By Aria Brent,
AFRO Staff Writer

Black culinary culture is sacred and rich. The dishes passed down since the first Juneteenth have inspired a nation and yes— even the international culinary arts scene. 

We honor our ancestors by making the very recipes they created to sustain themselves as they forged through the deepest bowels of oppression— and sometimes that can be a problem. 

The pig feet and the chicken gizzards, ham-seasoned collard greens and yams—truly sweet as candy— have taken their toll on the collective Black body.

Studies show eating foods that have heavy doses of sugar, salt and saturated fat is killing the African American community. In 2019, the Center for Disease Control discovered that African Americans were 30 percent more likely to die from heart disease than non-Hispanic Whites. While heart disease is caused by poor diet and a lack of exercise, it is preventable.

Nev Haali is a holistic and indigenous doctor who focuses on carbon based diets that benefit people of color. 

“We really focus on mineral composition and tracing elements. It’s more than ‘I ate healthy today,” said Haali. “We’re [asking] ‘What minerals did you get with that? How many calories did you get? Did you get your correct levels—all that stuff?”

Plant based eating and vegan diets are usually met with apprehension from the Black community due to how unfamiliar it can seem. However many of our ancestors both free and enslaved lived off the very crops they grew. 

The National Park Service released documents entitled “A 19th Century Slave Diet” and furthered this point by noting maize (corn), rice, peanuts, yams and dried beans as staples of a West African diet which traveled to plantations across the Americas.

The document further explained that scraps of meat were used for stews and leftover pieces of pork helped provide seasoning for food. Although these options are familiar and innately to used new habits and traditions can be created.  

A few changes to staple Black dishes made for the culture could greatly improve health outcomes. 

“You meet people where they’re at and help them grow to where they’re trying to go. That’s been one of my goals since having gotten into the food industry,” said Jerel “Refocused” Jefferies, owner of Refocused Vegan in Baltimore. “We present vegan food that’s accessible to folks so that it’s delicious, and it tastes like your comfort food.”

Jefferies has been making vegan food since the late 90s and has always valued the educational aspect of living a vegan lifestyle. 

Jefferies spoke to the AFRO about the importance of not just educating people— but empathizing with them and the things intertwined with their identity , like soul food.  

“To see people who are my age who have made other food choices—the way they look and the plethora of medications they have to take—it makes me appreciate that I’m not in that same situation. I’m not selfish to the point where I want to keep that knowledge to myself,” stated Jeffries.

 “I want to share that [information] in a way where it could be understood and not seem overzealous. I ate meat up until late adolescence so I can’t judge anybody for doing what they know and love,” added Jefferies. “It’s no judgment, I’m just showing people there’s a better way.”

Much like Jefferies, Nicole Foster co-founder of Cajou Creamery understands how vital it is to bring familiarity to the table when introducing a new way of enjoying a classic dish. 

“One of our classic flavors is sweet potato pie. We’ve made that into a vegan ice cream and people taste it and say ‘Oh my God, this tastes just like my grandmother’s pie’ and we do alot of that,” exclaimed Foster. “If we broaden that definition of what soul food is, I think we capture that in a lot of the flavors we create.”

Foster started her ice cream business when she realized that her child had a dairy allergy and that all the alternative options for ice cream in stores were full of additives and chemicals. She and her partner who also had a child facing the same struggle launched their business in 2016.

“What we’re trying to do is widen the genre of what is considered soul food and make it vegan,” said Foster. 

There’s plenty of room at the table of soul food for more dishes of different styles to be included. It’s time we allow everyone to eat.

The post Making room at the table: exploring the intersection of soul food and veganism appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers .

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