By Any Greens Necessary: A Revolutionary Guide for Black Women Who Want to Eat Great, Get Healthy, Lose Weight, and Look Phat
By Tracye Lynn McQuirter, MPH
Before I even started to reading By Any Greens Necessary, I was in love with McQuirter, because she has her Masters in Public Health. That is the degree that I am trying to obtain starting September 2010. Though her degree is in a different concentration than my prospective, I still think we share a kindred spirit.
While this is not the first book that I read about veganism and not the last, it is the book that made me stick to my life style choice. The first book that I read was Skinny Bitch and both books a similar. They both shatter myths, explore each component of the meat industry, and include a few recipes at the end.
Where By Any Greens Necessary differs for me, is the cultural difference. To start, she shares her own story. She does not paint a pretty road to veganism. She had struggles, she relapsed, went through cultural crap, and societal pressure; Just like me! So I could relate to her and after reading this book I knew if she could do it, I could do it too.
Another thing is that I bought Skinny Bitch, because I wanted to be skinny. Okay, not skinny, just shed a few pounds. But Skinny Bitch focused on animals and how much we were hurting the animals. I love animals, but in By Any Greens Necessary, McQuirter won me over when she agreed with me that our health is first. The fact that animals are benefiting is an excellent by-product.
Having tried being vegan before, the chapters on the horror of the slaughter houses was like preaching to the choir. But she was still able to capture my attention. What she talked about, that I had not heard before, were the people that work in the slaughter house. How they are not paid fair wedges and how there lives are in danger around the machines. She even cited actual cases of deaths in these factories. So if you can not be vegan for your health, the animals, do it for the workers.
To wrap this up, the cultural context of By Any Greens Necessary really made veganism a real lifestyle option for me, where before it was just a diet. Hearing this information presented by a black, public health, female, nutritionist really resonated with me. I would tell any one, who wanted to here a true personal and professional opinion on veganism, to read this book.
