"Plant-Based/Vegan Food is for the 'Elite'"

Rationale: “Plant-based/vegan food is for the ‘elite’”

Versions of this bounce around popular culture — plant-based eating is for privileged (and mostly white) people, and plant-based food is more expensive. But this way of thinking misses three important facts.

Reconnecting with roots

BIPOC communities are among those seeing the fastest growth in plant-based eating in North America.[1] For many people, especially black, Indigenous, and people of colour, eating less or no meat is about reconnecting with roots and food sovereignty.[2] After all, so many cultures’ diets were historically much more plant-based than our industrialized diets are today.

Chicana authors Luz Calvo and Catriona Rueda Esquibel went plant-based after a cancer diagnosis, and wrote Decolonize Your Diet. This fascinating cookbook is inspired by centuries-old recipes from pre-colonial Mexico (published by Vancouver BC publisher Arsenal Pulp Press).

Taking back our health and environments

Some BIPOC thought leaders highlight political motivations for moving away from meat, as one way to disrupt corporate power and its factory farming that directly hurts their communities.[3] Health is another motivator, since communities of colour have been disproportionately affected by health problems that are linked to high consumption of meat and highly processed foods.[4]

American chef Bryant Terry brought us Afro-Vegan (published by Ten Speed Press) and other books that celebrate Black culture and plant-based food.

Getting more nutrients for our buck

Far from an expensive fad, eating plant-based is more economical than eating meat. One Oxford University study showed that, in wealthy countries, plant-based can be the lowest-cost way to eat.[5]

You can spend a lot of money on just about any diet you choose. Anyone — from meat-eater to vegan — can stress their budgets by choosing expensive ingredients and frequenting high-end restaurants. But neither of those is the same as healthy, simple, home-based eating. Plant-based eaters don't need to eat highly processed protein sources every day. We can choose inexpensive foods like rice, lentils, noodles, tofu, beans, and in-season vegetables.

So next time we hear this rationale for not talking about industrial meat, let’s put it to bed. Because plant-rich diets actually honour our diversity, our ancestors, and our budgets.

American Toni Okamoto is showing us all, through her Youtube channel, cookbooks, podcast, meal plans (many of them free), and more, that anyone can eat a tasty plant-based diet on a budget.