My parents were such hippies. Or visionaries. Or both.
In essence, I’m a southern girl at heart, who loves creating homecooked meals and entertaining, baking biscuits, making cornbread, sipping sweet tea, not counting calories, who just happens to be vegan…and Black…in North Carolina. I consider myself a “dietary vegan” as opposed to someone who actively fights against animal cruelty and chooses to live a more humane life by not consuming animal products of any kind. While I find that lifestyle admirable and aspirational—I’m all about the food, baby. I was raised not to eat meat, seafood, and dairy (including eggs) for health reasons, but not necessarily to help the planet. However, I’m pleased to say that living humanely happens to be a cool perk after all, and I love not having to eat anything that was once was breathing.
In this, and future columns, I’ll give you useful tips and resources to either transition to a plant-based lifestyle or at least be able to include a bit more “green” into your diet in a way that is familiar and quintessentially southern. There are so many products on the market now that didn’t even exist when I was growing up; (we made everything from scratch because health food stores had very few packaged products or convenience foods…and vegan junk food was pretty much nonexistent.)
Let’s start with some basic online resources:
- Going Vegan in 3 Easy Steps
- The Ultimate Vegan Guide
- I Eat Grass by Chef Ayinde
- Veg News
- The Vegan RD
Consider the links above as a vegan starter kit of sorts, a way for you to become more familiar with the terms and basic principles. Buckle up and prepare to explore this vegan food life—my name is Jameka, and I will be your tour guide on this exciting and unique culinary journey. Food is Fun, so let’s play. Next time we’ll chat about meat alternatives for those in transition.
Until then, stay healthy and stylish!
Jameka S. Whitten aka The Stylish Vegan™ is a lifestyle blogger, freelance writer and public relations professional who is a social media enthusiast known for her FB and Twitter rants about politics, social issues, bad grammar and hatred for WIX websites. Follow Jameka on Instagram @Stylish_Vegan and @JamekaShamae. Stop by, say hello and take a selfie with her, just don’t slide into her DMs.
