Many see veganism simply as a diet free of meat or animal products. Images of PETA campaigns and protests may even come to mind. For Artinces Smith, founder of 鈥淔abulously Vegan,鈥� becoming a lifestyle vegan started with a Black vegetarian teacher in grade school. 鈥淢y friends and I were wondering, 鈥榃hat is she eating for lunch?鈥� She was a vegetarian 鈥� and we were like, 鈥極ur science teacher is doing it, we鈥檙e gonna try it, too,'鈥� Smith shared on St. Louis on the Air. 鈥淚 went home and told my mom, 鈥楴o more chicken.鈥� And chicken was a food group [in my home], something we ate every day in every way.鈥�
Smith鈥檚 family was supportive but puzzled by young Artinces鈥� decision. Their perception of what a vegetarian looked like didn鈥檛 include people from communities of color 鈥� despite the fact that many cultures and faiths abstain from eating meat.
When Smith left St. Louis for college, her vegetarianism moved beyond diet and into veganism. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lifestyle of compassion, empathy, and service鈥� not exploiting [or] placing a higher or lesser value鈥� on another鈥檚 life, Smith said. Dropping animal products from her everyday life made her realize the importance of having a community to learn from and be challenged by.
鈥淐ommunity components are different because of what鈥檚 available and what is already there,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淭here's vegan communities in larger cities. It's the smaller ones where there's a bit of dialogue and education that's really needed. And that's where I really believe the activism is 鈥� what the community is sharing, what the lifestyle is, where does that come from. Because of mainstream veganism, [Black people] are not really the face of it.鈥�
Having benefited from many Black vegan mentors and peers over the years, Smith gives back to others through 鈥淔abulously Vegan,鈥� a site she founded to coach people interested in veganism as both diet and lifestyle. It is also how she is building visibility for Black vegans, individually and collectively. 鈥淚'm one person, but it's because of people who were just stepping out and saying what this needs to get done. 鈥� You have a voice, and you're attracting people to what you're saying or what you're teaching.鈥�
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鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by , , , and . is our production assistant. The audio engineer is . Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
