Vegan activists account for more plant-based eating in nonwhite Americans

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Toni Okamoto started Plant-Based on a Budget to show people how affordable plant-based eating can be. Toni Okamoto hide caption

Toni Okamoto started Plant-Based on a Budget to show people how affordable plant-based eating can be.

Toni Okamoto became overwhelmed with frustration after she watched family members suffer severe health consequences from the food they ate.

Her aunt suffered multiple amputations from Type 2 diabetes prior to dying, and her grandfather had multiple heart attacks before dying in a bypass surgery.

She also saw how their financial situations limited the choices they could make regarding their food.

So, she decided to do something.

"That's how I started Plant-Based on a Budget — I was on a limited income with limited resources to eat healthy-ish, and I started compiling those recipes for my family to benefit and saw very quickly how many people wanted to eat healthier but didn't know where to begin," she said.

Since then, the Mexican Japanese American has grown Plant-Based on a Budget into a website with free recipes, meal plans and resources to make eating plant-based cheaper and more accessible.

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Nonwhite Americans are reducing how much meat they eat and are more likely to identify as vegetarian than white Americans, an increase that some vegan activists of color think continues to grow. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images hide caption

Nonwhite Americans are reducing how much meat they eat and are more likely to identify as vegetarian than white Americans, an increase that some vegan activists of color think continues to grow.

The decision to go vegan or vegetarian can stem from any number of factors. For some, it might be over concern for the safety of animals or the environmental impact associated with consuming meat. For others, personal health or rising food costs might be the driving factor. Whatever the reason, it is a decision central to the lifestyles of millions of Americans, and often for communities of color in particular.

Nonwhite Americans are roughly three times more likely than white Americans to identify as vegetarian. A Gallup Poll from 2020 found that nonwhite Americans reported reducing how much meat they eat at a higher rate than white Americans. When asked about their meat consumption in the past 12 months, 31% of nonwhite Americans said they had been eating less meat, compared with 19% of white Americans.

Naijha Wright-Brown, founder and executive director of the Black Veg Society, a nonprofit seeking to educate communities of color on the benefits of veganism and plant-based eating, says the number of nonwhite Americans reducing their meat consumption and identifying as vegetarian is continuing to increase.

"I know that a lot of the uptick and the movement towards eating this way is because people are dying," said Wright-Brown, noting some of the health-related disparities affecting Black and Latinx communities.

"It's a public health crisis at this point," she said.

For vegan activists of color, the growth in the number of people turning to plant-based diets reflects an effort they've been part of and working on for a long time — one shaped by different motivations, beliefs and practices.

"Everyone thinks this is a new thing for us," said Wright-Brown, who explained that it's not.

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Naijha Wright-Brown is the founder and executive director of the Black Veg Society. Big Shots by LJ hide caption