Veggie-First Eating, and Thinking

“ systemic racism that creates food deserts in many poorer neighborhoods” - seriously? Systemic racism? It’s not racism. It’s lack of economically viable locations. No grocery chain has any obligation to plunk a location down in front of your front door. They go where they can find a space, afford the costs of doing business, and make enough profit to justify this potential location over other potential locations. It’s a business, not a charity. And groceries are a very low margin line of business. You have to sell 30 cans of beans to make up for the one that someone dents too badly to sell. That’s why stores in the city are a mess. The grocers won’t ditch inventory unless it’s grossly damaged. Not to mention $15/hr for staff, and there’s a lot of staff. That comes from gross profit, not gross revenue. Big difference there. Gotta make money to keep those doors open. If you don’t like it, go open your own grocery store. Enjoy getting robbed blind by people putting steaks down their pants legs and a hundred other schemes. And after a year or two of watching your starting investment wither down to a zero, enjoy knowing that it was your neighbors who drove you into bankruptcy. That’s why there’s no stores in your “food deserts.”

Continually amazed at how many vegans are obviously obese. I eat vegan for a week or two and I'm shedding weight like taking off clothes. But I'm constantly running into obese vegetarians. what is that?

As a non-Latinx male-identifying male vegan, I wonder if they exclude people like me...?

Anything that makes veganism more accessible and inclusive is welcome. As a third generation Mexican, (cis gendered), I've found many obstacles in eating plant-based only, including incredulous, negative reactions by my family members. Those of us who are vegan and activists need to work toward showing people of color and those of low income, that they CAN eat well without having meat or dairy in their diet.

Last time I checked, rice and beans (the staple combo of Tex-Mex cuisine) was both cheap, vegan, and a complete source of all 8 essential amino acids. As someone raised in S. Texas, I never tire of retried beans and Spanish rice. Yes, yes, I know the beans are often made with lard, but it’s enough jalapeños, I can eat just mushed up beans ... no lard.

The concept of "meatball vegan" cuisine belongs here. Plant-based recipes that can be supplemented with pancetta or braised lamb shanks on special occasions. This is the future.

I love the ideas of vegetarianism and veganism in terms of animal welfare and environmental sustainability. The problem with them for me is that it's hard to maintain a low carb diet if the staples of the diet are grains, tubers, and to some extent beans/legumes. I firmly believe that carbs, not calories and fat, are what matter most in maintaining healthy metabolism and body weight. A satiating vegetarian/vegan diet that is low carb would be the holy grail, but is that achievable?

Frozen vegetables at Walmart are $1/lb. To claim that unhealthy fast food is the only affordable alternative served to underprivileged communities is misinformed and/or lazy. I've made delicious stews and stir fries with the simplest, cheapest ingredients from stores way lower on the "white privilege" scale than Whole Foods. These folks need to get more creative and stop blaming their poor dietary choices on systemic food injustice..