The Killer in the Communities of Color

Today I was with a friend and I could not stop thinking about the role that McDonalds, Burger King and KFC have played in my life. These places have changed the way I look at food. Because we all know that they all offer great cuisines for the pocket. Every time I walk pass one of these chains I think about suffering and oppression. Many people are probably thinking how could a college student think of suffering and oppression when walking pass all American McDonalds. Think of oppression because in New York for example these fast food chains over take black communities and most community of color with cheap meal deals. It makes me sad that someone would be so oppressive and hateful to make food available to people that is unhealthy and highly processed foods. How is it that we live in a world that values a dollar more than making sure we all have healthy and fresh food to eat in our communities? We rather make the meat and dairy industry richer and not allow people to have access to the real soul food. McDonald’s has changed the way I look at food because I always thought it was great to sit down and have a chicken nugget meal that to me at the time was tasty and had being eating since I was a child. It was considered to my dad at the time to be a healthy option on the menu. When I got older I just loved to the taste and the cheapness of the food before me. When I decided to educate myself about food and factory farming I borrowed a book from my friend and co-worker called Fast Food Nation. I could not believe the way that animals were being treated. The thing I called food I could no longer feel comfortable eating animals again. Then I decided after completing the book I would give up land meat and then one day go vegetarian. I made it far and then January 2007 I decided to go vegan and eat a full plant base diet. People feel that being vegan is the end of the world and that you cannot be healthy and happy. I have to disagree because food will bring us together at some point in our lives. We have to educate people and not allow food to be a privilege and let it be a right for all to have access to. McDonalds has been killing people of color for so long and it’s not alone in this journey of destruction to the human body. I cannot sit her and support a industry that goes into community of color and put poison before them to eat. McDonalds is not marketing food that is healthy and balanced. They are marketing food that is cheap and at the end of the day comes with a whole host of health problem for the people who consume this products I’m upset because places like this exist. I don’t feel that my parents did anything wrong by feeding me McDonalds. I’m upset because McDonalds is greedy and targeting the poor and people of color to consume this so called food. I think that people should know that Fast Food is going to be the killer in the black community and it must stop now. We must fight for food equality and start making healthy , organic , local , and fresh food access for all.

Understand Diets and Vegetarianism/Veganism When Traveling

Today was a very interesting day for me. I spoke with my friend who is studying with me in London. She is just so amazing and a sweet person to know. We were speaking about our travels over our Spring. I went to Barcelona (pictures and information soon) and she went off to Madrid and Valencia Spain. She was explaining to me how hard it was to be veg.

I'm blogging about this because I just feel it can be hard to travel with people who are not veg because they usually feel that they have to have the local cuisine to gain the full experience. This is not true for all non-vegans and vegetarians. But we need to understand that veganism and vegetarianism is not just a choice all diets are a choice.

When you eat animal products and feel that it's not a choice you might want to sit back and examine your life choices. Why do people choose to be veg ? People choose to be veg because of health, environmental, and other positive reasons. Instead of feeling like it's hard to be veg you should test it out yourself. Your health is more important then a steak from Argentina and lard based beans from Mexico.

Travel is suppose to be fun and it drives me insane when people think the food is the thing that we should focus on. When I travel yes I think about food and at the same time I overall value the experience of being in a new place and continue to think what else I can do to learn more about the place I'm in at the moment. I don't need to eat meat to prove that I have gained a "real" life cultural experience.

I have to say that when I was in Barcelona I was the one picking the places we would eat and my dear non veg friend Rebecca enjoy it. She liked the vegetarian food that we got experience together. She was very respective to my diet as was I.

We need to stop thinking of veg people as problematic when it comes to eating. You should value the reason behind the choice in diet and I hope that can be respect.