Vegans of Color Archives - The Beet

7 Latinx-Owned Vegan Brands to Support During Hispanic Heritage Month

Lola Mendez — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 17:14:55 +0000

Today, September 14th is Support Latino Business day! Mayors across the country including in Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, District of Columbia, El Paso, Houston, Lawrence, Los Angeles, McAllen, Oakland, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco have issued city proclamations in observance of the special day and are urging communities to support local Latinx businesses.

To celebrate Support Latino Business day and Hispanic Heritage Month, we’ve rounded up seven of our favorite Latinx vegan food entrepreneurs.

1. Brizo Dressing

Finding vegan-friendly sauces can be a bit tricky but thanks to Latina-owned Brizo your pantry can be stocked with a flavorful plant-based dressing. The zesty yet simple sauce is an heirloom family recipe and is good on everything. It’s made with four ingredients: lemon juice, EVOO, and a mixture of signature herbs and spices. It can be used as a dipping sauce, marinade, salad dressing, pasta sauce, and more. In addition to being vegan, it’s also Keto, gluten-free, non-GMO, and low-cal. The sauce comes in two varieties—spicy and mild.

2. Soy Chorizo by Cacique Inc.

This vegan meat replacement has been around since the ’70s and Cacinque Inc.’s business is still held in the family and offers authentic Mexican food products. The Cacique Soy Chorizo has a slightly sweet smoky flavor, meat-like texture, and is infused with traditional seasonings to create a classic chorizo taste without any animal products.

3. Avaline Wine

Latina superstar Cameron Diaz joined forces with fashion entrepreneur Katherine Power to create Avaline, a clean vegan wine brand. The vegan wine is made with organic grapes grown with low-to-no irrigation in certified-organic European vineyards. The debut vegan wines include a white and a rosé. Avaline White uses organic grapes from Spain and is a mineral-driven crisp dry wine. Avaline Rosé uses organic grapes from France and features notes of melon and zest.

4. CALA-Box

Awarding-winning vegan eatery Calabash Tea & Tonic’s monthly subscription box brings plant-based wellness to your doorstep with curated tea and spice blends. Afro-Latina Dr. Sunyatta Amen is a master herbalist, naturopath doctor, and celebrated vegan chef. Each month the CALA-BOX is filled with two of her selected Calabash tea blends, a Calabash spice blend to use with an exclusive Calabash original vegan recipe, and organic seeds for planting from Cultivate The City.

5. P-nuff Crunch

P-nuff Crunch is a healthy new vegan snack created by Dr. Juan Salinas who is originally from Honduras and has a Ph.D. in Food Science and a certification in Sports Nutrition from the International Olympic Committee. He worked for 25 years developing snacks for companies like Kraft, Mondelez, Cadbury, and Nestle but was determined to create his own plant-based snack that was tasty and healthy. P-nuff Crunch is made from navy beans, brown rice, and peanuts which deliver vegan protein, healthy carbs, fiber, and long-lasting energy.

6. Nicole Marquis’ restaurants

Marquis is the founder of nine vegan restaurants in Philadelphia and Washington D.C., including HipCityVeg (7 locations), Bar Bombon, and Charlie was a Sinner. The Puerto Rican entrepreneur has been bringing plant-based food to these major metropolises since 2012. HipCityVeg offers plant-based fast-food classics like burgers, fries, nuggets, and shakes. Charlie was a Sinner is a full-service cocktail lounge and a small plates restaurant. Bar Bombón is a Latin-inspired restaurant reminiscent of Old San Juan.

7. Beanfields

These tasty vegan chips bring together the love of tortilla chips and beans that Mexican-American CEO Arnulfo Ventura was craving. Beanfields are healthier for you than the typical tortilla chips as they utilize navy and black beans combined with a special blend of herbs and spices. The delicious chips are certified gluten-free, non-GMO Project Verified, and Kosher. Go ahead and make some guacamole or vegan queso dip and enjoy a tasty treat of Mexican flavors.

The post 7 Latinx-Owned Vegan Brands to Support During Hispanic Heritage Month appeared first on The Beet.

Eric Adams Is NYC’s First Vegan Mayor. He Shares His Health Journey

Lucy Danziger — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 12:56:49 +0000

Eric Adams is the new Mayor-elect of New York City and everyone is talking about how he is only the second black person to hold that office. But he is also a first: The first Mayor of New York to be a self-proclaimed vegan. He came to this healthy way of eating through a harrowing health experience and shared his personal journey with The Beet.

We interviewed him after reading his book about ditching meat and dairy and turning his back on fast food, which he compares to soul food and even the foods of slavery. He wrote Healthy at Last: A Plant-Based Approach to Preventing and Reversing Diabetes and Other Chronic Illnesses, to try to get others to eat more plant-based foods as well. With a focus on public health, Adams wants to make New York City the healthiest place to live in the entire country.

One morning, Eric Adams remembers waking up, 56, as the new Brooklyn Borough President and blinking to try to see. He was suddenly nearly blind in one eye and completely blind in the other. Rushing to the doctor, he was told that his blood glucose level was 17, three times higher than normal and that he had full-blown diabetes. He was shocked since he was neither obese nor unhealthy looking. But in the 22 years that he had spent as a police officer, he had indulged his love of soul food, fast food, and all things fried to “comfort” himself.

His doctor put him on insulin and told him he would have to take medicine for the rest of his life. That began what would become an epic journey of research, health and diet information gathering and self-healing that started and ended with a wholesale change in his diet. Along the way, Adams sparked his girlfriend and mother to both go plant-based, and his mother, also diabetic, got off her meds. Now he wants to spread the word to the rest of the world.

Healthy At Last is an inspiring tale of how to change your life and help others do it, too

Adams has been on a health journey, from overweight and nearly blind, and believing that “sugar” (type 2 diabetes) runs in his family, to changing his diet, going plant-based, learning to cook, and researching where this idea came from that “soul food” has to be part of one’s identity as a Black American. He had been raised on fried chicken and chitlins, mac and cheese, fried fish, and collard greens soaked in oil and served with ham, and pork ribs.

As Adams finds his way to a 35-pound weight loss, getting off the diabetes meds and helping his mother do the same, he learns that soul food, and its modern-day descendant, fast food, comes from a time hundreds of years ago when slaves were given scraps and undesirable parts of the farm animals that the plantation owners would not eat. To survive, they learned to make these cast-offs into tasty dinners. What was once a means of survival–eating fried foods heavy in oil and unhealthy animal fat– today threatens the very survival and future health of Black Americans who eat this southern-style food, leading to diabetes, obesity, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic health complications, which Adams himself knows too well.

Having changed his health fate, Adams now brings readers along with him in the excellent and honest book, Healthy At Last. Adams, well known as the popular Brooklyn Borough President, past police officer, and the Mayor-Elect of New York tells the story of how to change one’s future fate, by stepping off the treadmill of tradition and instead committing to plant-based eating.

Adams is an adroit storyteller and his book reads like a movie more than a treatise, but his arguments layout in such a powerful arc of storytelling that you can envision the traditions and cooking of generations gone by, and how those traditions have led Americans to a place where food is an emotional connection, a cultural celebration, and yet a trap that leads to believing that health troubles we face are not to be avoided– and yet we can make the changes we need, to be healthier. It all starts with committing to a new way of eating.

In Healthy At Last Adams explains you can honor your ancestry with new ingredients:

“Here’s a secret about eating plant-based: You can still honor your heritage and give up fried fish. You can honor Mama and grandma and eat tofu. You can make meat-free crab cakes, crispy seitan chicken legs, mac and chickpea-cheese with nutritional yeast, biscuits, and began gravy. You can make Granddad’s corn muffins with ground flaxseeds instead of eggs. Jambalaya with tempeh instead of sausage,” he writes.

“Remember you can honor the best part of soul food while throwing away the worst parts. you can honor our ancestors without eating what they were forced to eat. We are honoring their sacrifice by returning to our roots and reimaging soul food the way it was always meant to be: Plant-based.”

Adams’ lesson is clear: that to honor your past you need to be healthy from now on and to do that, the first thing is to eat healthier, which he defines as a whole-food plant-based diet.

The Beet caught up with Adams at lunch, in between a busy day of appointments. Here is what he had to say about bringing plant-based eating to his constituents, in Brooklyn, NYC and beyond:

The Beet: It must have been shocking to learn you were diabetic, out of the blue.

Eric Adams: I had no idea at all that I was diabetic. When I lost my vision in my left eye and partly in my right. I was experiencing tingling in my hands and it was nerve damage at the same time. It’s amazing but doctors basically expect that by a certain age, your body is supposed to break down. It doesn’t have to be that way.

The Beet: Was it hard to go plant-based? In the book, you tell about how you were raised on soul food, loved fast food.

EA: The first week was hard. Meat and dairy, sugar, and processed food is as addictive as drugs. That was the hard part. It took me about 2 weeks until my palate changed and then I learned how to cook. I decided this is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change. And I learned about spices and how to combine things to taste great.

The Beet: Learning to cook is impressive. So you got good at it?

EA: It’s really easy when you think about it. As Borough President, I eat out a lot… It was really about adjusting my life to this new way of living. I basically don’t go out and have pizza or if I do go out, we find a vegan pizza shop. Happy Cow is a great place to find vegan restaurants. So now, if we go out I find places that are vegan. I entertain a lot and make my own pizza dough out of cauliflower and flax flour. I’ve had to learn how to eat a new way.

We really have to commend our relatives and ancestors for doing what we do as human beings: Adapting for survival. But adaptation for survival now means changing again. There is nothing natural about becoming diabetic and dying in your 50s… or getting Alzheimer’s in our 80s or 90s.

I am so proud of my mother. She changed her diet and went off her diabetes medication after two months. She is truly my inspiration. And now I want to help others do it too. It’s possible!

In Healthy At Last I show that that chocolate cake is more than food. We connect food with people and emotions. My dad used to give me things to comfort me if I had a bad day at baseball, so now I connect that food to comfort. We all do this.

Some of that we need to fully understand in America that slim is that if you are on the standard American diet, the poison of that diet is going to manifest itself in different ways in diff people. Some people are going to weight, and some people are going to get depression, and some people are going to have heart disease. Not everyone is going to have the same symptoms, but trust me, you can’t eat a diet of over-processed food, and added sugar and meat without it manifesting itself in some way.

The Beet: How do we help those who live in “Food Deserts” with limited access to healthy food and produce?

EA: We need to be mission-driven when it comes to access to healthy food. The first thing we must do is embrace the power of food and health. Right now we are dealing with a medical crisis and that’s also partly food-related, or lifestyle-related since those who suffer the worst symptoms of COVID-19 are also often dealing with obesity and diabetes, and other chronic illnesses that are related to diet and lifestyle choices.

I have no power to decide what you put on your grill. But I do have the power to decide what we are feeding our children in schools and what patients get fed in hospitals and what prisons feed the incarcerated population in New York City.

We can be mission-driven and make sure stores carry lettuce, kale, and produce. Let’s incentivize local stores to carry those items. And we can help people see the hidden powers of the healthy items that are already in those bodegas … like dried lentils and rice and beans. Here is the prescription you are going to write: Find healthy items wherever you can.

The Beet: There is a perception eating plant-based is expensive. What is the reality? Isn’t plant-based food inherently cheaper than meat? One study said you can save $23 a week if you don’t add meat to your grocery cart.

EA: Yes. Some of the countries where food has been traditionally plant-based are healthy on rice and beans, vegetables and fruit, legumes, whole grains and very littl emeat. But when you look at some of these countries [that were plant-based for centuries] it’s amazing what happens when the American diet comes in, and very quickly they become unhealthy. Even in Hawaii, which has been a healthy state for generations, with a tradition of eating some of the most healthy foods grown locally, the way they have indoctrinated Spam into society, and now people who eat that [fatty meat] and are getting unhealthy. Here was have a state with some of the most healthy vegetables, fruits, and food traditions, and they are going to be unhealthy if they continue to incorporate habits from the mainland.

When you see the fast-food chains popping up all over, like Popeyes and KFC and McDonald’s… I know that when it comes to feeding our kids, we can do some much better.

The Beet: But when Mayor Bloomberg tried to tax big super-sized sugary drinks people got upset and wouldn’t stand for it. So what’s the answer?

EA: There is a combination of things that we can do. We can learn from what Bloomberg attempted to do. There must be a grassroots, or from the ground-up effort. If we start showing our young people in schools what is healthy and show them nutrition-based learning, and if we show them the illness that their families are suffering from, and instead teach them about choosing healthy snacks, that is one way. Once we start leading the way with healthy snacks in vending machines in schools and teaching kids to eat better, like Meatless Mondays that started in Brooklyn and then expanded to the entire City school system, that’s one way to start. Then they can show their parents what to eat.

In addition, we were able to get the city to stop purchasing processed meats. That was big! Also, we are working to bring healthy plant-based foods to serve in our hospitals and correctional facilities. These are all steps on the way to a healthier population and city.

The Beet: So are you running for Mayor? Can we announce it right here right now?

Eric: We are 85 percent there. One thing for sure is that New York City is going to be one of the most healthy cities in the entire country. New York shares ideas, not only in the country but in the world. So when we embrace plant-based food, it’s important that we do things in the right way.

The Beet: Love that. What is your personal favorite snack?

EA: Nice frozen dessert, of bananas, blueberries, freshly made PB, and chopped up fruit. I put it in a Ninja and its smooth and satisfies your palate. You can eat sweet healthy foods.

The Beet: COVID-19 has hit the Black community hardest. How would you help people try to be their healthiest in the midst of a pandemic?

EA: This has been a terrible time and even with the pandemic and everything else that is going on, the reality is that we can make individual efforts to change our lifestyle, and try to eat healthily, get exercise and alter our chances of being healthier even if we are unlucky enough to catch the virus. The question is what are you willing to commit to? You can make these changes if you want to. It’s in your power to eat healthier, no matter what your past habits or your family’s traditions.

The Beet: And we are so happy to see that you are sticking with your healthy ways and keeping the weight off.

EA: Yes I have kept off the weight. I feel really feel good and at a comfortable weight for me. When you eat healthily, your body takes a new shape. I tell people, you can have that body you know is inside you–it’s ready to come out. Your body wants to be healthy. Just get out of its way. It doesn’t matter how old you are. It doesn’t matter if you had a bad time in the past when you ate too much. You can do it and let yourself be healthy from now on. That’s what I want people to learn from Healthy At Last.

Eric Adams shares his favorite Chipotle Mac ‘N’ Cheese recipe from Healthy at Last: (Page 161 from Megan Sadd, author of 30-Minute Vegan Dinners: 75 Fast Plant-Based Meals You’re Going to Crave and star of her website and video channel, Carrots & Flowers.

“Soak the cashews for 4 hours or overnight to soften, then drain. you can also boil the cashews for 10 minutes if you’re short on time.”

Chipotle Mac ‘N’ Cheese

Ingredients

2 cups brown rice pasta shells
1/4 cup soaked cashews
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle powder
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon agave nectar
3 tablespoons tapioca flour
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cooked vegan bacon, finely chopped (optional)
1/3 cup gluten-free panko crumbs
1/2 cup vegan cheddar shreds (optional)
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives, to garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water for 8 minutes, then drain and set aside.
Combine the soaked cashews, hemp seeds, chipotle powder tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, agave nectar, tapioca flour, nutritional yeast, paprika, salt, and 1 1/2 cups of water in a high-speed blender. Blend on high for 2 minutes until smooth and creamy.
Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat. transfer the cashew mixture to the hot saucepan. begin stirring right away, scraping the sides and bottom of the pot to prevent sticking. Stir for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the lumps are mostly gone, then add the cooked pasta to the saucepan. Add the vegan bacon if using and mix well, to combine.
Transfer the pasta to a light-oiled 8 x 8-inch baking dish. Top with the panko crumbs and vegan cheddar shreds, if using. Bake until the top is nicely brown, 8 to 10 minutes. remove from the oven and sprinkle with the chives. Let cool for 3 to 5 minutes before serving.

Excerpted with permission from Healthy at Last: A Plant-Based Approach to Preventing and Reversing Diabetes and Other Chronic Illnesses by Eric Adams (Hay House Inc., October 13, 2020.

The post Eric Adams Is NYC’s First Vegan Mayor. He Shares His Health Journey appeared first on The Beet.

Black-Owned Vegan Meat Company Strikes $300K Deal With Mark Cuban

Maxwell Rabb — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 19:40:35 +0000

Black-owned vegan meat brand Everything Legendary impressed Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban, propelling the new plant-based protein company into the market. The Shark put forward a $300,000 investment in exchange for 22 percent of the company. The business deal will place the sustainable meat brand on the market with strong footing, and a coveted endorsement.

Everything Legendary founders Duane “Myko” Cheers, Jumoke Jackson, and Danita Claytor showcased their product on Shark Tank, explaining how their mothers’ cooking inspired the vegan burgers. The patties themselves contain a blend of coconut oil, potato starch, beet extract, and most importantly, hemp protein.

“We knew from the start that taste is everything,” Cheers said. “It begins with a search for something healthy and good-tasting that our mothers would want to eat. Once we had that, we took it to the streets with pop-up stores and street festivals sampling, and let the community taste it for themselves. We all know that today’s consumers are demanding that their food be nutritious and supercharged with flavor. Our brand delivers. It’s Mom-approved. And now, it’s also Shark-Sanctioned.”

The brand already started shipping its product to consumers before the investment. Everything Legendary burgers, based in Washington DC, plans to expand its reach rapidly following Cuban’s support. Within the day following the episode airing on February 26, 2021, the company’s sales skyrocketed, selling $250,000 worth of vegan burgers nationwide.

“This gives us the resources that allow us to position our brand against any competitor, where I know we will win on the flavor and quality,” Cheers said. “For me, this investment is extremely personal. It is a validation of my ‘never give up’ philosophy. I heard ‘no’ a million and one times over the years, but this one ‘yes’ moment changes everything.”

Everything Legendary joins a growing number of plant-based protein brands and companies, surging with popularity. The company’s bolstering sales signifies a growing interest in plant-based alternatives and the potential for new dietary practices. Be on the lookout for the company’s burgers in multiple retail groceries including Giant, Acme, and Safeway coming to bring in the Spring and Summer cookouts.

This isn’t Mark Cuban’s first foray into the plant-based industry: The entrepreneur currently has made investments in Mrs. Goldfarb’s Unreal Deli, which offers plant-based corned beef, as well as Mushroom Jerky company Pan’s Mushroom Jerky. He now adds Everything Legendary to his growing portfolio of vegan companies, which also includes Snacklins, Wild Earth, Veggie Mama, Wanna Date?, and Delighted by Desserts.

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How Sunyatta Amen is Healing Her Community With Plant-Based Fare

Lola Mendez — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 22:00:13 +0000

Dr. Sunyatta Amen is a life-long plant-based eater: She’s an Afro-Caribbean-Latinx and a fifth-generation master herbalist, naturopathic doctor, vegan chef, witch, and the entrepreneur behind Calabash Tea & Tonic in Washington, D.C. She comes from a multi-generational Black family, and in the 1970s, her Syrian-Jamaican and Cuban parents had a health food shop and juice bar, Pyramid Tea & Herbal, in Harlem, New York.

Here, in an exclusive interview with The Beet, we spoke with Dr. Amen about the tradition of veganism in her family, the importance of HBCUs to Calabash, and why she opened a tea shop to share veganism with her community.

The Beet: What was it like being raised in a multi-generational vegan family?

Dr. Sunyatta Amen: We were the weird kids at school. It’s hard when other people are having hamburgers and you brought a slab of tofu on a bun. My parents would try to mimic food that was served in the cafeteria but it looks different to kids. Kids are crappy to each other.

Fortunately, my parents had friends who were the same type of people. So at family gatherings, friends gatherings, there was always vegetarian food. Nobody thought it was weird. My parents taught me that if you have a certain diet, whatever that is, don’t be a pain in the ass. Don’t go to a party and get hangry, because you didn’t eat before you went and there’s no food within the dietary confines of what you are doing. Eat before you go, a snack will take the edge off. Bring a dish. It’s my custom to bring some food everyone will enjoy. Not just bring my food with me, which I think is something all vegetarians do, which is awfully antisocial. The funny thing is anytime I walk into an event people run up to me, “What did you make? We want to taste what you did!”

And that’s the interesting thing: Vegetarian food is the common denominator, it can be had by all. At a potluck, my food will always be gone. People are scraping the edges of the pan. It’s a great opportunity to introduce people to those dishes. They ask for recipes all the time!

TB: Did you raise your children to be vegan?

SA: I raised my children as vegan/vegetarian. It’s hard to say what they do now. Once people get to a certain age, my youngest is a flexitarian—she’ll be pescatarian, then she’ll go back to being vegetarian, then she’ll go back to being vegan, maybe she’ll have a piece of salmon here and there. My oldest is the same way. At first, it broke my heart that they didn’t just want to be vegan or pescatarian. At the same time I realized they were ahead of the game, they knew why we were doing this, the science behind this.

TB: Did your kids have a different experience than you did with taking their vegetarian food to school?

SA: Just slightly. My youngest, she is seventeen now, went to a school where kids would bring sushi for lunch. They were already aware of [other foods]. If she brought Thai food they were already acculturated to that or a veggie burger. My oldest one, forget about it, the number of times I found the lunch in the lunch bag, and it had just been sitting there. She was shy to take the lunch out because of what the other kids would say. So it took a long time. The only Asian food you would see is Chinese food and Thai food. That might be more familiar now. But then it was like what are those worms, what are you eating? Or avocados, what the heck is that? Some kids might know and some kids are like ‘Ew!’ but the minute you mash it into guacamole they’re like “Oh, I like that.”

I tried to make sure my kids’ food looks attractive at the least. I used to do a lot of bento-style [lunches] so if there’s something they weren’t interested in they could leave it behind. It was something their friends wanted to try, they could share it. It was divided enough to make that happen.

TB: Did your parents explain to you from a young age why your family didn’t eat animal products?

SA: My dad’s a biologist and is vegan and my mom is principally pescatarian because you can take girls out of the island but you can take the fish out. My dad had a health crisis before I was born when he was in college. He was maybe twenty-two and he felt sick in his stomach, you know a gripping pain, he didn’t know what was going on. He must have passed out. He told me the next thing he knew, he awakened and he was in a hospital and there were doctors standing around his bed. He was a young man. They said to him, you had gallstones. He said, what? They said once we went inside, it was the teaching hospital so you get what you pay for, once we went inside we decided to just take the whole gallbladder out, he was just like what? Imagine being that young, having the gallbladder [removed], waking up, and the doctor saying, yeah that’s what we did. And he said, but what caused this? They said we don’t know but we took it out. They left the room.

There was one Indian doctor in the room and he said to my dad, “If you say that I said it I’ll deny it: The truth is we are seeing this a lot more in India too. This is the overuse of meats, of animal products. Those animal fats are causing problems.” My dad decided that day to become vegan. That very day. Pain is a heck of a motivator.

TB: What did your parents teach you about the morals of veganism going beyond just the food that we eat?

SA: I grew up in the traditions of Santería, African, and Native American diaspora traditions where if you were going to eat something it really was respectful if you had killed it yourself. If you had asked their permission, you saw the life, you respected it and then you ate it. There was no honor in picking something up at the store in plastic wrap, and not knowing how the animal was killed, how it lived, was it honored, was it thanked for its life? This kept me, as a city dweller, from even considering eating meat that I didn’t know the source of.

That mentality also extended to vegetables and sourcing. Our farmers market was the store we used as a grocery store. It was a health food store where my parents would work one hour a week, volunteering their time. Then you get a box of fruits and vegetables. Both of my parents were employed, they were university professors, but they just believed in the mission of that.

TB: How did your parents plant the seed for you to become a vegan entrepreneur?

SA: My dad owned a juice bar. It was a health food, herbs, supplemental herbs. I probably owe my health to that. I owe my dad a lot for that. I was probably breathing in those herbs, that’s probably why I didn’t ever get sick. Things people are hip on now, maca and turmeric, was our baby food. It was all over my fingers every day, but then also what I owe my parents is the idea that health can be a job, an industry. Now I have businesses that revolve around that and is pretty much a reimagination of what my parents were doing.

TB: Why do you think veganism is growing rapidly in the Black community in the United States?

SA: We’ve already had a whole culture of vegetarianism. My mom’s family is Jamaican, there’s an entire culture there where the food is called, Ital. Which is all vegetarian, you use very little salt, it’s extremely fresh and very clean, using coconut creams as your gravy instead of flour.

We already have traditions steeped in that, even in the United States. African American folk in the South, as we go back to what I was saying, people kept their own animals and slaughtered their own animals. Maybe ninety percent or ninety-five percent of their plate was vegetables, roots, other kinds of things, it was non-meat. So ninety-five percent of the plate was plant-based. And then maybe a chicken was slaughtered, or you got it from a farmer nearby on a Sunday. That one chicken would have to feed eight or ten people. It would go in a stew. The stew is principally vegetables and then you have a bit of animal protein.

So, when we talk about Black folk eating vegetarian food or switching their diets it was already there. What was mostly happening is we season food. Whether it’s pigtail or neckbone. None of those things have a lot of meat on them. It was just there to season food with the smokey flavor.

What I’ve noticed when people of color explain why this works better for them, especially with societal-induced ills, whether it’s diabetes or the stress that causes the eating of certain comfort foods.

Once that’s explained to them and why this works better and how they’ll feel better, and then they see that they never go back. It’s rare to hear folks say yeah I used to be vegetarian or vegan. If it works, it works. We’re seeing higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, and cancer rates. We as people want to solve that, and we know diet is very related to that.

TB: How has being vegan impacted your overall health?

SA: My kids never spent a day in the hospital. I remember getting the cold or the flu maybe twice in my whole childhood, all the way through college. I just never got sick. It’s probably been six or seven years since I had the flu. I attribute that to my diet, you know when people say, I can’t believe you are the age you are.

TB: What motivated you to open Calabash?

SA: I felt like people needed a pharmacy. They needed something sexy and attractive like a bar. You know the colors are carefully chosen in those places. The wood finishes, and the floors, and the lighting. Food establishments that are plant-based tend to be all Birkenstocks. I wanted it to be sexy.

Taking healthy out of Birkenstocks and sliding it into stilettos. So, no one had to feel, oh I can’t go on a first date to this place. I have to go to a bar—bar food is just so unhealthy. It’s just something salty, something fried, whatever, even if it’s these pubs, these brewpubs.

Vegan food needs to be attractive, the surrounding needs to be attractive, and the food needs to taste great. It needs to stimulate all five senses. When people walk in it should smell great, look great, the feel of the fabrics is great, all of it needs to be there. Then people are converts.

TB: What has the importance of Calabash been to Howard and other HBCU students?

SA: A really great example is one of our folks, Ali, who works with us and started as a freshman with just his backpack. Now he’s graduated from Howard, is married, and has a baby and one on the way. He closed on his house four months ago, which is a feat, in the middle of a pandemic. This is what we are committed to. Our whole staff is doing great, doing better, and this is an attitude that you find at HBCUs. There’s a family aspect, so your professors become aunts and uncles, the lady in the financial aid is like an auntie to you, they want at an HBCU to see success.

We are also committed to HBCU graduates. We see students as younger siblings or as our children. That’s the attitude we have at Calabash. We want to foster their hopes and dreams. We want to take someone with a backpack on and make them a homeowner. We see the students who come in.

We had students come in tears. I can’t tell you how many times that’s happened. They’ve said “Oh, my financial aid didn’t come through” and we’ve taken money out of our pockets and covered what needed to happen, and got it straightened out.

There’s a caring that’s the underpinning of what my parents gave me. My mom was Black Panther and my dad was an activist. They went to NYU and Columbia. I’m the first HBCU person in my family—FAMU to be exact.

My parents gave me the idea of business activism. That activists aren’t just marching on front lines, that there’s also how you can use something as a cornerstone in your community for the greater good. My father used to say, any King or Queen of a village, is only as happy as their most miserable tribe member. So if you have someone in your midst and they’re unhappy, there’s no way to feel good in your spirit and you have to solve that problem.

When we have elders come in, we make sure they’re served, not asking them for a dime. Even though they try to pay, we are in their neighborhood really, where they have grown up and played, and it is our honor to serve them. We run Calabash like a village. We insist on that level of respect between patrons, and it’s just in the air. It isn’t something we even have to say, but it’s the same attitude you find at an HBCU. It is a supportive, safe space if you need something people can ask, and even if you don’t ask people can see that they’re upset or in tears, and we are like what is going on? Because we care.

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Celebrate Black History Month With 9 Black-Owned, Female-Led Brands

Anna Keeve — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 17:00:45 +0000

February is Black History Month, a time that celebrates the achievements of Black Americans and honors the legacy of African-American culture in the US. The 2021 Black History Month comes on the heels of last year’s events still fresh in many minds; it was a momentous time that brought profound awareness to—and through—Black Lives Matter as droves of people took to the street in acts of solidarity. We also witnessed a surge of people making a concerted effort to support Black-owned businesses.

Black History Month also reminds us that those who fought for racial equality helped pave the way for the Black entrepreneurs of today. We’re highlighting some of these powerhouse Black-owned, female-lead vegan brands that are changing the world one product at a time.

1. Pipcorn

The sustainable snacking brand, Pipcorn, reimagines snacks with heirloom corn to create better-for-everyone, modern favorites. Crowned as one of the queer Black women founders to watch, Pipcorn co-founder Jen Martin and her brother Jeff, along with Jeff’s wife Tereasa Tsou, built Pipcorn from the ground up in Brooklyn, actively pioneering for more diversity in the natural foods space. Beyond making incredibly delicious snacks, they’ve also made it a point to give back through human connection. For example, their recent initiative, Pipcorn Grants, is a program to support Black and minority-founded brands through direct mentorship with the entire Pipcorn team.

2. Maya’s Cookies

This vegan cookie brand is beloved for its gourmet fresh-baked soft and delectable cookies that ship nationwide. Founded by Maya Madsen in 2015, Maya’s Cookies first came onto the scene at local farmer’s markets in San Diego. In just five years, Maya’s Cookies jumped to become the no. 1 Black-owned gourmet vegan cookie company in the country and recently opened their first retail shop, located in San Diego, at the end of 2020. An outpouring of support during Black Lives Matter protests and awareness in June 2020 brought renewed interest and an outpouring of support. Sales skyrocketed and Maya’s Cookies was set on a newfound trajectory, years in the making. Maya’s Cookies is celebrating Black History Month with cookies named after three prominent figures in the Black community that have made a positive impact on the world. The unique cookie flavors are in their honor: The Hank Aaron, The Debbie Allen, and The Amanda Gorman.

3. Moonshot

Moonshot is a climate-friendly snack brand built on the premise to make a better you, and a better planet. Founded by serial entrepreneur Julia Collins, Moonshot was born from her love for community and food. After spending her career building a number of successful food companies, Collins founded Moonshot to bring delicious food to people in a way that helped heal the plan. Today, Collins leads Planet FWD, a company on a mission to tackle climate change by making it easier to bring climate-friendly products to market. The company is building a software platform for regenerative agriculture alongside a climate-friendly snack brand, Moonshot, made with regeneratively grown ingredients that help sequester more carbon in the soil. Moonshot crackers are certified USDA Organic, Kosher, plant-based, no sugar added, and non-GMO, and come in three flavors: Sourdough Sea Salt, Rosemary Garlic, and Tomato Basil.

4. Hella Nuts

Oakland-based Hella Nuts makes vegan meat from walnuts. Mother-daughter duo Chef Mieko and Chef Kamari founded the company to bring to market healthy vegan meat that resembles the real thing. In 2018, they started their plant-based journey after realizing that available supermarket vegan food was just vegan junk food; they knew there needed to be a better option with no chemicals, no fillers—just natural ingredients. Hella Nuts was born. You can visit their eatery, also called Hella Nuts, in Oakland, Calif., and find Hella Nuts meat alternatives for sale on their online store.

5. Ornami Skincare

Founded by Yewande Masi, who calls herself the “accidental skincare entrepreneur,” after stumbling upon a field that allows her to provide luxurious skincare products to everyday women. Ornami is Masi’s way of serving up a daily luxury spa experience with a lineup of clean beauty. She advocates for breaking up with toxic ingredient products and reminds us that Ornami is more than a clean skincare line, it’s a community of strong and empowered women who believe in self-love, self-care, and toxin-free living.

6. Body Complete Rx

This wellness brand offers a complete range of vegan nutritional supplements, products, and apparel the company says is designed to help you discover what it feels like to achieve your best self. Body Complete Rx was founded by Samia Gore in 2017 after the busy mom of four found it difficult to maintain her weight and self-care journey. Gore’s venture has proven to be successful: In just three years, the self-funded brand created by women for women has garnered thousands of healthier and happier customers, including celebrities LeToya Luckett and Kenya Moore. Products range from all-natural, vegan protein powders and multivitamins, to calming relaxation capsules and energy drops.

7. The Honey Pot Company

A plant-derived, all-natural feminine care system, The Honey Pot Company was founded by Beatrice Dixon on the belief that all products should be free of chemicals, parabens, carcinogens, and sulfates. With The Honey Pot Company, you’ll find an extensive range of organic and natural feminine care products. The Honey Pot Company’s mission is to educate, support, and provide people around the world with the tools and resources that promote menstrual health and wellness. The Honey Pot Company has been quickly growing and is now found across the nation in select stores at national retailers including Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Whole Foods, Bed Bath and Beyond, Urban Outfitters, and more, as well as online at www.thehoneypot.co and select retailers.

8. ECOS

ECOS has been pioneering plant-powered alternatives to traditional cleaning products for over 50 years. Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, CEO and President of ECOS, is a Black business leader who has made diversity and inclusion a top priority in her company. Founded in 1967, ECOS uses plant-powered ingredients inspired by her father’s native Greece to create safer cleaning products. Since its inception, ECOS has reimagined the cleaning category with over 200 environmentally friendly cleaning products from laundry, living, kitchen, and bathroom, to baby, outdoor and more, all through sustainable manufacturing practices and thoughtfully sourced ingredients. Now in 2021, this female-led brand’s mission remains to this day to make environmentally-friendly green cleaning products that are unmatched in functionality, sustainability, and accessibility.

9. Sukie Candle Co.

Uniquely scented toxin-free soy candles from Sukie Candle Co. are the brainchild of Sukie Jefferson. Jefferson says that candles for her are a vehicle by which we can come to know deeper levels of relaxation, self-love, and sensuality. Her candles express a diverse range of scents that stay true to her values. In addition to unique scents, candle ingredients are sourced using pure soy wax, derived domestically from American farmers. Always vegan and cruelty-free, Sukie Candle Co. delivers on an aromatic experience that you won’t want to live without.

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Beyoncé’s Non-Profit Grants $10,000 to Black-Owned Vegan Business

Spencer Whaley — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 19:37:48 +0000

Beyoncé’s nonprofit BeyGood continues to help Black-owned, plant-forward small businesses run the world. The Black-Owned Small Business Impact Fund, created in a partnership between BeyGood and the NAACP, just endowed Herban-Eats––a Black-owned, vegan company based in South Carolina––with a $10,000 grant.

Dawn Hilton-Williams, the owner of Herban-Eats, founded the company with a mission to make vegan wellness more accessible to her community. Hilton-Williams’ company offers vegan catering, plant-based education, cooking classes, food delivery, and community outreach programs in one place.

Hilton-Williams described the importance of Herban’s Eats objective, saying, “My company’s mission is to radicalize wellness with food. We believe that a successful transition for Black and brown communities can be both vegan and minimally processed. While also being affordable, vegucational, and full of familiar Flava. Because of that, we help bring ease to the journey from health-poverty to health-wealth for those who need it most,” she told LiveKindly.

Hilton-Williams applied to The Black-Owned Small Business Impact Fund’s fourth round of funding after COVID-19 required she shift her business model–reducing her capacity to offer free services for her community in-person. Now, with the help of the grant, she’ll be able to continue to help organize events like the farmer’s market, where Hilton-Williams offered plant-based food and cooking demonstrations for free, helping educate her community on the health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Herban-Eats is one of the 75 businesses that received funding from the grant, designed to support Black-owned businesses through the pandemic’s economic hardships. Earlier this year, Beyoncé, herself a fan––and based on her unforgettable Coachella performance––living proof of the benefits of a plant-based diet, awarded the Vegan Tennessee bakery The Pink Bakery with a $10,000 grant. BeyGood’s support of black-owned, community-oriented, vegan entrepreneurs proves there’s nothing more powerful than Beyoncé or a plant-based lifestyle.

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Black-Owned Vegan Grocery Store Set to Open Locations in Every Major US City

Maxwell Rabb — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 16:41:03 +0000

Entrepreneur Steven Smith was tired of researching ingredients and running circles around the grocery store aisles as a plant-based eater and decided that he’d take it upon himself to help plant-based shoppers find options more easily. In 2018, Smith opened his flagship grocery store, Vegan Fine Foods, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to simplify shopping on a plant-based diet and ease the stress of many shoppers.

Shopping for vegan substitutes and plant-based ingredients can be tricky when only a select number of stores offer an ample assortment, and even then some products can sneak in animal-derived ingredients. Vegan Fine Foods vets the products before they enter the store, and creates a space where plant-based shoppers can browse confidently, knowing that every item on the shelves will fit their diet’s needs. Smith’s success at his Ft. Lauderdale location has encouraged him to branch out, and now he looks to have a Vegan Fine Foods root itself in every major U.S. city by 2024.

Vegan Fine Foods Looks to Expand to Every Major US City by 2024

Smith and Vegan Fine Foods’ parent company–Vegan Fine Brands, Inc.–began hosting equity crowdfunding through the platform StartEngine, and has already raised more than $115,000 to help stock the shelves with 100% vegan products nationwide. This crowdfunding comes after the brand’s extremely successful fundraising event in 2019 where the Black-owned company raised 1.4 million dollars to enhance VFF’s performance and outreach. Smith dreams that support and funding will help him found a universal one-stop-shop for plant-based consumers, and bring healthy options to neighborhoods that may be food deserts or food swamps.

VFF Seeks to Give Healthy Options to Underserved Communities

“I spent years living in food deserts with little to no accessibility to nutrient-dense foods and I see how damaging that can be for underserved communities,” founder Steven Smith said. “I’m competitive and driven and my extensive business background has given me the tools and connection to see this through. My commitment to increasing across to quality plant-based products for everyone deepens my conviction.”

Soon shoppers in Atlanta, Ga, Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia will be able to roam the aisles of a local Vegan Fine Foods. The company has already confirmed franchise partners in these cities and plan to move towards prospective locations like Toronto, New York City, and Los Angeles. Smith also has his eyes set on Miami, which would add a second store to Southern Florida.

In the last two years, Vegan Fine Foods has exploded into Vegan Fine Café, where customers can sit down for a meal and drink, and Vegan Fine Body, which offers 100% vegan body care products. The original store, spanning a whopping 5000 square feet, plans to keep stretching its arms across the country, and the internet. Anyone can support the flagship location and the Vegan Fine Brands at the recently launched e-commerce stores, veganfinefood.com and veganfinebody.com.

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Rihanna and Jay-Z Invest in Vegan Cookie Company Partake

Stephanie McClain — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 18:15:54 +0000

WOC-owned vegan cookie company Partake has just announced the close of a Series A funding, securing over 4.8 million dollars in investment from celebrities like Jay-Z’s Marcy Ventures Partners (MVP) and Rihanna. Other investors include Kevin Johnson of Black Capital, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner, Black Star Fund, John Fraker, and CircleUp Growth Partners.

Over half of Partake’s funding is coming from Black investors, which CEO and Founder Denise Woodward said was very intentional, continuing by explaining, “I feel very passionate about continuing to increase wealth in the Black community wherever possible and so having investors on board that understand those missions and goals is really important to me.”

As Forbes reported, this investment by Rihanna marks her first investment beyond her own personal ventures, which include Fenty Beauty, Savage x Fenty, and a Fenty fashion line under the LMVH umbrella of brands. This round of funding will help Partake expand into over 5,000 Target stores by the close of 2021. Currently, Partake’s five vegan and gluten-free cookie varieties are available in 2,700 Targets nationwide.

Reflecting upon her journey as an entrepreneur from where she now stands as the first woman of color to raise over $1 million dollars for a food startup, Woodward spoke of Partake’s humble beginnings, saying, “I sold cookies out of my car up and down the street in New York every single day; I drove to natural food stores and did demos every single day . . . there’s so much of a longer grind,” she says. “I say that to say that if I can figure this out and get here, anyone can.”

You can purchase Partake cookies in five different crunchy and soft-baked varieties as well as the brand’s baking mixes at Partake’s online shop or in person at select Target, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Wegman’s, Raley’s, and Fresh Market locations.

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Misha’s Kind Foods’ Vegan Cheeses Now Available at Whole Foods

Anna Keeve — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 16:11:00 +0000

For several years, Misha’s Kind Foods quietly made its rounds in the LA Farmer’s Market scene, winning over customers and their tastebuds one vegan-cheese bite at a time. Now, this Black-owned, dairy-free cheesemaker is getting a major seat at the table—and a seat on the shelf—with its entrance into one of the most important retailers: Whole Foods. Misha’s Kind Foods has also expanded into other retailers including Lassens, to add on their footprint at existing Southern California health food and specialty shops.

Misha’s Kind Foods is known for plant-based cheeses and spreads that amalgamate creative flavor profiles with a rich and creamy texture and consistency. Made from a cashew and almond-milk base, they use locally sourced, fresh herbs, vegetables, and spices to create their cheeses. All items are void of vegetable oils, soy, fillers, starches, or nutritional yeast.

Misha’s Kind Foods Founder Aaron Bullock promises this is just the beginning of his brand’s expansion. They set out to build a “vegan cheese that doesn’t suck,” a cheeky saying the company often uses to sway people that still might be skeptical—one taste by any cheese lover and they will agree that it doesn’t suck, and it is in fact delicious.

“We are passionately committed to providing healthy and delicious, dairy-free options for various dietary lifestyles that our consumers may have,” says Bullock. “The expansion of Misha’s into Whole Foods and Lassens is a great way for us to introduce our well-crafted cheeses to new customers across SoCal, and soon nationwide.”

Misha’s Kind Foods is currently available via select retailers across Southern California including Whole Foods, Lassens, Erewhon, Mother’s Market & Kitchen, and more. They are also sold online through the company’s website with delivery nationwide. The line features seven different flavors: Black Truffle, French Connection, Joi, Lox, Sari, Seven Point Five, and Smoked Cheddar. Flavors are limited per store location. Cheese are between $7.99 and $9.99 per container

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Eric Adams Announces NYC Mayoral Run Focused on Public Health

Spencer Whaley — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 18:28:23 +0000

Eric Adams, current Brooklyn Borough President and proud vegan, just announced his candidacy to run for New York City’s next mayor. Adams’ platform is centered around public safety, reinvigorating the local economy and public health. For Adams, improving his city’s health is more than just a campaign slogan: After overcoming a struggle with type 2 diabetes by following a plant-based diet, it’s an issue close to his heart.

Adams Knows First-Hand the Benefit of Plant-Based

As the first person of color elected to serve as the Brooklyn Borough President, Adams has focused on how to improve the health of his community, given the disproportionate amount of people of color affected by the pandemic: “The increased suffering faced by people of color from COVID-19 is the result of structural racism in the health care system, as well as the food system. Disproportionate numbers of deaths in Black and brown communities from chronic disease predate the current crisis. While we fight for large-scale changes to improve healthcare, we must also take action immediately by improving the availability and consumption of the foods that we eat.”

Adams has been very busy during his time as the Brooklyn Borough’s President, partnering with the city’s primary medical system, NYC Health + Hospitals, to launch a plant-based medicine program, helping community partners distribute 2,000 vegan meals, and creating a PSA with 40 medical doctors urging New Yorkers of color to go vegan to stay as healthy as possible during COVID-19. Somehow, Adams even found the time to write a book, Healthy At Last, detailing his health journey of changing his diet, going plant-based, learning to cook, and researching where this idea came from that “soul food” has to be part of one’s identity as a Black American.

Adams is Striving to Make Healthy Food More Accessible

In an interview, Adams talked with The Beet, explaining how his personal experiences, as both a Black American and type-2 diabetic, informed his mission to make his city a healthier one. “We need to be mission-driven when it comes to access to healthy food. The first thing we must do is embrace the power of food and health,” Adams said. “Right now, we are dealing with a medical crisis, and that’s also partly food-related, or lifestyle-related since those who suffer the worst symptoms of COVID-19 are also often dealing with obesity and diabetes, and other chronic illnesses that are related to diet and lifestyle choices.”

If elected, Adams will be the city’s first vegan mayor; however, no matter the race’s outcome, it’ll be inspiring to see how Adams continues his mission to improve his community’s health.

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