BIPOC Portraits is a series in which Best of Vegan contributors Val & Mani Latifi of Plant-Based Passport profile one BIPOC vegan creator each week over the course of 16 weeks, to shed light on the unique challenges BIPOCs face in making the decision to embrace veganism. For BIPOCs, the prevailing narrative that veganism is a white-dominated movement can often mean a perceived loss of cultural identity. The hope of this profile series is to make veganism a little less lonely for BIPOCs and to give courage to vegan-curious BIPOCs out there. In the sixteenth and final installment of BIPOC Portraits, Christine Wong of Conscious Cooking shares her journey to veganism as a Hong Kong Chinese-American. She also provides a delicious recipe for Congee 粥 (or “jook”).
[The acronym BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color]
Christine Wong is an author and eco-conscious home cook based in New York City. She is the author of The Plantiful Plate and Living Without Plastic. Christine became a vegan in 2014. At the time, she was already decreasing her meat consumption, and in nutrition school, she learned more about how foods can either help or harm one’s health. She became aware of the inhumane atrocities of factory farming and also how much more sustainable our world would be if we all focused on eating plant foods. When Christine’s not making magic in the kitchen, she enjoys sewing, which is a skill she learned during the lockdown. Christine is also busy working on a proposal for a second cookbook!
Follow Christine: Website | Instagram | Facebook.
When you first went vegan, did you see the vegan community as diverse? Did you see yourself as having a place in the vegan community as a BIPOC?
When I first went vegan, I did not see the diversity, as everyone was making the same foods. And by focusing on celebrating the benefits of supporting local farms and eating seasonally, I made pretty much the same foods too. I didn’t see race being an issue, as the vegan community is a very welcoming and inspiring one. Since 2020, I’ve come across a much more diverse vegan community that focuses on sharing recipes from their cultures. I love it and am now inspired to focus on sharing foods from my own heritage too!
However, race can be an issue related to food when:
- Any kids of different cultures have been made to feel ashamed of their “stinky” homemade packed lunch.
- Anyone who passes judgment on another culture’s cuisine because it’s unfamiliar, without the willingness to even try the food.
- People fear they can catch a virus just by eating at a Chinese restaurant (the way they did when the pandemic first hit). Misnomers like these have been devastating to the Asian community resulting in the decline of support to small businesses, and the increase in hate crimes against Asians across the globe.
- Food bloggers profit off of culturally-appropriated recipes without respect or support to the culture and community they are profiting from.
For me, the challenge is not to use mock meats as a substitute. Most of them are highly processed — I would much rather use real, whole-food ingredients
Did you have any fears or reservations about going vegan? Did you feel like you might lose part of your cultural identity in your transition to veganism?
Historically, Chinese food had little emphasis on eating meat; it wasn’t available to most of the population, and even when it was, people would cook dishes that would make a little bit of meat go a long way. Because of this, I’ve never been concerned about losing any kind of cultural identity.
Did you worry about how your friends and family would react to your decision to go vegan? And how did they react?
No.
Did you have challenges finding vegan substitutes to make your cultural dishes? What substitutes did you make?
For me, the challenge is not to use mock meats as a substitute. Most of them are highly processed — I would much rather use real, whole-food ingredients. My latest accomplishment is recreating the soup stock for a vegan soup dumpling using agar agar and a flavorful mushroom stock.
With globalization, I think it is more important than ever to be mindful and respectful of other cultures. One cannot appreciate one part of a culture while blatantly ignoring the rest
Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
With globalization, I think it is more important than ever to be mindful and respectful of other cultures. A food blogger who recreates a recipe (and profits from advertising revenue) cannot make claims that their version is “better”, nor can they be silent when that same culture is in danger from racial prejudice and hate. One cannot appreciate one part of a culture while blatantly ignoring the rest.
Article by Val and Mani Latifi. Recipe and photos by Christine Wong of Conscious Cooking.
