If you’re looking at mainstream veganism today, you might assume it’s a white movement. A movement that is inspired by the Goop-esque wellness industry, led by waspy white women with cream-colored shawls and home gardens. Or maybe even crust punks with green-dyed hair and bad B.O. Either way, it’s not exactly true.
In fact, a lot of the vegan dishes we think of most – crumbled tofu, fluffy quinoa, pulled “pork” made from jackfruit – originated in communities that have been eating these items for centuries, well before they were recoined as "superfoods" or clever meat alternatives. Essentially, it’s just another example of lifting ideas from other cultures and labeling them as something more digestible to white consumers.
If you’re interested in reading more, I highly recommend this article from the Thrillist. Here are a few of my favorite bits:
While "Mexican food" may conjure images of porky tacos and cheese-slathered enchiladas, it’s a far cry from indigenous Mexican cooking, in which meat was used sparingly, dairy was non-existent, and meals were constructed mainly from beans, wild greens, seeds, and squash.
The foodways of slaves were not heavily dependent upon animal products. But during the Great Migration, they moved off of family farms where they were growing their own food. "They moved to these big cities with no outdoor space, so that took a lot of that plant-based culture.” In many ways, poverty forced them to find different food sources. These black communities soon became heavily reliant upon highly processed foods as their access to fresh fruits and vegetables became deeply limited.
Veganism as most people think of it today didn’t emerge as a concept until 1944 when British woodworker Donald Watson coined the term to separate vegetarians who ate animal products from those who did not. Watson is lauded as the father of mainstream veganism. But Eastern religions like Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism have all advocated eschewing animals and animal products in some format for centuries, if not longer.
February Cookbook: Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora by Bryant Terry
I never met a biscuit I didn’t like, so you know it took everything in me not to make the classic buttermilk biscuits (pg. 15). I keep telling myself I don’t need to test every biscuit recipe that comes along…
However, I compromised and made the vegan sweet potato coconut biscuits (pg. 16) instead. I’ve never made vegan biscuits before and the addition of sweet potato was intriguing. This recipe comes from Erika Council and is a vegan-fied version of her grandmother’s popular sweet potato biscuits. Personally, I probably won’t be reaching for these over non-vegan biscuits anytime soon but I enjoyed them well enough.
That’s all I had time to make this week but if you’re ever in Denver, here are a few of my favorite vegan spots that even your anti-vegan friends will like:
Somebody People - Everything on this menu is good. I took a friend and she didn’t realize everything we ate was vegan until the end.
City O’ City - I always get their caesar salad with chicken-fried cauliflower. So, so good.
Make Believe Bakery - After going to City O’ City, I always go next door to get this vegan soft serve. I mean, just look at it…
Thanks for reading, sweeties! 🍎