Black and plant-based
By Chioma Nwana
In December of 2018, a friend of mine dared me to go vegan with her for the duration of the upcoming January. Now, we’re at the beginning of December 2019, and my grocery lists still consist solely of plant-based products. To my own surprise, I’ve committed almost an entire year to exploring a plant-based lifestyle. Now that I’ve gotten the hang of the lifestyle itself, I’ve begun to dig into the “why” of it all and have spent the majority of the last quarter reflecting upon what it means to be vegan or plant-based through the lens of Blackness, womanhood, accessibility, and sustainability. To continue the conversation, I reached out to four of my favorite Black female vegan and plant-based bloggers (namely Madi, Bethany, Junise, and Breanna) to share with me the insight they’ve acquired from their individual and collective experiences.
MADI, Afro-vegan chef, freelance model
Who are you, and what do you do? How did you find your way to the vegan lifestyle?
I am a published model, chef, holistic healer, energy worker, afro-centric, migrant, soul, vintage, and dapper woman, amongst many other titles and names. I’m an Africana Studies major, and I have always studied how to disrupt the patriarchy and systems of oppression that affect people of color. After a couple years into my major, I met a chef who spoke to me about his experience and showed me the documentary “What The Health,” as I had already transitioned into vegetarianism. After learning about environmental racism and its effects on Black and brown communities across the globe, I knew it was time to make the switch.
As an Afro-vegan chef, you work to bridge the gap between the Black community and veganism via your food company, KidandFro’s Vegan Soul Food. How has that been going? What does “healing hoods one plate at a time” mean to you?
So far it’s been an honor to feed folk, see their reactions, and make going vegan easier for them. Our slogan, “healing hoods one plate at a time” means that when we get orders, we put our hearts and souls into healing our customers with herbal, nutritional, alkaline-inspired vegan food. Most of our customers are non-vegans, meaning they consume animal products on the daily, so our food is the ray of light within their immune, digestive, nervous, and other body systems.
There exists quite a bit of literature on the relationship between queerness and veganism. A common stance is that they both force one to step away from and reassess conformist societal ideals. For example, in “A Queer Vegan Manifesto,” Rasmus Simonsen asserts that queerness and even veganism work to disrupt the patriarchy. Is your veganism disruptive in any way? Is your queerness?
As a self-taught queer, Black chef, my veganism is disruptive. I constantly live in a state of triple consciousness, as I am Black, a woman, and categorized as “poor” by several systems of power—though “poor” isn’t in my vocabulary because words have power. My veganism is disruptive because I operate from several different kitchens. As some may know, I’ve been homeless before and don’t have one steady restaurant or address for customers to pick up orders, so pickup changes each week. Due to cultural ignorance and pain, it’s rare to hear an African woman loudly state she is queer. Therefore, I am a walking “contradiction,” always operating in my state of triple consciousness.
In what ways might veganism have helped you to better understand your Blackness? Your queerness?
Veganism has put into perspective the lack of healthy resources for women of color and people of color within the United States and other regions. Veganism has showed me how often people of color operate from a state of survival instead of living abundantly. One will work an eight-hour job, barely get sleep, barely eat nutritious meals, and live at the bare minimum to work for someone else rather than learn about their people and exercise their truth. Querness, for sure. Sometimes it feels as though I barely have support in my business because I exist at certain crossroads and intersections of identities, as I had mentioned before. But, I operate from a space of gratitude and abundance, and I know the financial support will come.
BETHANY, mental health advocate, vegan food blogger, freelance model
Who are you, and what do you do? How did you find your way to the vegan lifestyle?
My name is Bethany Morrison. I’m of Jamaican descent and was raised in Queens, NY. I have a BS in Psychology Pre-Law with a concentration in Health Psychology. I was working in the legal field for a year and a half, but I recently switched over to work with kids in the lower Manhattan area—I help them build themselves up mentally and find ways to modify their behaviors. Additionally, I am an unsigned model, and I’m heavily passionate about that field of work as well. My goal is to work in a way that allows me to implement psychology and law while modeling at the same time. I found my way to the vegan lifestyle by chance. I was struggling with crippling anxiety for years and got tired of feeling as if I was going to die. For that reason, I brainstormed ideas of what behaviors to modify in my own life. God led me to veganism one night.
You’ve described yourself as a mental health advocate. Does your identity as a vegan ever intersect with your mental health advocacy? Has your vegan lifestyle improved your own mental health? If so, in what ways?
I can strongly say that my vegan lifestyle goes hand in hand with my mental health. The whole reason I went vegan was to see if it would help with my anxiety, and it did, drastically. I’m not one to push veganism on anyone, but, I’m a believer that what you eat affects your overall health. Since being vegan, my anxiety has reduced immensely, and it’s been almost two years. During my first week of being vegan, it hit me that I went the entire week without an anxiety attack, which was huge for me. For seven years, I couldn’t go a a week, or even a day without having one. Seven years, and that says a lot.
What is something that you feel is worth sharing about your vegan journey or relationship with veganism as a Black person?
I want to encourage Black people of all nationalities to try to adopt more plant-based diets because body later in life, your will thank you. People like to make fun of people for eating healthier, but in the end, the joke will be left on those who were laughing. Additionally, Black women have the highest rates of obesity out of anyone, and that is alarming. Not only that, but we are also prone to more cysts and fibroids and have higher mortality rates. We are the culture, and people love to take from us. Can you imagine if we all adopted healthier lifestyles? We would be able to encourage others of different ethnicities to do the same.
Of all the Black vegan restaurants you’ve visited to date, which one was your favorite (as far as menu items, food quality, restaurant ownership, etc.)?
There are so many Black-owned restaurants and so many I have yet to try. Right now, its a tie between Sol Sips and Uptown Veg.
JUNISE, plant-based cook, natural living blogger
Who are you, and what do you do? How did you find your way to a plant-based diet?
My name is Junise, but most people call me Juni. I’m a 20-year-old Caribbean-American, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. I am a senior Anthropology and Sociology major and a passionate naturalist and plant-based cook. As far as finding my way to a plant-based diet goes, I’ve been on this journey for seven and a half years. It started with me becoming pescatarian in 2012, becoming a hardcore vegan in 2015, and then deciding to turn back to animal products temporarily in 2016. That time was a transitional period of me figuring out what worked for my body and what didn’t, and it led me to make the decision to become a whole foods plant-based (which differs from veganism) in 2017. I have been on that leg of my journey ever since.
You make it a point to avoid the “vegan” label and describe your lifestyle as “plant-based” instead. Why is that?
For starters, there are huge differences between being vegan and being plant-based, even though sometimes the two branches may intersect. On one hand, veganism is a way of life which seeks to exclude any form of exploitation of animals and, thus, the use of animal products. This means that they don’t consume meat, dairy, eggs, and even go as far as to not wear silk, leather, and suede. With that being said, they don’t necessarily advocate for a whole foods plant-based diet, even though some do. They often consume many processed foods, as long as they do not contain any animal ingredients. On the other hand, “plant-based” emphasizes the importance of consuming whole foods, which include fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains, and minimize the intake of animal products largely for health reasons. Some people who identify as plant-based may consume animal products sparingly, but the foundation of their diet is whole foods.
I identify as plant-based and do not consume any animal products (with the exception of raw honey) largely for health, but also because I don’t feel that an animal necessarily needs to be abused and murdered for my consumption and due to the impact that the consumption of animal products has on the environment. Some may say, “Well technically, you’re still vegan, right?” Plant-based is just how I prefer to identify. I do not like to utilize labels that restrict me in any way, shape or form or will allow people to make assumptions about my character or my lifestyle. The beauty of being plant-based is that if I eat something that isn’t inherently plant-based, I do not have to experience any guilt because my biggest concern is my health and eating intuitively to ensure that I am doing what feels best for my body. Also, for many, I have become an inspiration and thus assumed the role of a leader in some aspects. Therefore, I feel it is important to lead by example and advocate for a whole foods plant-based diet as opposed to advocating for veganism. This is largely because many people don’t understand that veganism was never about health. It was always about fighting against animal cruelty. Therefore, just because you adhere to a vegan diet, does not mean that you are healthy. Especially being a Black person, our people have the highest rates of diabetes, hypertension, etc. in this country (The Black American Health Disparity), and I feel that it would be irresponsible of me to advocate for veganism (as opposed to a whole foods plant-based diet) through which people will begin supplanting meat and other animal products with extremely processed foods in the name of health, only making themselves just as unhealthy, if not worse. If people who subscribe to my content decide to remove all animal products from their diets, then that is their own personal decision, and that is fine. I simply do not try to force or shame people for consuming meat and/or dairy, but I do try to advocate for incorporating more whole foods into their diets overall because health is my priority, and I am aware that incorporating more fruits and vegetables is more realistic than abstaining from animal products completely, especially within Black and brown communities.
What does “sustainable” mean to you? Has your understanding of and relationship with food sustainability been at all informed by your experience as a Black person on a plant-based journey?
The meaning of sustainability for me very much aligns with the common definition, which is the ability to be maintained at a certain level. This is why I advocate for people incorporating more whole foods into their diets, as that is what may be more sustainable for them as opposed to trying to force them out of consuming animal products completely. My relationship with food sustainability has certainly been informed by my experience as a Black person. Actually, a large part of why I’ve embarked on this journey towards leading a more sustainable lifestyle is because I am Black. The exploitation of the planet and the degradation of our environment affects our communities at a disproportionate rate due to socioeconomic strata in this country. Therefore, I feel as though as a Black person who is aware of these things and has the resources to do better, I should and should continue to lead by example to inspire others to lead more sustainable lifestyles—what’s most sustainable for them.
There is power in admitting that even plant-based lifestyles aren’t one-hundred percent cruelty free (i.e.: farm laborers working under inhumane conditions to ensure that we have our fruits and vegetables). Is the solution to grow all of our fruits and vegetables at home? Is there an alternative?
You are very right in that it’s very difficult to consume food that is 100% cruelty-free, and growing our own fruits and vegetables is very difficult for people due to a lack of access to resources, which still presents an issue because what’s used to grow the food could harm insects and things like that. Honestly, we just have to try our best and live within our means. Someone may not have access to a farmer’s market where they can purchase fresh local produce, which is not only more sustainable, but also more cruelty-free, but just by them consuming more produce overall, even if it is conventional and grown in another region instead of copious amounts of meat and dairy, they are still practicing a more cruelty-free lifestyle. We just have to try our absolute best and know that we are trying instead of guilting and shaming ourselves for not being perfect because honestly, I don’t think anyone can be 100% cruelty-free. Even if you were living in a tent off the grid somewhere, you’d be disrupting some organism’s ecosystem. The power of intent is what will carry you through. If you know your intention is good, then nothing else matters.
BREANNA, plant-based food/lifestyle blogger, Ph.D. student
Who are you, and what do you do? How did you find your way to a plant-based diet?
My name is Breanna Danielle, and I’m a plant-based food and lifestyle blogger at PlantBasedBre.com. I have created cookbooks and recipe guides to help people transition and sustain a plant-based diet. I’m also a full-time sociology Ph.D. student. I’ve been plant-based for over six years. I initially stopped eating meat in May of 2013 after learning about the US agriculture system and watching “Food, Inc.” in one of my courses. After seeing the reality of how our meat is processed in this country, I knew that I had to change my diet.
You make it a point to avoid the “vegan” label and describe your lifestyle as “plant-based” instead. Why is that?
I make a conscious decision to use the label plant-based because my focus is on living a sustainable plant-focused lifestyle for physical and mental health benefits. My primary motivation for adopting a plant-based lifestyle has very little to do with animal rights, but I do recognize the environmental benefits of limiting animal consumption.
Plant-based lifestyles are often described as widely inaccessible to certain marginalized communities (by way of race, socioeconomic status, neighborhood deprivation, etc.). What does an accessible plant-based lifestyle look like to you? What role are you playing in making the plant-based lifestyle more accessible?
An accessible plant-based diet looks like adapting traditional cultural dishes into meals that are centered around plants. I try to stress the importance of keeping it simple in the beginning, using recipes and flavors you’re already used to eating. I try to create recipes with ingredients that are economical and easy to find. I think a plant-based diet is cost-effective when you’re sticking to simple ingredients like fresh produce, dried or canned beans, common grains (i.e., rice), and plant milk. Often a grocery list, on a plant-based budget, tends to get pricey when you add vegan meat and dairy alternatives. I try to buy those products sparingly to keep my grocery spending within my budget.
Many people say that embarking on the plant-based journey has taught them lessons about accountability that have spilled over into other areas of their lives. Has your plant-based lifestyle changed any other aspects of your life?
Since going plant-based, I’ve been able to develop a strong sense of self-discipline, which has helped me in my professional life and throughout my wellness journey (i.e.: hitting my daily water goals or going to the gym consistently). I think going plant-based, the initial year, was especially difficult and, at times, frustrating, but I maintained my self-discipline and was able to push through the transition period.