West Point Military Academy Serves Tens of Thousands of Vegan Cookies

The United States Military Academy at West Point in New York now serves its cadets vegan cookies. The school—which trains cadets for careers as officers in the US Army—partnered with vegan wholesale bakery Root Nine Baking Company to supply West Point with vegan desserts such as dark chocolate brownies, “brookies” (half brownie, half cookie), chocolate chip cookies, birthday cake cookies, oatmeal cookies, and double chocolate cookies. The partnership began after West Point hosted a culinary event last summer geared towards healthier, plant-based foods, and Root Nine was invited to attend. At the event, the school’s dietician and executive board made decisions on which new food companies they would partner with to supply food for the school. Root Nine—a woman-owned baking company that currently serves schools, coffee shops, and restaurants in the Northeast region—was chosen as a supplier. “The cadets are demanding more plant-based foods at this famous US Army base school,” Root Nine founder Jess Murgittroyd told VegNews. “We are a clean label, meaning we use no preservatives or artificial flavors/colors—even the sprinkles in our birthday cookies are naturally dyed with beet, turmeric, and spirulina. We even make our own butter from a base of coconut oil.” Since August, West Point has purchased more than 53,000 cookies and 14,000 brownies and “brookies” from Root Nine and served them to cadets at meal times.