Jasmine Leyva: The Invisible Vegan
Species Unite
elizabeth novogratz
5.0 • 911 Ratings
🗓️ 2 July 2020
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"What's sad about it is… a lot of people think it's the norm… that's what I thought. Diabetes was something my grandmother had and my mom was pre-diabetic so I thought, oh diabetes and clogged arteries and high cholesterol, they're just my destiny - that's a normal part of life because that's what I saw happening to everyone around me."
-Jasmine Leyva
Heart disease, diabetes, and obesity have been rising at alarming rates all across the country, but the numbers are disproportionately higher in African American communities. There are many reasons that factor into why that is, but the fact that we have an unjust food system is a big one. Food desserts, regions in urban areas where it is difficult to obtain affordable and fresh foods, make it impossible for the people living in those areas to eat healthy and prevent diseases like those mentioned above.
Jasmine Leyva is an actress, a filmmaker, and the creator and director of The Invisible Vegan, a full-length independent documentary that delves into the complex issues surrounding the unhealthy dietary patterns in the African American community. The film shows how increased dependence on meat and fast food is rooted in the history of slavery, 20th century socioeconomic inequalities, and the rise of big food. And it explores on the health and wellness possibilities that can be achieved through a plant based diet.
The film is packed with information, history, stories of transformation, and interviews with African American vegans ranging from NBA legend, John Salley to Cedric the Entertainer to Stic of Dead Prez. If you haven't already seen it, watch it.
Jasmine is a force of a human being – she's inspiring, wise, and incredibly thoughtful. I learned a ton from her film and from our conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Jasmine's website https://jasmineleyva.com/
Jasmine's instagram https://www.instagram.com/jasmine_c_leyva/?hl=es
Jasmine's Twitter https://twitter.com/jasmine_c_leyva
The Invisible Vegan https://www.theinvisiblevegan.com/
The Invisible Vegan on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Vegan-Cedric-Entertainer/dp/B07WF9L1JM
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm not even going to lie. Initially I did not care. I wasn't for animal rights at all and the animal rights movement |
| 0:07.2 | annoyed me to a certain extent because when you are a person that grows up with lack or around lack you see you know you see all of these usually white faces |
| 0:18.5 | fighting so passionately for animals to have better conditions when your own conditions are not up to standard. Hi, I'm Elizabeth Novigrats. this is Species Unite. |
| 0:43.7 | Today's conversation is with Jasmine Leva. |
| 0:46.7 | Jasmine is an actress, a filmmaker, and the creator of The Invisible Vegan, |
| 0:52.1 | a full-length documentary exploring the complex issues |
| 0:55.7 | surrounding the unhealthy dietary patterns in the African-American community. |
| 0:59.7 | The film shows how increased dependence on meat and fast food is rooted in the history of slavery, |
| 1:06.6 | socioeconomic inequalities, and the rise of big food. |
| 1:11.1 | And it looks into the health and wellness possibilities that can be achieved |
| 1:16.0 | through a plant-based diet. So before we even get into your film and food and veganism talk to me a little bit |
| 1:31.7 | about what's going on right now and your life and where you are. |
| 1:36.0 | So, you know what, this moment was such, it was such a learning moment for me because I never thought about just how quickly, you know, the entire world, like my entire world as I know it, could just change. You know, I think like a lot of people, I've lost, I've lost some work-related opportunities. I can't I don't want to |
| 1:57.2 | complain about it because I know there are so many people in worse situations |
| 2:00.4 | but I also think that there was something perfect about the timing because you had this global pandemic which is you know in its own right horrible but at the same time it slowed everyone down you know before you can't it's hard to focus on |
| 2:18.9 | Humanity issues because we're so busy you know we're so plugged, we're at work, we're overworked, we're emotionally drained by the time we get home. |
| 2:28.0 | So now it, you know, when you take everything away from people, mostly you're staying at home, you can't go about drinking, |
| 2:34.7 | you have to like sit at home with your thoughts and think, this was almost a perfect kind of |
| 2:40.7 | set up for what happened with George Floyd so people had the time to kind of just |
| 2:45.9 | sit with their thoughts and think about this and just think about how absurd it is |
| 2:52.3 | if this is still happening in 2020. |
| 2:55.0 | You know, and it gave people, you know, now you don't have to be at work so you can go on a, |
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