Vegans In Vegas

It has been confirmed I will be speaking at the Vegans in Vegas event this year. This should be exciting. If you want more information check it out. Ryan Henn is doing a great job getting the information out to people.

http://vegansinvegas.com/
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My Bio:

Donnie Smith serves on the advisory board for the Food Empowerment Project (FEP), a non-profit seeking to create a more just and sustainable world by recognizing the power of one’s food choices. FEP’s mission is to encourage healthy food choices that reflect a more compassionate society by spotlighting the abuse of animals on farms, the depletion of natural resources, unfair working conditions for produce workers, and the unavailability of healthy foods in low-income areas. Donnie will be presenting on the connection between race, class and the inequity of our current food system for people of color and low income communities.

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Donnie is a graduate of Earlham College in Richmond, IN. where he was a member of the animal rights group on campus (Friends of Animals) and became active in the food movement by not only reaching out to fellow students about food policies, but also helping them understand how their food choices can change the world.

Dinner with Ashley

Well it's always nice to have friends over for dinner. But nothing is more romantic then having one friend over for a meal. I finally had the time and patience to make my friend Ashley G a amazing vegan meal. She was just blown away. It's a long story how we got to the point that we had dinner with each other. But it happened.

The main course on the menu was a Spinach Lasagna with Mushroom's and Creamy Vegan Ricotta. This dish was fun to make and thanks to the great cookbook "Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick- Goudreau" I would not have been able to pull it off.




Being raised to believing that you cannot have a meal with dessert. I had to make a dessert for my friend Ashley. Vegans love food just like anyone else and we are Vegan Divas.

Red Velvet Cake with a Vegan Buttercream Frosting



Being vegan does not mean that you give up foods that you love. It means that you work hard to veganize into something that you can love.

Food and More

It has been awhile since I have written on my blog about all of the great things that I have been doing. Have I been a bad vegan or a bad blogger ? I believe both.


Not writing on my blog has been good for me. I feel that I have been so creative in the kitchen and I plan to share it all with my followers. The adventure I have been on for the past couple of months has been amazing. My new goal is to post as often as possible. Meaning at least twice a week ( I hope I can stay on track).

Please feel free to send me emails black.veganism@gmail.com

Sex, Politics, Meat, & Carol J. Adams

I have decided to dedicate this entry to talk about Carol J. Adams. I have had the great opportunity of meeting Carol when she spoke at Earlham College and presented her presentation on "The Sexual Politics of Meat". I was already vegan when she came to speak and we had to chance to become facebook friends. I have to say she blew me away because finally someone was talking my language.

Many people think about veganism as something that is just a diet and you need to make sure you dont eat meat,eggs, and any other animal products. At the same time it's so much more than consumption because as I see that everything is connected and no way that we can deny that.

Carol takes you on a journey to understand how women are used to market animal products to the use of animals to sell a dress. It's just sad to think that even PETA would go as far to allow people to get naked and at the same time it's "saving a animal". This is not okay and we need to make sure that we understand to stop on oppression we cannot allow others to be oppressed.

My favorite part of Carol's presentation would have to be called "The Block Vegetarian" someone who wants to be vegetarian and at the same time refuses to try and understand the importance this lifestyle. She makes you wonder about the people around you and makes a vegan feel good about being vegan.

I know that being vegan for so long how many people have made fun of me and feel that it's pointless for me to eat animals. But when Carol gave her talk I just was overwhelmed with joy and knew why I didn't eat animals. When you think about vegan food people think about salads and Carol shows images of how great a vegan meal could look and we had a great vegan meal with her.

If you have not read the Sexual Politics of Meat then go out right now pick it up or order it on amazon.com. I'm a big fan of this Eco Feminist who is trying to educate and change the world.

Vegan Men are Now "hegans"

I could not believe my eyes. Men now have a word that describes there plant eating ways. I just need to say that this is not needed. We don't need to make a joke of veganism and I feel this just causes to many problems. Vegan is a fine word or just say you are eating a plant based diet. Hegan is suppose to be for men who adopt vegan diets in there 40s and 50s. We should not be putting age connected to a diet. Hegan should just not exist and people should not be made of fun of because of the time and age they choose to adopt a plant based diet.

Here is the story : http://www.salon.com/food/feature/2010/03/24/male_vegans_hegan

Vegans leave your comments and reflect.

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.