Tracye McQuirter | |
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| Born | Washington, DC |
| Occupation | Public Health Nutritionist Vegan Activist Author speaker |
| 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 | |
| byanygreensnecessary | |
Tracye McQuirter is an American public health nutritionist and aVegan/Plant-based[1] author who appears in the 2024 documentary,You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment.[2]
McQuirter grew up inWashington D.C. and graduated fromSidwell Friends School in 1984.[3][4] She received her B.A. fromAmherst College in 1988[5] and her Masters in Public Health Nutrition (MPH) fromNew York University in 2003.[4]
Actor and activistDick Gregory introduced McQuirter to vegetarianism in 1986 when he gave a talk on the subject at Amherst during her sophomore year.[6][7] 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 atHoward 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 bookDick 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 noWhole Foods... we had to basically cook everything for ourselves."[6][8][9]
McQuirter co-founded "BlackVegetarians.com" (1996-1997), the first vegan website by and for African Americans.[6][10]
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).[11] She also co-authored theAfrican American Vegan Starter Guide in 2016 with theFarm Sanctuary.[12]
Vegetarian Times named her a "New Food Hero" in 2017,[13] andSelf Magazine listed her cookbookAgeless Vegan as one of the "16 Best Healthy Cookbooks" of 2018.[14] In 2019, she was inducted into the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame[10] andPBS named her a "Woman Thought Leader."[15] In 2024,VegNews listed McQuirter as one of the "17 Black Vegan Chefs Redefining Plant-Based Food and Community."[16]
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