When Food Becomes a Form of Liberation
Food is one of the most intimate and political things in our lives. What we eat, what we can access, and whose culinary traditions are valued all reflect deeper systems of power and inequality. For communities that have been excluded, exploited, and displaced these food realities carry particular weight and meaning. The plant-based movement as it has existed in mainstream culture has often failed to reckon honestly with this reality. veggie mijas was created to fill that gap with intention, cultural depth, and genuine community commitment at every level. The collective understands that you cannot advocate for plant-based living without simultaneously advocating for food justice and equity. These are not separate conversations — they are one conversation told from multiple perspectives and lived experiences. veggie mijas brings all of those perspectives together in spaces that are warm, welcoming, and genuinely transformative for everyone who enters.
The Collective That Puts Community First Always
veggie mijas is a community of women, trans, and gender non-conforming people dedicated to plant-based lifestyles and food justice within marginalized communities. BIPOC communities are at the centre of this work not as an afterthought but as the foundational reason the collective exists in the first place. The mission is to create sacred spaces for people to share their experiences with food and plant-based living through an intersectional lens. This means holding race, gender, class, and cultural identity all at once rather than treating food as a depoliticized personal choice. Events, workshops, articles, speaking engagements, and the community fridge in Chicago all flow from this central and unwavering commitment. The collective organizes around thirty events annually spanning potlucks, vegan panels, farm sanctuary trips, herb workshops, and cooking classes. In Philadelphia free educational cooking workshops give underserved communities practical skills and the dignity of shared meals. Support from The People's Fund by Mercy for Animals makes it possible to sustain and grow this meaningful community-centred work.
Food Insecurity and the Community Fridge in Chicago
One of the most concrete and immediate expressions of veggie mijas's food justice work is the community fridge it operates in Chicago. A community fridge is a publicly accessible refrigerator stocked with fresh and nutritious food available to anyone in the neighbourhood who needs it. This simple and powerful model of mutual aid addresses food insecurity directly without bureaucracy, means-testing, or shame. For communities living in food deserts where fresh produce is genuinely difficult to access the community fridge is a lifeline. veggie mijas's decision to establish and maintain this resource reflects its understanding that advocacy must be paired with direct material support. Talking about plant-based eating while ignoring food access is a contradiction the collective refuses to make in its work. The Chicago fridge is a living expression of the collective's belief that everyone deserves access to fresh, nourishing food regardless of income or circumstance. It is community care made visible, tangible, and available to anyone who walks past and is hungry.
The Philadelphia Cooking Workshops Changing Lives
In Philadelphia veggie mijas runs free educational cooking workshops for communities with limited access to cooking resources and nutritional education. These workshops teach participants how to prepare simple, delicious, and nourishing plant-based dishes in a hands-on and communal setting. The emphasis is not just on the food itself but on the sense of community and belonging that comes from cooking and eating together. Participants leave with practical skills they can use immediately at home to nourish themselves and their families. The workshops also create space for conversation about the connections between food, culture, health, and community wellbeing. By offering these workshops free of charge veggie mijas removes the economic barriers that so often gatekeep food education from those who need it most. veggie mijas treats food education as a right rather than a privilege and the Philadelphia workshops are one of the most direct expressions of that belief in practice. Every shared meal at the end of a workshop is a small and meaningful act of community building and collective nourishment.
Articles That Connect Plant-Based Living to the Bigger Picture
The veggie mijas writing team produces thoughtful and well-researched articles that connect plant-based living to broader questions of health, environment, and justice. Recent topics have ranged from the environmental damage caused by industrial animal agriculture to practical guides on choosing plant-based milks. Articles on vitamin B12 for vegans and vegetables that may help reduce visceral fat reflect a genuine commitment to useful and accurate health information. The team also covers climate-related subjects with the depth and urgency they deserve given the scale of the environmental crisis we face. What makes these articles distinctive is the lens through which they are written — always with community, accessibility, and justice in view. They do not assume readers have access to expensive superfoods or specialty health stores. They meet people where they are and offer information that is genuinely applicable to real community lives and circumstances. The article library is a growing and freely accessible resource that extends the collective's educational mission well beyond its in-person events.
The Bilingual Children's Book That Teaches Mutual Aid
What Do You Need / ¿Qué Necesitas? is a beautifully illustrated bilingual children's book published by veggie mijas in July 2023. The story follows Lorena the tomato who arrives at Abrazos Community Garden and learns from her neighbour Marisol the sunflower about the garden's values and the needs of its residents. The book explores mutual aid, equity, and community through an accessible and joyful narrative designed for early elementary readers of all ages. Available in both English and Spanish the book honours the bilingual reality of many of the families veggie mijas serves and loves. The price starts at fourteen dollars and ninety-nine cents making it genuinely accessible for families across income levels. Themes of asking for what you need and giving what you can are woven throughout the story with warmth and gentle clarity. The community garden setting makes the book a natural extension of veggie mijas's values around food, land, and collective care. It is one of the most tangible expressions of the collective's long-term commitment to planting seeds of justice in the next generation.
Relearning What Colonization Took from Our Tables
Colonization did not just reshape land ownership and political systems — it fundamentally transformed what communities ate and how they related to food. For Indigenous and Latinx communities in particular the displacement of traditional food practices was a profound cultural and spiritual loss. veggie mijas holds this history with honesty and with care in all of its food-related programming and advocacy. Herb planting workshops are not simply gardening classes — they are opportunities to reconnect with the land and the plant knowledge ancestors once carried freely. Cooking sessions that return to traditional plant-based ingredients are acts of cultural reclamation as much as they are culinary education. The framing of plant-based living as a return to ancestral practice rather than a trendy modern choice changes everything about the conversation. It makes veganism feel like coming home for many BIPOC community members rather than adopting someone else's values and aesthetic. This is one of the most important and distinctive contributions veggie mijas makes to the broader plant-based movement nationally.
The Virtual Book Club Amplifying Authors of Color
The veggie mijas virtual book club creates a space for literary exploration and community connection across all of its chapters. The club honours the work of authors of color spanning poetry, memoir, fantasy, essays, and realistic fiction in its reading selections. Books like Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer opened conversations about reciprocity, nature, and the impact of language on our relationship with the earth. The Haunting of Alejandra by V Castro sparked discussion about generational strength, cultural identity, and breaking cycles passed down through families. My Broken Language by Quiara Alegria Hudes resonated deeply with members navigating mixtures of culture, language, and identity in their own lives. With the Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo sparked conversations about food as spiritual nourishment and the importance of kitchen altars and ancestral cooking. The virtual format makes the book club accessible to members across all chapters and cities without requiring travel or in-person attendance. Literature and advocacy intertwine beautifully in this space creating connections that go far beyond the pages of any single book.
Speaking Engagements That Bring Justice to New Spaces
veggie mijas offers speaking engagements that bring authentic community voices into conferences, classrooms, and organizational events across the country. Available formats include panel discussions featuring one to three speakers from single or multiple chapters, individual presentations, and facilitated conversations. Speakers can address collective impact, food justice advocacy, personal journeys, or any specific topic requested by the hosting organisation. The collective's organizers bring both lived experience and analytical depth to every speaking opportunity they participate in. Inviting veggie mijas to speak is not just about adding diversity to a programme — it is about genuinely shifting the conversation and the power dynamics within a space. Tailored topic selection means the collective can meet the specific needs of any event or audience with a speaker who has relevant and authentic expertise. These engagements extend the reach of veggie mijas's mission well beyond its own community spaces and into new and important conversations. Every stage a veggie mijas speaker steps onto becomes a space where food justice receives the serious and grounded attention it deserves.
Partnership as a Path Toward Shared Impact
veggie mijas believes that the work of food justice and plant-based advocacy is always stronger when done in genuine partnership with aligned organizations. The collective offers a thoughtful range of partnership formats including co-hosted workshops, social media initiatives, product reviews, and sponsored community events. Co-hosted cooking classes and tasting events allow partner brands and organizations to connect with the veggie mijas community in a meaningful and mutually respectful way. Social media collaborations reach a genuinely engaged audience of people who care deeply about plant-based living, food justice, and community empowerment. Product reviews cover plant-based foods, sustainable goods, and books and educational resources that align with the collective's values and mission. Partners gain not just visibility but a genuine association with one of the most credible and community-rooted food justice organizations in the country. veggie mijas approaches every partnership with the same care and discernment it brings to its own programming and advocacy work. Alignment with shared values is always the starting point for any partnership conversation the collective enters into.
Thirty Events a Year and the Community They Create
The thirty events veggie mijas organizes annually are not just gatherings — they are the living heartbeat of the collective's community. Each event creates a space where people can show up as their full selves, share food, learn something new, and feel genuinely seen and welcomed. Potlucks embody the spirit of mutual aid in the most immediate and delicious way possible by inviting everyone to bring something and to receive something. Farm sanctuary trips connect urban communities with living animals and open land in ways that are profoundly educational and emotionally meaningful. Vegan panels bring together a diversity of voices and perspectives within the plant-based and food justice space for honest and enriching conversations. Interactive workshops give participants practical skills they can carry back into their homes, kitchens, and communities immediately. Guest speakers bring new ideas, experiences, and inspiration into the veggie mijas community from outside its immediate circle. Thirty events a year adds up to thirty opportunities for the community to deepen its roots, expand its reach, and reaffirm its shared commitment to justice and nourishment together.
How Social Media Connects the Community Daily
veggie mijas maintains an active and engaged presence across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok connecting its community members between events and across chapters. Social media is where event announcements, article shares, community celebrations, and everyday plant-based inspiration all come together in one place. The collective uses its platforms not just to broadcast information but to foster genuine connection and dialogue among its followers. Members share recipes, resources, recommendations, and reflections in a digital space that feels as warm and welcoming as its in-person events. TikTok in particular allows the collective to reach younger audiences and introduce new community members to veggie mijas's values and work. The social media presence also amplifies partner organisations and community initiatives that align with the collective's mission and values. Following veggie mijas online is the easiest way to stay connected to a community that is constantly creating, learning, and growing together. Every post is an extension of the same care and intentionality that shapes everything else the collective does in the world.
Be Part of Something That Truly Matters
There are many ways to advocate for change in the world but few feel as immediate and as joyful as building community around food and justice together. veggie mijas offers that experience to anyone who is ready to show up, learn, contribute, and connect with a community that genuinely cares about the world and about each other. Whether you follow along online, attend a local chapter event, join the virtual book club, purchase the children's book, or explore partnership and speaking opportunities, there is a meaningful place for you within this collective. The work of veggie mijas is ongoing, the community is growing, and the belief that community care is an act of resistance has never felt more urgent or more necessary than it does right now. Come to the table, bring what you can, and discover what becomes possible when people come together around food, justice, and the deep and radical act of taking care of one another.