Tracye McQuirter

{{Infobox writer

| name = Tracye McQuirter

| image = Tracye McQuirter.jpg

| birth_date =

| birth_place = Washington, DC

| occupation = Public Health Nutritionist
Vegan Activist
Author
speaker

| nationality =

| education = New York University (MPH, Public Health Nutrition)
Amherst College (BA, African American Studies)
Sidwell Friends School

| genre = Vegan Education, Activism, Lifestyle

| notable_works = Ageless Vegan (2018)
By Any Greens Necessary (2010) “African Vegan Starter Guide” (2015)

| website = {{URL|byanygreensnecessary.com/}}

}}

Tracye McQuirter is an American public health nutritionist and a Vegan/Plant-based{{cite web

|url=https://www.essence.com/lifestyle/black-americans-vegan/

|title=Black Americans Are Going Vegan At A Higher Rate Than Anyone Else. Here's Why And How You Can Do It Too.

|access-date=2024-01-12

|last=Uwumarogie

|first=Victoria

|date=2023-05-16

|publisher=Essence

}} author who appears in the 2024 documentary, You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment.{{cite web |last1=Chiorando |first1=Maria |title=Vegans have better sex, live longer and are healthier – according to new Netflix documentary |url=https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/netflix-you-are-what-you-eat-benefits-plant-based-vegan-diet/ |website=Vegan Food & Living |date=4 January 2024 |access-date=9 January 2024}}

Background

McQuirter grew up in Washington D.C. and graduated from Sidwell Friends School in 1984.{{cite web

|url=https://www.sidwell.edu/alumni/volunteer/reunion/distinguished-alumni-award

|title=Sidwell Friends School 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award

|access-date=2020-06-09

|date=2019

|publisher=Sidwell Friends School

}}{{cite news

|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/inequities-helped-covid-19-ravage-the-black-community-but-there-are-things-we-can-do-to-help-ourselves/2020/04/28/cfe351fe-8940-11ea-8ac1-bfb250876b7a_story.html

|title=Inequities helped covid-19 ravage the black community. But there are things we can do to help ourselves.

|access-date=2020-06-06

|last=Milloy

|first=Courtland

|date=2020-04-28

|newspaper=Washington Post

}} She received her B.A. from Amherst College in 1988{{cite web

|url=https://www.amherst.edu/alumni/events/reunion/schedule/node/589369

|title=Amherst College Alumni Reunion 2018

|access-date=2020-06-06

|date=2018

|publisher=Amherst College

}} and her Masters in Public Health Nutrition (MPH) from New York University in 2003.

Career

Actor and activist Dick Gregory introduced McQuirter to vegetarianism in 1986 when he gave a talk on the subject at Amherst during her sophomore year.{{cite web

|url=http://www.nehamag.com/savor/race-and-roots-black-veganism/

|title=RACE AND THE ROOTS OF VEGANISM

|accessdate=2020-06-06

|last=Jones

|first=Alexis

|date=2019-06-29

|publisher=NEHA Magazine

}}{{cite web

|url=https://www.womenshealthmag.com/food/a22026339/tracye-mcquirter-vegan-food-transformation/

|title='I'm Vegan And I've Got More Energy Now Than I Did In College'

|accessdate=2020-06-06

|last=McQuirter

|first=Tracye

|date=2018-07-11

|publisher=Women's Health

}} When she was a junior, she spent a semester in Kenya and had experiences there that made her decide to become a vegetarian. During her second semester, when she was an exchange student at Howard University, she discovered what she later described as a "large Black vegan and vegetarian community in Washington D.C." This group, which was also influenced by Gregory and his book Dick Gregory’s Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat: Cookin’ With Mother Nature, taught her how to be a vegan. However, at that time McQuirter notes that, "there were not a lot of options in terms of grocery stores. There was no Whole Foods... we had to basically cook everything for ourselves."{{cite web

|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vegan-diets-become-more-popular-more-mainstream/

|title=Vegan Diets Become More Popular, More Mainstream

|accessdate=2020-06-06

|last=Associated Press

|date=2011-01-05

|publisher=CBS News

}}{{cite web

|url=https://www.ebony.com/life/vegetarianism-a-black-choice-333/

|title=Vegetarianism: A Black Choice

|accessdate=2020-06-06

|last=Phanor-Faury

|first=Alexandra

|date=2015-04-08

|publisher=Ebony

}}

McQuirter co-founded "BlackVegetarians.com" (1996-1997), the first vegan website by and for African Americans.{{cite web

|url=https://www.cuisinenoirmag.com/tracye-mcquirter-10000-black-vegan-women/

|title=Tracye McQuirter Spearheads a Vegan Movement for Black Women Everywhere

|accessdate=2020-06-06

|last=Hussain

|first=Ruksana

|date=2020-04-07

|publisher=Cuisine Noir

}}

According to the New York Times, her 2010 book, By Any Greens Necessary contributed to the rise of veganism among African-Americans between the time of its release and 2017 (when the article was published).{{cite web

|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/28/dining/black-vegan-cooking.html

|title=Black Vegans Step Out, for Their Health and Other Causes

|accessdate=2020-06-07

|last=Severson

|first=Kim

|date=2017-11-28

|work=New York Times

}} She also co-authored the African American Vegan Starter Guide in 2016 with the Farm Sanctuary.{{cite web

|url=https://www.farmsanctuary.org/media/2016-press-releases/new-african-american-vegan-starter-guide-revamps-the-plate-of-black-america/

|title=New African American Vegan Starter Guide Revamps the Plate of Black America

|accessdate=2020-06-07

|last=Phanor-Faury

|first=Alexandra

|date=2016-09-28

|publisher=Farm Sanctuary

}}

Honors

Vegetarian Times named her a "New Food Hero" in 2017,{{cite web

|url=https://www.vegetariantimes.com/uncategorized/the-new-food-heroes

|title=The New Food Heroes

|accessdate=2020-06-06

|last=Dowdle

|first=Hillari

|date=2017-05-01

|publisher=Vegetarian Times

}} and Self Magazine listed her cookbook Ageless Vegan as one of the "16 Best Healthy Cookbooks" of 2018. In 2019, she was inducted into the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame and PBS named her a "Woman Thought Leader."{{cite web

|url=https://www.pbs.org/video/woman-thought-leader-tracye-mcquirter-swonsm/

|title=Woman Thought Leader: Tracye McQuirter

|accessdate=2020-06-06

|last=PBS

|date=2019-12-22

|publisher=PBS

}} In 2024, VegNews listed McQuirter as one of the "17 Black Vegan Chefs Redefining Plant-Based Food and Community."

{{cite web

|url=https://vegnews.com/chefs/black-vegan-chefs

|title=The Top 100 Vegan Cookbooks of All Time

|access-date=March 12, 2024

|last=Flink

|first=Tanya

|date= February 19, 2024

|work=VegNews

}}

Bibliography

{{Cite book|title=Ageless Vegan: The Secret to Living a Long and Healthy Plant-Based Life|last=McQuirter|first=Tracye|publisher=Da Capo Lifelong Books |year=2018|isbn=978-0738220208|pages=256}}{{cite web

|url=https://www.self.com/gallery/best-healthy-cookbooks

|title=The 16 Best Healthy Cookbooks of the Year

|access-date=2020-06-06

|last=Byrne

|first=Christine

|date=2018-10-20

|magazine=Self Magazine

}}

{{Cite book|title=By Any Greens Necessary: A Revolutionary Guide for Black Women Who Want to Eat Great, Get Healthy, Lose Weight, and Look Phat|last=McQuirter|first=Tracye|publisher=Lawrence Hill Books |year=2010|isbn=978-1556529986|pages=240}}{{cite web

|url=https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/health/tracye-mcquirter/2092593/

|title=A Revolution to Lose Weight, Look Phat

|access-date=2020-06-07

|last=Cleary

|first=Lisa

|date=2010-10-14

|publisher=WRC-TV (NBC4 Washington)

}}