Our Marketing Intern, Gerald Daye Jr., reached out to Chef Bryant Terry and conducted an interview regarding Black History Month and the inspiration behind his book, Afro-Vegan. Take a look into the story of Chef Bryant Terry.
Gerald: Why is Black History Month important?
Chef Terry: While I think we should be uplifting the important contributions and achievements of African Americans throughout the year, I appreciate Carter G. Woodson creating a week, then a month to focus on Black folks as creators and agents of change instead of victims.
Gerald: What does being vegan mean to you?
Chef Terry: I don’t like labels. I am driven by a desire to see justice for all living beings. I also know that there is a growing body of medical research that connects following a plant-based diet with a lower risk of heart disease and other preventable diet-related illnesses. I see plant-centered diets as a tool for addressing the public health crisis that we see in the African-American community. Being a vegan is not only about rejecting food that contain animal products for health reasons, but it is about a principled approach to life that rejects the idea that we need to kill animals to sustain ourselves.
Gerald: How did your roots growing up have an influence on the book, Afro-Vegan and the food you make today?
Chef Terry: I grew up eating food as a local at my family’s backyard gardens in Memphis, Tennessee and farms in rural Tennessee and Mississippi. We mostly ate what was in season (except food that we canned, pickled, and preserved); and we would often harvested ingredients right before the meal.
Gerald: What is your favorite recipe from Afro-Vegan?
Chef Terry:The Texas Caviar on toast is always a winner.
Gerald: What inspired this recipe?
Chef Terry: I’m always thinking of creative ways to use black-eyed peas. Since “toast” was all the rage when I was writing that book I figured why not.
Gerald: Any chefs of the past and present that inspire you when you cook?
Chef Terry: Edna Lewis, JJ Johnson, Edouardo Jordan, Nicole Taylor, and Michael Twitty.
Gerald: What lead you to becoming a food activist?
Chef Terry: My work is deeply inspired by programs of the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s and ‘70s that addressed the intersection of poverty, malnutrition, and institutional racism. Their Grocery Giveaways and Free Breakfast for Children Program inspire a lot of food justice activists.
Gerald: What are your thoughts on food security?
Chef Terry: There are many economic, physical, and geographic barriers that make it difficult for a lot of poor and working-poor people to access fresh food in communities across America. Over the past 20 years, I have seen a lot more awareness about the disparity in access to real food in this country, and there have been a lot of efforts to bring more fresh food to communities. But we have a long way to go. I do not think food justice is going to come from not-for-profits working in historically marginalized communities or from starting farmer’s markets in these communities (and certainly not building Walmart’s that sell organic produce). I think food justice is about shifting power into the hands of everyday people. When communities have the knowledge, skills, and resources to grow their own food and when they own the means of production and distribution of fresh food, that will be real food justice. The solutions to community food injustice should be owned and driven by those living in food insecure communities. It is important for community stakeholders to partner with frontline communities, but only those communities should determine how to address the issues that impact them the most.
Gerald: Why did you choose the title, Afro-Vegan, for your book?
Chef Terry: Imagine if you removed the animal products from African, Caribbean, Southern, and other Afro-influenced cuisines, then meticulously cut, pasted, and remixed the food to produce recipes with farm-fresh ingredients as their heart and soul: That is Afro-Vegan. I have seen a lot more African-Americans looking beyond the comfort foods of our cuisine and embracing the diverse and healthful foundational foods of African-American cuisine. I think it is important to remember that throughout the 20th century there have been people of African descent calling for more healthful diets—from Rastafarians embracing an Ital diet to Hip Hop artists such as K.R.S. ONE rapping about the horrors of animal factory farming and its effect on human health. The term “Afro-Vegan” is really about the need for us to remember vegetable-centered traditional diets throughout the African Diaspora as well as the Black-led food activism throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. (Developed by Rastafarians, Ital food is a natural way of cooking that tries to avoid processed food, additives, oil, salt and sugar.)
Gerald: What is your message to those that have never tried the vegan lifestyle?
Chef Terry: Don’t get caught up in labels. We all need to be eating a more plant-centered diet. We also need to be thinking about our role in dismantling the industrialized food system that treats animals horribly. Let justice and a desire to eat healthful fresh food drive you. Forget about the labels.
Gerald Daye Jr.
Marketing Intern
Northwestern Dining