Around the world, a lot of people are moving towards healthier food options. Primarily, there is a growing interest in foods that are vegan and vegetarian. A recent study has found that about one in four people above the age of 17 are vegetarians. More than one million people in America are now following a strictly vegan diet plan.
Documentaries like ‘What The Health’ are moving more number of people towards the conservative approach to what they are eating. This trend has been a very long way to go for African Americans due to some factors including cost, cultural inclinations, taste, and skepticism. However, the increasing knowledge about healthy food choices and access to healthy foods are now motivating African Americans to develop an interest in Veganism. The present trend sees them explore ways to recreate the classic dishes with some fresh and alternative ingredients.
The five black women we are talking about here are creating strides in the Vegan food industry by inventing some healthier alternatives to the meals that we love. These are chefs who go by the conviction that healthier choice of foods does not need to mean giving up what you like, but a rethinking of some alternative ingredients that can transform your preparation into something more robust, tastier and more Vegan.
Jenne Claiborne, the Author of the Sweet Potato Soul Cookbook and a famous YouTuber
The most challenging thing while turning towards veganism is relearning how to make tastier meals that you can relish. Jenne Claiborne, the chef, hailing from Atlanta ventured into a mission to veganize the soul food classics to see that she need not give up the foods that she grew up with. Sweet Potato Soul is her YouTube channel and blog and went into an entirely vegan diet. Talking about her stand, she says, “I became vegan because I think it’s wrong to exploit animals for their meat and reproductive processes. Even though I didn’t give up animal products for my health or happiness, both have greatly improved.” According to Jenne, her health has improved tremendously after she brought about a complete change in her lifestyle.
With thousands following her on Instagram, the online recipes and food preparation tips of Jenne gave way to her cookbook, The Sweet Potato Soul Cookbook. This is a collection of vegan recipes that help readers discover healthier meal options.
Chef Tiffany Hancock, Owner and Executive Chef at The Southern V
Tiffany and Clifton Hancock, the owner’s couple came across a life-changing experience that happened somewhat overnight with their first daughter, Tiffany Hancock remembers, “My daughter had some food intolerances as an infant…I went vegan overnight to alleviate her issues, and during that time I missed all of my favorite foods.”
She was strongly bent upon not missing her favorite Southern-style foods. This led her along with her husband to found The Southern V in Nashville in 2015. She is a self-made chef who invests her creativity and imagination to invent all her authentic dishes. Tiffany’s best part is her effort to retain her flavor and soul across all her favorite dishes. All of Southern V’s menus closely reflect this ambition. She says, “I would describe vegan/plant-based soul food as a familiar friend. My husband and I often tell non-believers that you’d never put meat on a grill without seasoning it. Our goal is to create an appealing dish that is both familiar visually and familiar in taste!”
Chef Stacey Dougan, Owner of Simply Pure Vegan
Stacey Dougan and her restaurant, Simply Pure Vegan have a massive following with some celebrities like Bill Clinton, Jermaine Dupri, Usher, and Mya admiring her cooking. Here is a big talk going about this inspiring personality and her restaurant located in downtown Las Vegas. The space inside her restaurant is a small one. However, people are found lined up to relish her most famous lasagna and tacos that have become a kind of signature for her restaurant.
Stacey Dougan has been practicing a plant-based regimen for more than a decade. Dougan is highly excited to find the new wave of veganism spreading among the African Americans. Se remarks, “I love the people are becoming more health conscious. We are all about the flavor when it comes to food.”
Chef Brenda Beener, Owner and Executive Chef of The Seasoned Vegan
Brenda Beener’s full-service vegan restaurant was the first one of its kind to open in Harlem. Nevertheless, a lot of people doubted whether it could stand out the test of time. Beener reflects on the past saying, “They told me I wouldn’t get any black people in here. I was told it would be a place that ‘others’ come to but not us.”
Beener disproved all such skeptic assumptions and set a new trend in veganism. Her neighborhood fondly adopted her mesmerizing vegan fare as the distinctive fabric of their community. She was visited by Chadwick Boseman, the Black Panther. Brenda says, “I want to show people that you can veganize anything.” Brenda’s scope is not only limited to Southern foods, but she brings in whatever is the best across the Indian, Asian and Italian culinary traditions also.
Chef Babette Davis, Celebrity Chef and Owner of Stuff I Eat
Babette Davis started with a small food cart at the Agape Spiritual Center in California. For four years, she served foods every Sunday. When she was propelled by a vision to grow, she wished to look for larger space particularly when her foods were well received. She was thus motivated the vegan comfort specialist to found her restaurant in Oakland, Stuff I Eat. She learned a lot from her struggles related to health and then decided consciously that she would clean up her eating and started what she called as a “journey of self-healing.”
Expressing her views on the merits of veganism, Babette says, “One of the biggest misconceptions is that vegan food is tasteless and that food choice options are limited and often costly. I am so passionate about enlightening the masses that just because something is nutritious doesn’t mean it has to be flavorless.”