"Sistah vegan needs a 'black version' of Vegetarian Myth"

Sistah Vegan was reviewed on “Civil Eats” the other day. I enjoyed the review and I think Andrea understands the nature of my work.

However, in terms of comments….I think it’s funny that commenters will critique a book before reading it. I guess this human being below (comment 2) is projecting anger and hate issues on a book they have yet to read. They also seem to not understand that I look at veganism from a cultural perspective, looking at how race, racism, racialization experiences influence how one understands or transitions into veganism. Their comment doesn’t reflect that they read this. Anyway, I often like to share how my book and research are [mis]interpreted by people who don’t even bother reading the book. Here is the link to Civil Eats: Sistah Vegan: A rethinking of race and food. Below are 2 comments from that blog thus far. The first one is positive, the 2nd one is unproductive, but I’ve chosen not to engage with this person by not responding. I feel like it would make more sense for them to eventually read the book and spend a fair amount of time on my blog to see what I’m talking about.

Comments from the Civil Eats blog so far:

by Valerie

On May 11, 2010 at 1:59 pm

Great review. I just finished this book and enjoyed it very much. Very thought provoking. As a vegan woman of color, I was very excited when I first heard of Ms Harper’s work, and even more exited to see it finally come to fruition.

by yay food

On May 12, 2010 at 12:40 am

This book could use a black version of “The Vegetarian Myth” by Lierre Keith or even websites like wholehealthsource.blogspot.com as a rebuttal to the health claims.

A vegan diet will exacerbate existing nutrient deficiencies in black American women because the plant-based sources of nutrients simply do not offer enough bioavailability.

The black American community needs better access to high-quality animal products, not *just* more vegetables, and definitely not more grains and legumes (which have scientifically demonstrated bad effects including depleting nutrients in the body without massive amounts of prep before eating).