Tracye McQuirter, MPH, is a public health nutritionist, speaker, activist and best-selling author who has been teaching people how to live a healthy vegan lifestyle for more than 30 years. She is the creator of the 10,000 Black Vegan Women Movement and recently launched the 10 Million Black Vegan Women Movement.
Potomac Lifestyle: What originally inspired you to go vegan?
Tracye McQuirter: When I was a sophomore at Amherst College in 1986, Civil Rights Movement activist and groundbreaking comedian Dick Gregory came to campus and talked about the plate of African Americans. He connected the dots between the political, economic, social, personal, and cultural reasons we eat the way we eat. His talk rocked my world! It led me to do my own research and go vegan about a year or so later. My mother and one of my sisters went vegan with me, too. It's been almost 35 years now and I've never looked back.
PL: Why did you create your program 10,000 Black Vegan Women?
TM: I created 10,000 Black Vegan Women in 2020 because I wanted a big, bold way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of my first book, By Any Greens Necessary, the first vegan diet book for Black women. It was quite influential and helped countless women go vegan over the last decade. So I decided to help 10,000 black women go vegan together for 21 days and we ended up having 15,000 women and counting sign up!
PL: We hear that you recently announced that you have created a new initiative: 10 Million Black Vegan Women. What inspired you to make this big jump from 10,000 to 10 Million?
TM: My mission with 10 Million Black Vegan Women is to help change the health paradigm of Black women so that we can live healthier, fuller lives. For many systemic reasons, we now experience the worst health outcomes in the country, especially when it comes to preventable chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes.
PL: Can you share with us some of the success stories of participants in your program?
TM: Some of the successes have included losing weight, lowered blood pressure and cholesterol, overall health improvement, more energy, better mental clarity, enjoying cooking more, and better vegetable intake.
PL: Do you have any advice for people who are interested in veganism but don’t know where to start?
TM: I recommend two things to help get started:
1) Be clear about WHY you want to go vegan and write it down where you can see it daily. Also, read vegan books, watch vegan documentaries, join local and online vegan groups, and follow your favorite vegan influencers.
2) Veganize your favorite foods. If you like to cook stir-frys or pasta dishes, try using chickpeas, cashews, almonds, tofu, edamame, and other beans and nuts as your main sources of protein. And swap out white rice and pasta for whole grain rice (black, brown, wild) and pasta. Add colorful veggies and season with your favorite dried herbs and spices – and you have a great place to start.