We love our producers, suppliers and vendors and we think most of them have some pretty interesting stories behind their products too. We’re sharing some of our favorites here in an ongoing series opens in a new tab.
In the early 1980s, Carol Debberman began delivering veggie burgers by taxi to New York City restaurants. It was the best way to keep up with fast-growing demand as word spread about her homemade Sunshine Burgers opens in a new tab.
Although she found herself on the leading edge of a national food trend, this farm girl was an accidental entrepreneur. She never dreamed her recipe would become one of the first packaged veggie burgers and would someday be sold nationwide. Nutrition, not business, was the main thing on Carol’s mind when she created the flavor- and protein-packed vegan patties in her New Jersey farmhouse kitchen to please her five vegetarian kids.
Sunshine Burgers are made with a deliciously satisfying blend of ground sunflower seeds, Lundberg Family Farms opens in a new tab brown rice and other whole-food ingredients. They are Non-GMO Project verified opens in a new tab, made without soy or wheat, and baked and pre-browned (not fried). Instead of trying to mimic meat, they celebrate the true, satisfying flavors and hearty texture of simple vegetarian ingredients.
"This is a whole-food product and always has been,” Carol explains. “Our burgers taste like what they're made of. We believe in minimal processing and using ingredients in their natural state."
What are your favorite vegan toppings for burgers? Let us know by leaving a comment!
