Plant Based Diets + their Cultural Significances
On this episode of The Joy Report, we’re discussing the benefits of plant-based diets for people and planet, their history, and how some cultures are using plant-based food to reconnect to their cultural heritage.
"The Joy Report" is a podcast dedicated to sharing stories about climate solutions and environmental justice grounded in intersectionality, optimism, and joy. Tune in to hear stories and updates on all things climate, social, and environmental justice explained in a succinct, accessible way by Arielle King (@ariellevking), an environmental justice advocate and attorney passionate about environmental education.
✍🏾Script by @ariellevking + @vampiiirra
📚 Research by @ariellvking + @sydneycheung + @vampiiirra
🗣️ Narration by @ariellevking
🦋Audio Engineering + Music by @awesomenostalgia
🌿Graphic Design by @eileenjawn
🍄Produced by @philthefixer
Episode Transcript
Welcome to the Joy Report, a podcast dedicated to sharing stories about climate solutions and environmental justice grounded in intersectionality and optimism. Tune in to hear updates on all things climate, social, and environmental justice explained in a succinct, accessible way by me, Arielle King, an environmental justice advocate and attorney passionate about making environmental education accessible. The goal of this podcast is to give you the tools you need to stay informed and take action to protect the planet.
Episode Agenda
In this episode we’re talking about the benefits of plant-based diets for people and planet.
Topic Background Info
What comes to mind when you hear the word “vegan”?
Maybe your first thought is, “a lifestyle that I could never do!” I love cheese way too much!
Maybe you picture the numerous types of non-dairy milks and plant-based meat alternatives for sale at your local grocery store or at your favorite fast-food restaurant.
Or maybe you imagine that one coworker who insists that eating animal meat is akin to perpetuating a modern-day genocide.
All of these perspectives are fair. Often the lens we view veganism or plant-based diets is influenced by our environment, media, and food taste.
However, 14.5% of manmade greenhouse gas emissions come from the rearing of livestock for food. So the fact remains that reducing our meat consumption, by even one day a week, can make a significant positive impact on the planet.
Researchers say if American consumers cut meat out of their diet for one day per week, by year's end they would have reduced their individual carbon footprint by about 400 pounds. That's roughly the equivalent of driving a car from New York to LA over 125 times.
Sadly, exploring options to reduce personal meat consumption can feel alienating to many.
Its hard to picture yourselves in a movement where cookbooks, blogs, and influencers are primarily white, wealthy, able-bodied people so focused on animal rights and sustainability— in a movement completely devoid of the essential intersectional lens needed to ensure that everyone feels like they can take part in a plant-based lifestyle. Even so, a 2020 Gallup poll found that people of color in the US reported reducing their meat consumption at a much higher rate than white Americans.
While mainstream media in the global north may lead people to believe that white vegans originated the cruelty-free, plant-based food movement, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Plant-based and vegan diets have always existed, spanning various cultures around the globe:
One of the earliest records of plant-based lifestyles comes from 5th century India and the religion of Jainism. The principle of ahimsa (ah-heem-sah), or non-violence is a major influence on the Jain lacto-vegetarian diet.
Lacto-Vegetarianism is a diet abstaining from meat and eggs, but includes most other dairy products.
In addition to avoiding meat, many Jains avoid root vegetables to prevent injuring small insects and microorganisms and to prevent the entire plant from getting uprooted and killed.
Popular in the Caribbean islands, Rastafari is another religion that promotes a plant-based lifestyle as an extension of their belief in Black sovereignty, health, and ecological harmony. The Rastafari interpretation of Biblical dietary laws is called Ital, stemming from the word vital. Ital involves eating natural, local, organically produced foods and avoiding processed foods and meats.
On a tiny island in Japan, residents of Okinawa live exceptionally long, and healthy lives. Experts attribute their plant-heavy diet as having a significant impact. The traditional Okinawan diet consists of 60% vegetables and only 2% meat and fish. Japanese staples of tofu, soba, and legumes make up the difference.
These three examples are a tiny sliver of the spaces that people of color have developed throughout history: spaces that honor history, respect for animals, care for the planet, and the intersections of race, class, religion, and culture.
Aph Ko, Activist and Co-Author of the book Aprhrosim, beautifully surmises the modern work that many are doing in plant-based spaces. She exorts “Let's use our erasure from this rotten-to-the-core Western notion of humanity to build up a different “new world,” one that is not defined in terms of dichotomies or hierarchies or emotional death—but centered on love: one in which we accept ambiguity and difference, grounded in an expansive, limitless “we.”
This episode’s featured story centers around a female entrepreneur who is creating a space centered on love for her indigenous culture.
Featured Story:
If you’re like me, when you picture traditional Mexican food, images of tacos al pastor, enchiladas and mole come to mind.
These same foods have now become popular modern meat and protein alternatives.
This diet was altered by the invasion of Spanish colonizers who brought their diseases along with their domesticated cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and animal byproducts.
However, a recent study showed that approximately [20% of the Mexican population identifies as vegetarian and vegan](https://vivaglammagazine.com/20-percent-of-mexicans-now-identify-as-vegan-or-vegetarians/#:~:text=According to data collected in,vegetarian or vegan eating regime.). Often they are adopting these lifestyles for more than environmental or ethical reasons. For them, plant-based diets are to reconnect and honor indigenous ancestral knowledge and wisdom, through cultural-based experiences.
Born and raised on the East Side of Los Angles, California, Jocelyn Ramierez, has been working to make plant-based, culturally relevant food accessible to her community. Here is her vision of the work she's doing:
[https://youtu.be/YOiiNwSL4Cc (0:25-55)
In 2015 Jocelyn left her career in higher education to start Todo Verde. Inspired by Jocelyn’s Mexican-Ecuadorian roots, Todo Verde provides healthy and delicious plant-based culturally relevant dishes to combat the lack of access to healthy food in low income communities of color across LA.
[https://youtu.be/-LHkRvf-zmU (0:40-1:22)
The goal is to advance food equity and support healthy-eating lifestyle shifts that lean into self-care as well as increase awareness and access to naturally good food.
[https://youtu.be/-LHkRvf-zmU (1:36-2:06)
Through their food truck, catering, cooking classes, and delivery bundles packaged with the ingredients needed to make their plant-based recipes, Todo Verde has become a major contributor to the growing community of vegan-mex vendors in California.
Jocelyn’s first cookbook, titled La Vida Verde: Plant-based Mexican cooking with authentic flavor, was published in 2020 and became an instant bestseller.
Around the country, entrepreneurs are looking for ways to promote plant-based and vegan diets in ways that honor their communities and make this lifestyle more accessible.
Related Stories
And in other plant-based news...
Koia, Black woman-owned vegan protein drink company, founded by Maya French, finalized a recent round of financing with 23 A-list celebrity investors. NBA player and Koia investor Chris Paul is supporting the mission of making plant-based foods more accessible by introducing Koia vending machines at multiple Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the US.
During this year’s Coachella music festival, a four-course plant-based VIP dinner event was hosted by Outstanding in the Field. Sibling Chefs Ayinde and Makini Howell featured Jamaican jerk tofu and their famous mac and yease, y-e-a-s-e, with fire-roasted hatch chilies. Their vegan mac and yease is currently available at select Costco stores.
The Coachella music festival also featured an array of BIPOC vegan food vendors, such as Slutty Vegan, El Chino Grande, Cena Vegan, Ramen Hood, and others.
Topic Related Calls To Action
Regardless of what many of us have been taught, people of color have existed in every part of the environmental protection and management space for centuries, including in the movement for plant-based lifestyles. And as IE’s founder, Leah Thomas, writes in her book, The Intersectional Environmentalist, “BIPOC perspectives matter, and these nuances should be explored to advocate for inclusion and equity within the plant-based conversation.”
There are tons of chefs, bloggers, and content creators who are working hard to make the vegan movement more inclusive that you can follow.
Support their work, use their recipes, buy their cookbooks, and continue learning about the importance of prioritizing people and the planet equally in your pursuit to live a more plant-based life.
And if cutting out meat completely feels a little too daunting, no worries! Commit to one day a week where you don’t eat meat at all. Every little bit counts.
[ https://youtu.be/czzktlf07qw 5:56-6:08]
And remember, just because you aren’t eating a completely plant-based diet does not make you a bad environmentalist. There are tons of ways for you to do your part to help protect the planet.
Rapid Fire Positive News Stories
Here’s some positive climate news you should also know about:
In an effort to increase mass transit ridership, San Diego County in California has passed the Youth Opportunity Pass pilot program which allows people 18 and under to ride public transit for free starting May 1st
Healthcare professionals in four Canadian provinces can now prescribe free year-long passes to visit national parks, national marine conservation areas, and national historic sites to boost people’s mental and physical health
In Gabon, the Massaha community’s request has been granted to end the logging of their ancestral forest. The country’s environmental minister has asked the company that holds the logging concession to “leave quickly” and remove all the remaining logs from the site in order to preserve the area. This marks the first time in the country’s history that an area will be declared protected at the request of residents.
IE + Community Updates
And in the world of Intersectional Environmentalist:
Our short film, ‘Intersectional History of Cannabis’ is now available to view on our YouTube channel. The film focuses on the barriers that hinder BIPOC communities from thriving in the cannabis industry and features activists who are working towards bringing justice to those communities.
Do you have a unique story, experience, or research topic you’d like to share? Send in a submission to our new Contributor’s Network! We’re looking for writers, researchers, and creatives to provide an intersectional analysis on various topics related to culture and environment. You can find the submission form on our Linktree in any of our social media bios or click on the “resources” tab on our website: intersectional environmentalist dot com.
Closing Statement + Reiteration Of Calls To Action
As always, remember, fighting the climate crisis is a marathon, not a sprint. We need everyone to get involved in a way that feels right for them, now more than ever.
Tune in next episode where we’ll discuss the land back movement and the ways the planet benefit from indigenous environmental management practices.
I’m your host, Arielle King, and thank you for listening to this episode of The Joy Report
