Live Music and Local Food: Live Nation

Love concerts and good food? Head to a Live Nation Amphitheatre for locally grown produce, responsibly-raised meat, and even vegetarian options.

 

Live Nation Entertainment recently announced that it will begin serving locally grown produce, meat products certified under animal welfare programs recognized by The Humane Society of the United States, and for the first time, will introduce vegetarian meal options in its 38 owned and operated amphitheaters across North America.

 

Beginning this month, the produce that tops the hundreds of thousands of hamburgers Live Nation sells each summer will be sourced from farms local to each venue. In addition, all of the hamburgers, hot dogs, Italian sausages and chicken tenders served in Live Nation amphitheaters will now carry either Certified Humane, Global Animal Partnership or Animal Welfare Approved certification. Now that’s a step in the right direction!

 

In addition to a veggie burger being offered for the first time, Live Nation will also introduce a signature vegetarian meal item, which is being developed by Chef Hugh Acheson, an outspoken proponent of local and sustainable agriculture, best known for appearances on Bravo's "Top Chef" and "Top Chef Masters." He says he is fascinated by the challenge of providing ethically sourced food on such a large scale.

 

Live Nation sells more than 800,000 meals in its amphitheaters each summer and although there may be short periods of time when it is not feasible to source locally grown produce and Certified Humane meat products due to supply chain issues, the company will endeavor for 100% compliance to these new standards. Live Nation will absorb any cost increases related to the new policies (estimated at about an extra $1 million a year) but concertgoers won't see that reflected in food or ticket prices.

 

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said in a press release, "I know in my own home it's important for my family to buy locally grown produce, to know where our meat comes from, and to have a variety of vegetarian options whenever possible… We know from working so closely with the artist community and from the fans that come to our events, that it's important to many of them as well. So we felt as a company that we should be able to deliver the same quality food to our millions of fans, and we will continue to look for ways in which we can improve the concert experience for the people that come to our amphitheaters every summer."

 

For more, visit Live Nation