Vegan Burrito 🙂
Aquino, Leonardo. “Delicious Grilled Burrito with Crispy Toppings.” Pexels, https://www.pexels.com/photo/delicious-grilled-burrito-with-crispy-toppings-29007123/
Veganism has been a controversial diet for a very long time, especially in African American culture. Thie controversary began because the field “was dominated by wealthy, white woman” (Zoledziowsi). For African Americans to begin accepting veganism, representation has been shown to be important as a blogger from Eater, Amriah Mercer, has shared how she became interested in a vegan diet. This happened when she saw an episode of Oprah Winfrey’s show talking about veganism. Not only that but when she finally saw a wide range of cookbooks written by African Americans and African American influencers who were also pursuing a vegan diet, she also realized her culture could still be represented by the amazing cuisine. The wide range of vegan content creators Mercer mentions such as @crushfoster and @sophia_roe and celebrities like Jay Z and Beyonce makes people feel they can be a part of the vegan world as well.
Author of “The Sistah Vegan Project” website Dr. a Breeze Harper also believes cookbooks provide important representation for vegans; a great number of vegan cookbooks are created by white people and essentially for white people which can alter the way people think about veganism (Harper 161-63). This is because the cookbooks “rarely, if ever, acknowledge such differing socio-historically racialized epistemologies between the white racial status quo and the collectivity of people of color in the USA” (Harper 163). Harper shares how there are not enough people of color online and in books showing how to be vegan when one may have accessibility issues. White people have been shown to not have as many accessibility issues than African Americans, so they can be a poor representation for this diet. However, when more African Americans represent this diet and its economic viability, it allows for a new light to be shed on it: people realize that anyone with different cultures, backgrounds and incomes can be vegan too.
Picture of Dr. A. Breeze Harper’s Blog. Black Zeyphr, Inc. 9, Dec. 2024, A. Breeze Harper
Veganism is also known to be more accepted when people realize the amazing health benefits from it. When I came across a popular, vegan influencer on YouTube, Tabitha Brown, I believed she was perfect representation for African Americans who want to become vegan. Tabitha Brown became vegan for health reasons: when she was younger, she had horrible neck and head pain for a year and seven months (2:48-6:00). Eventually she came across veganism as a possible solution for these issues, so she attempted to pursue a vegan diet for 30 days. Her pain disappeared on day 10. Day 10!! Now she has been vegan for a long time and continues pursuing the diet because of the amazing health benefits she has experienced. Veganism has helped Tabitha Brown live a better life in more ways we can guess, all to the health benefits it can offer people.
Below is a video where Brown explains her reasoning for becoming a vegan. I recommend watching from 4:00-6:00.
GoodFul. Why I Went Vegan: Tabitha Brown. (2020, April 17). [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czzktlf07qw&t=248s
Veganism has been ignored for various years, but people can truly thrive off it! Maybe you will pursue a vegan diet later in your life because you see a broad representation of vegans growing and know your culture can be a part of it as well… AND it can help people become healthier.
Works Cited
Aquino, Leonardo. “Delicious Grilled Burrito with Crispy Toppings.” Pexels, https://www.pexels.com/photo/delicious-grilled-burrito-with-crispy-toppings-29007123/
GoodFul. Why I Went Vegan: Tabitha Brown. (2020, April 17). [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czzktlf07qw&t=248s
Harper, A. Breeze. Taking Food Public: Redefining Foodways in a Changing World, Chapter 12: Going Beyond the Normative White “Post-Racial” Vegan Epistemology. Edited by Carole Counihan and Psyche Williams-Forson, Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group, 2012.
Mercer, Amirah. “A Homecoming.” Eater, Vox Media, 14 January 2021, https://www.eater.com/22229322/black-veganism-history-black-panthers-dick-gregory-nation-of-islam-alvenia-fulton. Accessed 20 November 2024.
Picture of Dr. A. Breeze Harper’s Blog. Black Zeyphr, Inc. 9, Dec. 2024, A. Breeze Harper
Zoledziowski, Anya. “Dear White Vegans, Stop Appropiating Food.” VICE, VICE Media, 13 August 2020, https://www.vice.com/en/article/dear-white-vegans-stop-appropriating-food/. Accessed 7 December 2024.