Author,
speaker, and public health expert Tracye McQuirter, MPH, has been promoting
veganism for the past 25 years and continues to get the word out with her
best-selling book, By Any Greens Necessary: A Revolutionary Guide for Black
Women
Who Want to Eat Great,
Get Healthy, Lose Weight, and Look Phat.
McQuirter
points out that African Americans have been pioneers in the plant-based food
movement, including starting the first vegan health food stores and cafés in
the nation’s capital in the 1980s. “Yet many in the black community are
experiencing an explosive health crisis related to the unhealthy animal-based
foods far too many eat
today,” she says. “It’s especially critical with black women
in this country, about
80 percent of whom are overweight, and 50 percent are
obese. With that comes
increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and
cancer. We need to be targeted with information about how a plant-based diet
can change all that.”
“Information
and access are key,” adds McQuirter. “While food deserts are a real challenge
for many people throughout the country, we have to remember that communities of
color have a strong legacy of successfully organizing around and providing
access to good, healthy food in our communities for decades. We need to
continue to organize through our faith-based, civil rights, and social justice
organizations, and fraternities and sororities to bring healthier foods into
our schools and communities.”
No comments:
Post a Comment