A Twin Cities festival that celebrates wellness, music and plant-based eating in the Black community is back for its fifth year.
V-Fest is part of a mini-boom in Black-owned vegetarian and vegan enterprises in the Twin Cities, including plant-based soul food, Caribbean food, juice bars, cafes and catering businesses.
Phillip McGraw, owner of the St. Paul-based Plant Bar Cafe , said many community members are seeking out healthier lifestyles — which drove him to start the festival after an experience picking up trash from fast food restaurants.
“Everything [in life] is a constant ‘go, go, go,’ and it’s so stressful on our bodies,” McGraw said. “I really want to let people know to slow down … have some fun and learn some information.”
This year’s V-Fest, on Saturday, July 27, will feature music performances, wellness-related workshops, mindfulness activities, food and more.
McGraw said food disparities in the African American community have been around since slavery and more people may be leaning towards plant-based diets as a way to heal from the trauma the community has faced.
“Health is such a big thing because it boils into mental and financial health,” McGraw said. “We want to celebrate our health, and we want people to understand that we’re not pushing people. We know there are things in this food desert that leave you with [only] so many options.”
Taking care of one’s body, especially in a hustle culture, is important to Mykela Jackson , who runs Keiko’s Kitchen , a Black-owned plant-based soul restaurant centered on promoting healthier lifestyles in north Minneapolis.
“Nobody really gives themselves a break to rest, relax, recover themselves before we have to go and be in this hustle mentality,” Jackson said. “It’s very common in Black households to have to grind and put ourselves first because we’re trying to make it day-to-day.”
Jackson began her plant-based lifestyle at the age of 19, and the results made her stick with it. She said she had more energy, was more clear-headed, her eczema went away, and she felt like she was more interconnected with the world around her, which nourished her passion for cooking.
“What I realized from my pop-ups is that Black people were interested in eating healthier despite stereotypes that we aren’t [interested],” Jackson said. “The problem was our access and affordability of fresh, healthy foods.”
Jackson learned that having access to food, housing and medicine is a birthright for people and that Black people are disproportionately affected by food insecurity due to poverty, oppression and mass incarceration.
A report by the Commonwealth Fund released in April found that Black Minnesotans are more than twice as likely to die compared to their white counterparts. The report also found that Minnesota has some of the worst health disparities for Black residents, in part due to less access to health care.
“We’re looking to make an impact where it’s most needed, not only by telling people that they should be eating healthy, but [we want to] educate them on how their body works and to give them the tools to be able to eat healthy if they decide to,” Jackson said.
Jackson said there is an interconnectedness in promoting wellness to the community, something that has been lacking in previous years.
“I genuinely believe that if you do want to change, and if you want to become better, nobody can do that for you,” Jackson said. “You have to be committed and passionate about your own healing journey, and part of that is educating yourself with this information.”
Fresh options in a food desert
For McGraw, the V in V-Fest stands for vitality, which emphasizes the importance of living the best life and learning about practices that are vital to overall health, such as breathwork, Reiki and much more.
“We want to live our best life and we want this [festival] to be a vibe,” McGraw said. “We want people to feel the love, the groundbreaking energy of the festival.”
Sierra Carter, who describes herself as a “creative, spirit-led entrepreneur,” founded Zen Bin along with Heal Mpls , a restaurant which serves plant-based food while upholding values of wellness and spirituality.
Both were created to address what Carter described as a food and wellness desert in north Minneapolis. She describes a wellness desert as marginalized communities who lack access to resources to invest in their wellness, such as mental health support.
“There’s not an abundance of resources like there are in the suburbs,” Carter said. “It’s one thing to have multiple resources available, but is it accessible to people?”
For Carter, plant-based eating is a spiritual tool for the community.
“It’s what God provided for us,” Carter said. “We’re living in a society where everything is made in labs now. You can’t trust what you’re getting, and I think plant-based food is just natural and there’s so much healing and medicine that God has for us to indulge in.”
V-Fest 2024
What: A festival celebrating music, health and plant-based eating.
When: Saturday, July 27, noon-5 p.m.
Where: Arts Us, 1221 Marshall Ave., St. Paul
Cost: Free
More info: vfestmn.com
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