“Foraging historically has been something to get you through lean times, not a reason to go and participate in more mass consumption.”
Seattle Eats · Food & Beverage · October 2026
At a live show, Nelson is asked why she calls herself a "filthy vegan" in her book. She ends up on why she tells viewers not to buy anything new for her recipes and to use what is already in the fridge.
Transcript
…and they're like, that dish you brought was really good. Like, can you write that recipe down for me? No. No, I cannot, but I can tell you a story. And he did write down what I said. And he sent me a selfie of him with cow parsnip in the woods a week later. And I was like, yes, Chad. One of us. So
if you don't know, Alexis is a vegan, but in the book, you call yourself a filthy vegan. What does that mean? Is it good? First of all,
…back feels weird and a little bit sad. And now it's become something that I really like proudly proclaiming in my videos. But I also like proudly proclaiming in my videos, like, don't go and buy something new for your fridge to make this recipe. You know, I also very frequently say, use what you got in your own fridge, honey, because that's what foraging is supposed to be doing for us. You know, foraging historically has been something to get you through lean times, not a reason to go and participate in more mass consumption.
I wanted to read a short little passage from your book. Since my ancestors gave so much of themselves to the work of cultivating relationships with the soil, the plants, and the signs of the seasons, some by choice and others not, it seems inevitable that I would feel most myself when I do the…
Well, like a lot of people of color, and especially specifically black people here in the United States, you know, my family's history here has been a storied one. It's been one filled with a lot of tragedy on both sides of my family. I also exist at a crux where one line of my family is very well…
The warm, fuzzy feeling that I got opening your book, besides the connection to ancestry, is your chapter about magnolias.
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