7 Black-Owned Vegan Businesses You Can Support Right Now
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Across the country, Black Americans are bringing delicious, healthy plant-based food to their communities through innovative vegan businesses. Many started their businesses to address health disparities afflicting Black Americans. Others recognized similarities in systems of oppression, between the violence inflicted on farmed animals and the violence perpetrated against people of color in this country.
While countless Black-owned businesses are doing outstanding work, here are seven we love:
Compton Vegan
Compton Vegan owner Lemel Durrah started his company to bring affordable, healthy plant-based comfort food—like jackfruit ribs and vegan chicken tacos—to Compton and other inner cities in need. Durrah dreams of one day making Compton Vegan as common as McDonald’s.
Urban Vegan Kitchen
Manhattan’s Urban Vegan Kitchen offers organic plant-based comfort food in an intimate West Village setting. Customers can choose from delicious options like Chick-un & Waffles, mac and cheese, chili, and Korean barbecue wings. Many of the foods are made in-house, including salad dressings, sauces, and cheese.
The Veg Hub
Plant-based chef and activist GW Chew founded The Veg Hub as a nonprofit, all-vegan restaurant bringing delicious plant-based food to Oakland, California. On top of serving fantastic food, The Veg Hub works to educate people about plant-based nutrition and is dedicated to making vegan food accessible to everyone in the community. Chef Chew has traveled across America speaking on the benefits of plant-based food, delivered a powerful TED talk, and filmed a television program called Chew’s Challenge: 28 Days to Wellness for the Dare to Dream Network.
Stuff I Eat
Stuff I Eat is located in downtown Inglewood, California, and co-owned by Chef Babette Davis. As one of the only plant-based restaurants in the area, Stuff I Eat has changed how many people in the community see vegan food. With a menu ranging from soul food and burgers to mouthwatering desserts, Stuff I Eat can satisfy any appetite.
This Girl’s Grub
Chef Whitney Watts is a personal chef and owner of Chicago-based This Girl’s Grub, offering vegan meal plans, a daily menu that can be delivered to your door, a shipping menu for catering, and snacks and beverages. Chef Watts is passionate about showing “people something familiar but in a different way” and offers her community classes on plant-based eating.
Baba’s Vegan Cafe
Baba’s Vegan Cafe is a catering company and pop-up shop in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, owned by Wo’se Kofi (Afi-Shabaka), an LA native eager to bring healthy, affordable plant-based options to a community surrounded by fast-food restaurants.
The Land of Kush
Gregory Brown and Naijha Wright Brown opened the plant-based soul food restaurant The Land of Kush in Baltimore, Maryland, to “bring people into the world of veganism.” The Browns’ tasty plant-based options include Southern favorites like collard greens, baked mac and cheese, ribs, and crab cakes. According to Naijha, their restaurant is “the ultimate vegan experience.”
Looking for more ways to support Black Americans? Follow organizations and movements committed to racial justice, such as Black Lives Matter and SURJ. You can also educate yourself further by listening to Black voices, reading books and articles from Black authors, and sharing their work with others. Together, we can create a more compassionate and just world for everyone.