3 min read- Maggie Baird—the artist, activist, and mother of Billie Eilish and Finneas—founded the non-profit organization Support + Feed in 2020.
- Support + Feed fights climate change by expanding access to plant-based food for those in underserved communities.
- At Hearst’s Eco-Conscious Living Summit, Baird revealed that she worked with Billie to make her “Hit Me Hard and Soft” Tour more sustainable.
It’s no secret that Billie Eilish comes from an accomplished family. Alongside her brother, producer and singer-songwriter Finneas, she has won multiple Grammy, Oscar, and Golden Globe awards. But the pair was also raised by an acclaimed multihyphenate in her own right: Maggie Baird.
After a successful, decades-long career in film and television, Baird switched gears and founded Support + Feed, a nonprofit dedicated to combating climate change and expanding equitable access to plant-based food.
She joined Delish’s Editorial Director, Jo Saltz, at Hearst’s annual Eco-Conscious Living Summit—a gathering of industry leaders and inspiring voices to build a more sustainable future. And Baird centered their conversation around a profound point: food, social justice, and the environment are all interconnected.
For her, the topic is one of personal significance. Baird has centered her diet around plants for most of her life, shifting from vegetarian to vegan nearly 15 years ago. But in 2020, her passion for plant-based eating expanded into an intersectional mission.
“For those of us who have the privilege to change what’s on our plate, we can do it,” she said. But she notes that a large portion of the nation lives in food deserts where people have “systematically been deprived of access to nourishing food, lack of grocery stores, lack of farmers markets, [and] lack of produce.”
Support + Feed was created to address that very issue. “We’re not trying to get everyone to, you know, become a vegan overnight,” Baird explained. “We’re trying to say, like, just add more plants to your diet. It will help the planet. It will help your health.”
Over the past six years, Baird’s nonprofit has delivered more than 2 million pantry items and meals to those in need. But Support + Feed also empowers people to embrace plant-based eating by hosting free farmers’ markets and cooking classes.
One of the most notable projects has been Billie’s Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour. Along with the organization Greener by Default, Support + Feed hosted culinary trainings for music venues and local caterers at each stop on the tour. “We’ve gotten every arena in the world that she’s played in to have at least three fully plant-based main dishes,” Baird said.
Creating a more sustainable world requires major structural change, especially from the government and large corporations. But Baird and her children use the resources and influence they have to move toward that goal. “It’s hard right now in this current society to feel like what we do matters, but changing what you eat is the single most important thing you can do personally,” she said.
Baird’s next project is to host and produce the sustainable lifestyle show Climate Kitchen with the public broadcasting station WETA. The series will naturally feature food, but also span a wide range of topics—from induction stoves to ocean acidification. “Plant-based food is just one of the elements,” Baird said, “because it’s not the only solution to climate change, but there is also no solution that doesn’t include eating more plants.”
The 5th-annual Hearst Eco-Conscious Living Summit was presented by James Hardie, in partnership with 1 Hotels, Bloomeffects, California Design Den, Organic Valley, and Zip Water, and special thanks to Buena Vida Specialty Coffee, Misen, Pipette, and SeaVoir Wellness.
