Hey, it's me
My name is Melissa, and I'm almost a vegan. I'm a bisexual Asian-American woman and I live in Baltimore, Maryland with my beautiful girlfriend and our extremely anxious Shiba Inu named Taki.
Food is one my biggest passions. I love to cook and try new types of cuisines. For a long time, I resisted going vegetarian even though I knew that it aligned with my ethics. One day I finally watched Food Inc. which convinced me to make the switch because I believe the way we consume meat in the United States has a terrible toll on humans, animals, and our environment.
At that time, it was relatively easy for me to give up meat because my true love was cheese. I lived in Paris for six months as a very poor college student and my main source of nutrition was Camembert (and Nutella) which I washed down with milk (yes) or wine. I would have told you you could pry cheese from my cold dead fingers. But as I got older, I noticed a change in my body. I developed painful cystic acne which I had never had before. I also felt bloated and tired all the time. After months of denial, my doctor told me that the source of my pain was my love of dairy.
I still rely on (and enjoy) eggs and other animal-based food products, like honey. I can't say all my products are the most ethically sourced because, to be honest, I can't afford to live like that. This leads into some of the issues I have with veganism.
An overwhelming number of people in the vegan space are white and I found that their language about food was purist, racist, and promoted diet culture. Many white vegans prioritize preventing animal cruelty over ending human suffering and don't confront how our current food system is a colonial force that relies on exploited labor, and erases indigenous agricultural cultures. In addition, vegan food products are generally very expensive and inaccessible to the wider population.
I still have a lot of learning to do myself, but I pledge that I will not uphold white veganism or diet culture in this space and I want to promote an inclusive, flexible type of veganism. I want to give people options, not restrictions. I will never talk about calories or whether food is "healthy." I will never talk about losing weight or detox plans in this space. I hope that this will be a food blog free of fatphobia.
Food is one my biggest passions. I love to cook and try new types of cuisines. For a long time, I resisted going vegetarian even though I knew that it aligned with my ethics. One day I finally watched Food Inc. which convinced me to make the switch because I believe the way we consume meat in the United States has a terrible toll on humans, animals, and our environment.
At that time, it was relatively easy for me to give up meat because my true love was cheese. I lived in Paris for six months as a very poor college student and my main source of nutrition was Camembert (and Nutella) which I washed down with milk (yes) or wine. I would have told you you could pry cheese from my cold dead fingers. But as I got older, I noticed a change in my body. I developed painful cystic acne which I had never had before. I also felt bloated and tired all the time. After months of denial, my doctor told me that the source of my pain was my love of dairy.
I still rely on (and enjoy) eggs and other animal-based food products, like honey. I can't say all my products are the most ethically sourced because, to be honest, I can't afford to live like that. This leads into some of the issues I have with veganism.
An overwhelming number of people in the vegan space are white and I found that their language about food was purist, racist, and promoted diet culture. Many white vegans prioritize preventing animal cruelty over ending human suffering and don't confront how our current food system is a colonial force that relies on exploited labor, and erases indigenous agricultural cultures. In addition, vegan food products are generally very expensive and inaccessible to the wider population.
I still have a lot of learning to do myself, but I pledge that I will not uphold white veganism or diet culture in this space and I want to promote an inclusive, flexible type of veganism. I want to give people options, not restrictions. I will never talk about calories or whether food is "healthy." I will never talk about losing weight or detox plans in this space. I hope that this will be a food blog free of fatphobia.