Rainbow plates: the chefs reawakening Africa’s taste for vegan food

From theguardian.com

When Nicola Kagoro returned to Zimbabwe after a five-year stint as executive chef at one of Cape Town’s premier vegan restaurants, her vision had been to take what she had learned about affordable plant-based food and bring it home to Harare.

“Our dinners were six-course vegan meals with an international vegan chef: me,” she says. However, she soon had a bruising realisation: back in 2016, when she was first setting up, local people simply had no interest in buying what she was selling.

“There was no vegan culture in Zimbabwe,” says Kagoro, founder of the cookery business African Vegan on a Budget, who goes by the professional name Chef Cola. “[People] didn’t understand how you could have a six-course meal without meat. We were literally charging just US$1 for people to come to the dinners.” 

After a while, however, attracting people to Kagoro’s table became less of a struggle. Her reputation from Cape Town reached the Zimbabwean capital and veganism, or at least plant-based food, became almost trendy. “[The dinners] went from $1 to me charging close to US$60 [£50] to have a seat at the table,” she says.

Now Kagoro, 34, has fronted a cooking slot on Zimbabwean television, is launching a takeaway service in March, and has thousands of followers on social media to whom she extolls the virtues – ethical, health and economic – of ditching animal products. “I think there are more African vegans coming out of the closet now,” she says. “They just didn’t speak about it before.”

For the past 40 years or so, Africa’s middle class has been growing, albeit with huge geographic variations – and linked to that growth are changing lifestyles and consumption patterns. Fast-food giants arrived on the continent and tapped into a clientele with more disposable income than ever before.

One of the results, say vegan entrepreneurs, chefs and activists, is that in many places meat and dairy have gone from rare luxuries to everyday staples. And that, they say, is not good for anyone: not for the planet, for animals, for people’s health – or their wallets. Together, they are trying to fight back, and although the number of people identifying as vegan is still tiny, the 1.2 billion-strong continent could yet prove vital for the direction of the global vegan movement.

“Nigeria will be the third most populous country in the world in 25 years,” says Hakeem Jimo, 51, co-founder of Nigeria’s first vegan restaurant, Veggie Victory. “So all the veganism in the UK and the Netherlands … sorry, it’s great, but the numbers are going to be decided somewhere else.”

Veggie Victory’s Vcafe became Nigeria’s first vegan restaurant when it opened in 2013. Photograph: Veggie Victory

What gives people such as Jimo and Kagoro hope is that while the term “veganism” is still viewed by most Africans as a diaspora-driven western import, plant-based diets are deeply embedded in the continent’s traditional way of life.

Marie Kacouchia, the Franco-Ivorian author of the cookbook Vegan Africa, published in English last month, says that during her research she did not encounter anyone calling themselves a vegan in Ivory Coast “who was really from [there] and not an expat”. But she did meet a lot of people who stick steadfastly to a plant-based diet simply because that is what they have always known. “They will not label themselves vegan, because … it’s not something that is in their representation,” she says.

That does not mean they are any less vegan. Kacouchia recalls a woman in her family’s village who told her she could not even conceive of regularly eating meat or other animal products. “She did not grow up eating meat and her diet would be completely transformed if she had to include it,” she says.

Kacouchia’s book is replete with coconut milk and cacao, plantain and cassava, watermelon and mango, at least in part a capturing of her childhood memories: of her mother’s fragrant stews, of fried plantain on the beach after church. It is also, she says, an attempt to bust some myths about the traditional African diet, namely that it is inherently meat-heavy and unhealthy.

“It was about inspiring Africans and people of African heritage to look at their diet differently and to also understand their origins, away from this European-centric vision that we have that is narrated by colonialism,” she says. “We want to make African people proud again, and we want them to regain faith in themselves, and to reinvent a veganism that is not European-centric.”

One country with its own distinctive form of veganism is Ethiopia, where the Orthodox Christian community (with about 32 million members, according to a 2007 census) fasts for at least 180 days a year. When breaking their fast, or tsom in Amharic, the nation’s Orthodox Christians must not consume any animal produce and therefore eat a diet that is vegan by another name.

For Helen Mebrate, a UK-based Ethiopian vegan who shares mouthwatering recipes on Instagram as @Ethiopianfoodie, this rich food tradition provides all anyone could need, from shiro wot (roasted and ground chickpea stew) to alech (seasoned carrots, potatoes and beetroot).

Helen Mebrate, a UK-based vegan chef from Ethiopia. Photograph: Courtesy of Helen Mebrate

But she fears it is increasingly at risk. “It’s a bit sad to see so many burger places, so many meat places [in cities such as Addis Ababa]. And nowadays when you Google Ethiopian food … one of the first images that you see is meat dishes and I’m like, ‘since when did this become a thing?’ It’s changing so much. But when I was growing up, it was very much like a rainbow plate, with loads of pulses and greens.”

It is to try to fight back against this rapidly changing landscape that people such as Nabaasa Innocent, founder of the Uganda Vegan Society, are mobilising. In January the Kampala-based activist coordinated the first ever Africa Vegan Restaurant Week, an effort to showcase dozens of venues across the continent that are either vegan or offer vegan dishes.

“Some of these local restaurants don’t even have an online presence. So we thought as Africa it’s high time we united … [to] promote the options, because they are readily available,” she says. A concern for animal welfare drives Innocent’s veganism but more persuasive arguments for most Ugandans, she admits, are health and cost.

“Plant-based foods are more affordable and more available,” she says. “For example, to buy a kilo of goat meat I need about 20,000 Ugandan shillings [£4.50]. But then to buy a kilo of beans I need 5,000 Ugandan shillings or even less. Now that’s the best quality of beans but even at 3,000 Ugandan shillings, which is basically less than $1, I can still find a kilo of nice beans.”

In January, Africa vegan restaurant week showcased food in dozens of venues across the continent. Photograph: Africa Vegan Restaurant Week

A big part of the challenge, she and others say, is showing Africans that vegan food is not alien and not just about limp bits of bland tofu. “I mean, there’s only so much tofu one can eat, right?” jokes Olaoluwa Fashola, a British-Nigerian who moved to Lagos to open Casa Vegan, a business selling plant-based meat alternatives out of ingredients including jackfruit, cassava and locust beans: “That gives it that African-ness that we wanted.”

Born out of frustration with the lack of vegan options available to him when visiting family in Nigeria, Fashola’s vision was given extra impetus when his father died of cardiovascular disease in 2021. “It gave me the drive to push things forward,” he says, noting the health problems that a growing number of Africans face due in part to changing lifestyles and consumption habits, a connection that “a lot of people don’t appreciate”.

To begin with, Fashola says, his father had a typical reaction to his business idea: “If you speak to every African parent, they probably laugh at you when you say you’re vegan, and they offer you chicken or they offer you fish,” he says, laughing. “Initially, it was the same thing [with my dad]. It took a lot of education and I had to send him a lot of articles. And I think the more time he had to understand it, the more he came on board.”

Before he died, his father had come full circle, even nurturing a vision of a fully plant-based restaurant in a hotel he wanted to build. The change in his attitude, Fashola believes, could be mirrored across the continent. “He was coming along gradually. I think that’s the process within Nigeria, within Africa. I think it’s a slow burner. But with the right strategic influencers that can help us create the right noise … I feel like there’s a percentage of the market that would appreciate what we’re trying to do.”

There are some goals, however, that remain elusive, at least for now. Jimo, who spent years coming up with the right formula for his meat alternative – just chunky and chewy enough to suit the Nigerian palate – has now set his sights on something more complicated. “We’re still trying to fake a goat head,” he says, laughing. “That’s one of the delicacies here. The first plant-based goat head!”

Cauliflower yassa with olives

Cauliflower yassa with olives

Prep 15 min
Rest 1 hr
Cook 35 min
Serves 4

You may have already heard of yassa, a traditional Senegalese dish made with chicken or fish. Yassa is a staple of west African cuisines. This is my vegan version using cauliflower. Its dense texture makes it a lovely substitute for chicken. Serve with white rice.

Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
Salt
Black pepper
1 large cauliflower, chopped
6 medium onions, thinly sliced
½ cup (65g) green olives, pitted
3 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 tbsp coconut sugar
2 bay leaves

1 Mix the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the cauliflower, onions and olives, and toss to coat. Marinate for at least an hour (or overnight in the refrigerator).
2 Remove the cauliflower from the bowl and set aside.
3 Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a non-stick saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onions and marinade mixture and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the parsley, sugar and bay leaves and mix well. Add 3 tbsp water, cover and simmer until the onions have softened, for 10 to 15 minutes.
4 Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the cauliflower and cook until tender and golden brown, 15 minutes.
5 Stir the cauliflower into the onion mixture. Adjust the seasoning to taste and enjoy while hot.

• Recipe from Vegan Africa: Plant-Based Recipes from Ethiopia to Senegal by Marie Kacouchia © Éditions La Plage, 2021. Translation © The Experiment, 2022. Reprinted by permission of the publisher

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/feb/27/africa-taste-for-vegan-food-plant-based

Black communities are leading a vegan revolution. Food insecurity and systemic obstacles still stand in their way.

From insider.com

• Reports have shown Black Americans are more likely to adopt vegan diets.
• Plant-based options, independent from modern trends, have been a part of Black American culture for generations.
• Accessibility, cost, and education still remain obstacles in aiding in major health disparities across the nation.

When Brenda Sanders founded the Afro-Vegan Society in 2016, she felt her mission was promoting a choice between life or death. As a space for Black people to convene over their unique experience with veganism, it also revealed the dire health status of so many Americans.

"There's no way to even deny at this point that all of these completely preventable diseases that are still so prevalent in our community are not diet-related," Baltimore-native Sanders told Insider. "It's a matter of life and death for marginalized communities, especially Black and Brown folks."

Sanders echoes a bleak statistic: on average, the life expectancy of Black Americans is 6 years lower than the overall population. With heart disease as the most common cause of death, poor diet and healthy food inaccessibility has had a detrimental impact for decades.

Despite pressing health concerns, reports have shown that Black people are leading the numbers in vegan and plant-based eating. In the past 10 years, reports have shown that Black Americans were nearly three times more likely to follow a vegan diet. In 2021, a Gallup poll reported that 31% of non-white respondents cut back on their meat consumption within the year prior compared to 19% of white respondents. And a 2015 survey conducted by the Vegetarian Resource Group found that 8% of Black Americans reported never eating meat, fish, or poultry, compared to 3.4% of the overall population.

Rooted in history

Advocates and Black vegans themselves are not surprised by these numbers. As a counter narrative to exclusive, coastal, and expensive options at retailers like Whole Foods or Erewhon, veganism and plant-based options have been ingrained in predominantly Black communities for much of the 20th century and beyond.

"When I was introduced to veganism and plant-based eating 25 years ago, it was through Black people who had opened up a health food store/cafe back in the early seventies," Sanders recalls. "And if you go around the country, there were these little out of the way, tucked-into-the-corner-of-the-hood spots that were serving plant-based food."

The roots of Black veganism and vegetarianism go through many subcultures of Black America and the diaspora: from Rastafarianism, the Nation of Islam, and early hip-hop culture. Plant-based cuisine, existing for centuries before modern "vegan" nomenclature, have been reintroduced and reinvented within Black American culture for quite some time.

mixetto via Getty

Fighting food insecurity

While Black communities are no cultural stranger to plant-based or vegan options, accessibility is the primary obstacle to impacting community health. Post-pandemic, the nation is facing one of the highest rates of food insecurity in the past 25 years. 

According to the Harvard University Social Policy Data Lab, 1 in 6 Americans are struggling to eat meals daily with Black communities being twice as likely to experience food insecurity. On top of that, a history of geographic and urban planning has left large portions of the American South without easy access to food at all.

Dr. Amie Breeze Harper, author of "Sistah Vegan: Black Women Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health and Society," purports that a laundry list of systemic tactics have led to the inaccessibility of healthy food options, including the "racial wealth gap, poor transportation infrastructure" and targeted marketing that excludes the majority of the nation. 

"Systemic racism has made phenomena such as food apartheid a major impediment to achieving access to any type of holistic and culturally appropriate dietary practice, which includes veganism," Dr. Harper said. "Food apartheid tends to affect Black and Brown communities the most, if we are talking about racialized minorities in the USA."

Food apartheid

A food desert, also as referred to as "food apartheid," is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as "large proportions of households with low incomes, inadequate access to transportation, and a limited number of food retailers providing fresh produce and healthy groceries for affordable prices." To qualify technically as a food desert, at least a third of the population must live more than 1 mile from a supermarket in an urban environment or 10 miles from a supermarket in rural areas. According to the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility, 21% of Black Americans reside in a food desert. 

But the solution isn't as simple as erecting more supermarkets or groceries stores. Accessibility serves as the first behemoth for increasing nutritional value — reshaping demand and reducing costs follows directly behind as nutrient-rich food can cost ten times more than "junk food," not including the increasing wealth gap or price inflation. 

"Sometimes you build the supermarkets and people don't come," Sanders explained. "And then it becomes 'well they had a grocery store there and people didn't support it so it shut down.' But how much did you reach out to the community? Did you do a cooking demo to the community? We got to get education there, too."

The power of social media

To bridge the knowledge gap, Black vegans are taking to social media to provide guides and recipes on how to prepare fresh foods once they're in the hands of those who need it. Collectively, vegan chefs and influencers alike have amassed millions of followers connected to vegan and plant-based cooking. 

"I have seen how specifically Black communities, for example, are using the internet and social media to advocate for, and promote, their vegan food options and businesses in a way that didn't exist even 15 years ago," Dr. Harper said.  "I think of how Tabitha Brown, Brenda Sanders, Tracye McQuirter, Kai Nortey, and Badass Vegan have used cyber technology to create a more diverse way to narrate and promote veganism."

Celebrities have also advocated for veganism. In 2019, Beyoncé and Jay-Z offered fans the chance to win tickets to their concerts for life if they incorporated more plant-based meals into their diets. Venus Williams has spoken about how a raw plant-based diet helped her manage an autoimmune disease.

The deeply-rooted cultural significance of plant-based and vegan alternatives remains the key to the often overlooked popularity within Black communities. Dissecting it from continued trends and promoting its connection to issues related to individual well being, environmental health, and generational community development remains at the core of the Afro-Vegan Society's mission. 

"We must divorce the idea of plant-based alternatives from trends, from the idea that it has to be expensive, or that it somehow runs counter to our culture," Afro-Vegan Society founder Sanders said. "There are so many different problems that can start to be addressed by this one change.

https://www.insider.com/black-americans-vegan-diets-food-deserts-2023-2

Nutrient deficiencies vegans need to watch out for

From which.co.uk

We run down the vitamins and minerals that are harder to get from plants alone, and how to keep them topped up 

Going vegan or veggie is increasingly popular, but it could put you at risk of nutritional deficiencies that impact your health if you don't plan your meals carefully.

If you've started following a vegan diet as part of your 2023 resolutions it's important to be aware of the nutrients that are harder to source from solely plant-based foods, and make sure you're getting enough. 

We've rounded up the vital vitamins that are harder to get hold of via a plant-based diet, why they matter, and how to get more into your meals.

Which nutrients are harder to get from a plant-based diet?

Vitamin B12

We only need a small amount of B12 in our daily diet but it's really key. Not getting enough can cause tiredness, headaches and vision problems.

If left unchecked, it can cause more severe symptoms including issues with memory and cognition, vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia, increased risk of heart disease and nerve symptoms such as numbness.

Vitamin B12 only occurs naturally in animal-derived foods such as meat, milk, eggs, fish and shellfish, so vegans can struggle to get enough of it.

Vegan B12 food sources:

• Fortified breakfast cereal and / or fortified plant-based milk. Most cereals have vitamin B12 added to them but check before buying (and watch out for sugar content). Some plant-based milk alternatives are also fortified with B12. See how they compare in our guide to plant-based milks. 
• Yeast extract. Whether it's Marmite or an own-brand version, these spreads are fortified with vitamin B12. 
• Nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast flakes can be used instead of cheese when you're making vegan dishes like mac and no-cheese.

However, even if you add fortified foods to your diet, you'll likely need a B12 supplement to ensure you're getting enough.

Calcium

Calcium is found in dairy foods such as cheese, yoghurt and milk and it's needed for strong bones and teeth, as well as regulating heart rhythm.

If we don't get the average 700mg we need per day from our diet it can lead to reduced bone density. This is particularly important for women, who are at higher risk of osteoporosis in later life.

A 2020 study in BMC medical journal showed that those following a vegan diet had a higher risk of fractures in all areas of the body, especially the hip bones. Vegetarians and fish eaters were also at increased risk of fracture compared to meat eaters.

Vegan calcium food sources:

• Choose calcium-fortified foods. Calcium-set soya bean curd or tofu, fortified cereals and fortified plant-based milk alternatives are all useful options.
• Pack in green leafy veg. Some are better than others. Kale and spring greens are good sources.
• Don't eat too many oxalate or phytate containing foods. Although dried fruits, beans, seeds and nuts contain calcium they also contain oxalates and/or phytates. These reduce the body's ability to absorb calcium, so try to avoid having these foods at the same time as other calcium sources. The same applies to some dark green leafy veg, such as spinach.

Iron

If you're often tired, breathless and pale,  you might have low iron - the nutrient needed for healthy blood cells to carry oxygen to every cell in your body.

The 'haem' variety of iron - found in animal products such as beef, lamb, pork, eggs and poultry - is more easily absorbed by the body than plant-derived 'non-haem' iron, which is what animal-free diets depend on.

Vegans have been shown to have lower blood cells counts and higher levels of iron-deficiency anaemia than people who get iron from animal sources.

How to get enough iron when you're vegan:

• Combine it with vitamin C. This improves absorption of iron, so combining vitamin C rich fruit and veg, or a glass of OJ, with your iron-based sources (beans, pulses, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, wholemeal bread) can help. 
• Avoid drinking tea or coffee with meals. Tea and coffee contain plant compounds called polyphenols which can bind to iron and reduce how much you absorb, so try to avoid drinking them near to mealtime. 

Zinc

Animal sources of zinc include meat, shellfish and dairy foods, and it supports immunity, healthy hair and skin, and wound healing.

It's known as a trace mineral, meaning we only need small amounts, but our bodies can't store it, so we need regular intakes. 

Plant-based sources of zinc include wheat germ, beans, nuts, seeds, mushrooms and fortified breakfast cereals, but phytate (found in plant fibres, especially in seeds and nuts) can inhibit zinc absorption.

Vegan zinc food sources:

• Try fermented foods like tempeh and miso. The fermentation process in these soya foods produces the enzyme phytase, which breaks down the phytates in plant foods that can get in the way of zinc absorption.
• Sprouted beans, chickpeas and lentils. Sprouting also leads to the breaking down of phytates, but cook thoroughly if they're being eaten by people in vulnerable groups including those who are pregnant.

Omega-3 fats

The omega-3 fats ALA,  EPA and DHA have to come from our food because we can't make them ourselves.

EPA and DHA, which are are needed for heart, lung and blood vessel health, are found in oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring and sardines (ideally two portions per week) so if you're vegan you rely on these being converted from the ALA you get from certain nuts and seeds.

Foods rich in the omega-6 essential fat LA  (linoleic acid) include walnuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and some vegetable oils including sunflower and corn.

Vegan sources of Omega-3 fats:

• Chia seeds, ground linseed, hemp seeds and walnuts. All are good daily sources.
• Use rapeseed oil. The Vegan Society recommends using this instead of oils containing a lot of LA, such as sunflower, corn or sesame oils.

Iodine

Iodine is needed for healthy thyroid function, which impacts many processes in the body including metabolism and temperature control - as well as being essential for healthy pregnancy.

The 140 micrograms of it that we need each day is usually derived from dairy products and seafood, but if you're a vegan, or don't eat much of these food groups, you may be at risk of being deficient.

A 2021 study published in Cambridge University Press found that both vegans and vegetarians are at risk of inadequate iodine nutrition.

Vegan iodine food sources:

• Eat seaweed, but not too often. Although seaweed foods such as sushi, nori, wakame and kelp contain iodine it can be in variable amounts so guidance states that you shouldn't eat sea vegetables more than once a week.
• Don't rely on iodised salt. Experts say that as we are being encouraged to cut down on salt to prevent conditions such as high blood pressure we shouldn't rely on iodised salt as a means of increasing intake.
• Use iodine-fortified plant milk. The ingredient to look out for is potassium iodide, but read the label as some milk alternatives contain it while others don't. 

Are vegan diets healthy?

A well-balanced vegan diet is low in saturated fat and rich in dietary fibre and plant proteins - all of which combine to benefit health in a variety of ways, including weight loss, reduced risk of some cancers, managing blood sugar levels and reducing levels of bad cholesterol.

However, it's also possible to have an unhealthy vegan diet. Some ultra-processed foods labelled as vegan, such as meat substitutes, aren't always as healthy as their image may suggest.

Some have unexpectedly high levels of sugar, salt and fat - for example, Which? compared a vegan Beyond Burger to a standard beef burger and found more calories, fat and salt per 100g in the non-meat version. They can be pricier too.

So, don't assume any food labelled vegan is good for you. You'll still need to watch out for additives, and high sugar or salt levels.

Who's most at risk of nutrient deficiency?

Certain groups are more at risk of lacking key vitamins and minerals:

Women and teenage girls

The National Diet and Nutrition Survey shows that one in four UK women and almost half (49%) of girls and young women aged 11-18 have a low intake of iron, which can increase the risk of iron deficiency anaemia.

The needs of women aged 19-50 are greater than those of men and older women because of menstruation, which can use up your iron reserves, especially if your periods are heavy or your diet is low in iron.

Around one in ten adult women also have inadequate intakes of calcium, which may leave them at higher risk of osteoporosis, and there is evidence that teenage girls and young women don't get enough iodine. 

Older people

As we get older it becomes harder to absorb vitamin B12 so experts recommend boosting levels by eating fortified breakfast cereals, yeast extract and meat.

The NHS says that both vitamin B12 deficiency and folate deficiency are more common in older people, affecting around 1 in 10 over 75 and 1 in 20 people aged 65 to 74 so if you're concerned see your GP.

Vegetarians

How strictly vegetarian you are will impact which nutrients might be lacking (e.g if you still eat fish or eggs). However, with the emphasis on plant foods, vegetarians should be thinking about how they meet their vitamin B12 needs, for example from fortified foods or from a supplement.

People with gastrointestinal issues or on certain medications

Some gastric conditions can make it hard for your body to absorb nutrients from food.

For example, people with coeliac disease, where the digestive system works less effectively than it should, need to make sure they have enough iron, vitamin B12 and calcium. And some reflux suppressing medications can limit B12 uptake.

What about supplements?

It's best to get your nutrients from your diet where possible, but supplements may be helpful for some groups or where it's harder to get from diet alone. See our guide to vitamin and mineral supplements you do and don't need for more.

https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/nutrient-deficiencies-vegans-need-to-watch-out-for-axmFn7x81sMa