think field roast is the best company ever. Their products are top shelf and have more flavor and better texture than any others. Upton’s is a runner up as well. This is all my fiends and family buy. Front their roasts, hot dogs, sausages etc. I’ve been vegetarian for years as well as my wife and my daughter has never had meat. So we know good vege food. You seen like a pompous ass to me, or you work for the failed and disgusting tofurky.
I love the “You work at Torfury” theory! Best comment so far.
I can definitely understand the frustration of getting something other than you thought , however these days it’s not exactly easy to find vegeteranian food options esp vegan food options and this article is precisely the reason we are not offered more options. ..Good quality vegan/vegeteraniam food is highly expensive to male and hard to make a profit on as the cold hard reality is the majority of the population is not vegeteranian much less vegan….so there is very little supply and demand…And than what I have noticed is when a company does try to offer vegeteranian options and still make a profit they always get negative feed backs from unpleasabless food group…It’s a business they wanted and needed to make money.. The only way to make a profit at location like a fair and provide quality vegeteranian food was to charge an outrageous price which you would not have bought and complained about the outrageous price…I’m not a resteraunt owner nor do I work for any food corperate on ..I’m a vegeteranian fed up with other vegeteranians who wish to find fault at companies who honestly try to provide us with non meat options…not ebough companies do this. ..also the majority of all companies do mislead in their advertisement wrong but true….like a furniture store that says free delivry well guess what it’s not free they have incorporated the cost of delivry into the cost of the furniture…I for one would have just been happy that a carnival actually had a vegeteranian option….
I definitely understand why you’re called insufferable. I would definitely be upset if I had to stand in line for a product I thought was going to be amazing and then found out they were peddling something else. However, you take it to the extreme. Who exactly are you going to file a class action suit against? The people at the fair? The booth owners? Field Roast? Seriously, you need to get a grip. Ok, you were upset but you weren’t affected in anyway by the sale of non Field Roast items since you said you didn’t even buy the food. Instead of talking about suing (which is a ridiculous statement), why don’t you just contact the fair and tell them what happened and suggest very strongly that they confirm all the people who want booths in the coming years are truly from the company they claim to represent.
Contact the fair?! What a great idea! Why didn’t I think of that!
Please take down this post! I am in no way affiliated with Field Roast, just a loyal customer for 5+ years. When I googled “field roast healthy” this blog post was the top result, which is terrible for Field Roast (and not fair to them). I see that you have the Field Roast owner’s response toward the top of the post, which gives some context, but still doesn’t negate the negative impact this has for their brand. If you don’t want to take the post down at least change the title to something more like “Sketchy WorldFest Experience”. Not only are field roast products healthy and delicious, they have great customer service. Here is an example of how much they care (in case David’s response to your post wasn’t convincing enough:
About 5 years ago (before every company started pretending to care about its customers) I emailed David informing him that I’d be visiting a friend in Seattle (I live in DC) and was wondering if they did factory tours. David, the founder and owner of Field Roast responded to my email within 24 hours letting me know that while they didn’t do tours per se, he was going to hook me up with his second in command coworker to show me around (as he was going to be out of the office during my visit) and gave me additional phone numbers and contact info to call to make sure I got to see the factory. My plans didn’t allow me enough time to visit Field Roast but I was seriously impressed with their customer service. And to the comments which clam Field Roast is just out to make a buck, regardless of whether or not that is truly their only motivation (which I’m guessing it isn’t as there are way more lucrative businesses than a vegan faux meat company), they make a high quality animal meat alternative available to consumers all over the country (not sure whether they’ve gone international yet) which I’m sure has a net effect of decreasing the total amount of animal meat consumed. Keep up the good work Field Roast!
Thank you for bringing this to the attention of the public. It’s been about three years since you posted this? Dropping a comment so this post gets bumped up in google search when people google Roast Field. People deserve to know.
Walter was definitely at fault for the deception. David and the organizer are at fault too for not taking this issue seriously…~ and not taking proper responsibility after knowing of such an incident (was there any follow up?). People like this shouldn’t be a part of those fuelling the industry.
There just seems to be soo many business people out there whose main priority is just monetary gains instead of doing things ethically proper.
There are children starving in our very streets and you’re whining because some dipstick decided to use a company’s name? Why did you pay for food you knew wasn’t field roast? At least he wasn’t killing cows in the back and feeding people actual meat. It’s not right to use someone’s good name for your own gain, but chill out. There are bigger issues to be focused on, brother.
I don’t believe we are related, but maybe you are using “brother” in a casual way.
I stumbled across this blog while looking for vegan recipes, so allow me to post a reply to congratulate you on a job well done and also promote it higher in Google’s rankings. Anyone who buys Field Roast products or attends any vegan food fair should read this, as perhaps Walter is not the only criminal practicing this kind of deceit.
First; It is clear, on its face at least, that everything you report is accurate, and that a completely bogus product was being sold with the apparent imprimatur of the Field Roast company. Despite what one commenter said, you went out of your way to collect the facts. It is deceitful if a booth wears the trademark and copyright labeling of a company, advertises that they are selling said company’s products, but in fact are not.
Labeling and advertising must be 100% accurate. The signage is the labeling and advertising in this instance. Just because an untrained employee told you the truth and showed you the packaging of the actual products being sold does not negate the fraud. The fact that they offer exactly one product from the company does not in any way negate the fraud. That is the proper word: Fraud.
Second; being an experienced netizen, I can say there is a 95% probability that the detractors in the comments here are trolls. That is; not genuinely interested in an honest, frank exchange of views. They are far too emotionally invested in knocking you down to be genuine. They are likely employees, friends of employees or perhaps a sock puppet of the owner himself. Another likely source is the right-wing hate community in general who put out a LOT of effort to fill comment sections with their hatred. These rants are a bit pat and practiced. Seems like they do this a lot: Find someone with an honest complaint and attack like a schoolyard bully. Insult, degrade – anything but a genuine intelligent argument.
Also, I think “Virginia” and “Ann” are probably the same person and a guy. Point is: Being a vegan blogger means that you are automatically on the list for certain people to hate, and they will type up a storm of words and stuff that say what a booger-brain you are, but fear not. Everyone can read that you are right and they are wrong. Even the haters themselves know it; that’s why they are so wildly angry.
Speaking of wrong: Walter, you are the kind of human that gives humans a bad name. Caught red-handed selling crap advertised as Field Roast, you deny deny deny, lie lie lie and personally attack the messenger. I go to the occasional vegan food fest and I will be looking for you. I’ll print several copies of this blog and keep them in my glove compartment in case they are needed.
David Lee: Your response to this travesty is, to put it lightly, inadequate, and sidestepping at the level of national politicians. You have earned a gray mark for your company. The correct response will be something like this: “We are appalled and will serve Walter with an injunction. He will never again be allowed to use our name or sell our products without facing a lawsuit. We will alert all the food festivals and similar organizations about Walter, and will let them know whether we will, if ever, sponsor an official booth. We will also dedicate a page on our website that lists and announces all our sponsored, official appearances at food festivals.”
That’s how you should respond, David. Get on it.
Thanks, Insufferable, keep up the good work. Ignore the haters. Remember they have similar feeling about African Americans, LGBTs and, well, a lot of things. Would you be concerned about Dick Cheney’s opinion on the subject? I wouldn’t.
I was completely on your side until the guy apologised and you tore him a new one?
It’s completely not cool that they sold products under the guise of being Field Roast. But it’s also really unappealing to watch you throw someone’s apology back at them.
Positivity wins over all.
All the best.