First, this is not a judgmental blog to say that vegans/vegetarians are better than meat eaters but, I when I was in Berlin I learnt that being vegan means you’re a “cool kid” and so allow me to stunt on you because how many vegans do you know in your life? Gotta be a flex you know. But anyway, I am going to talk about living green in Ghana and this hard Accra! Accra is a battlefield, iykyk.

How and when did I become Vegan?

I went fully vegan in 2016 thereabouts. Prior to that, I was vegetarian. Confused? Now here’s the thing, they are not the same. Vegetarianism is like big umbrella for all plant-based eaters, and this can include not eating animals and animal products altogether, or just partially eating animals, their products or both. The different types of vegetarians include lacto-ovo-vegetarians, flexitarians, pescatarians and vegans. You know the drill of not making the blog lengthy so I will delve deeper into these in the next blog.

I become vegetarian in 2011 when I was in Senior High School (SHS). If you went to high school in Ghana, I am sure you are imagining how I survived. Truth is, I wonder too! I remember I fed mainly on snacks my entire stay in school, so it was a huge scuffle.

Why did I become Vegan?

I did not like the idea of inhumanely murdering animals for consumption. Even when I used to eat meat, I would not be able to eat the meat if I saw the process of how it was being made, or if I imagined the process. My body abruptly started rejecting meat so I cannot say for a fact if there was a psychological correlation, but my body could not digest meat. Whenever I ate meat, I would upchuck everything within spilt seconds, unconsciously. By unconsciously, I mean I couldn’t determine when I was going to vomit or not, it just happens. Eating in public became problematic and I would suffer severe tummy and abdominal pains afterwards.

I decided to quit one day after a discussion with my doctor and after I realised how waned my health had become. So, I woke up one day and said I was done! I quit eating meat together with raw sugar, fizzy drinks, animal milk, spicy food, Ghanaian swallows, and pepper. I’m sure you are wondering what I eat but “man shall not live by bread alone “and I have survived a whooping 11 years without meat. I’m actually not your mate when it comes to self-discipline just before you soliloquy “and so what” – and so this is a hullabaloo that go green, even if it’s for a month just to cleanse your body and your soul.

Along the line, my protein levels dropped significantly, I became anaemic, suffered hypotension, and amenorrhoea. Don’t agonise, it did not all happen at the same time, and these can happen when your body stops getting the nutrients it used to get without any sufficient replacements. My doctor advised I go pescatarian (eating only fish/seafood). That worked for a few months and then my body said, “you’ve overstayed your welcome, visa expired”. I started throwing up after every meal which contained fish/seafood I consumed so I went fully vegan (amongst other reasons; please read my blog post on overcoming mental stress)

How has it been being vegan in Ghana?

OVERWHELMING! Due to the nature of my job, I move around a lot and it’s impossible to carry food with me always. It has been a struggle and I am currently reacting to food I eat from all these random restaurants. Because in Ghana, not everything classified “V” is Vegan/vegetarian. I had a squabble with one famous vegan restaurant in Accra because I reacted to food, they had categorised V. But I would say, there has been massive improvement by the restaurants in making plant-based meals. There is an enormous room for improvement, but I will give Accra some credit. Some restaurants have held me down. Interestingly, most Ghanaian meals are actually vegan, including red, red, plantain chips, waakye (if you people don’t add all the accoutrements you add), nkontomire etc

Socially, it has been interesting. Everyone thinks I am foreign the moment I say I’m vegan. They assume I grew up overseas, I travelled a lot, I’m exposed, my family is vegan, or I’m just not Ghanaian. While some of these assumptions may be true, my reason for going vegan has nothing to do with these as I already emphasised in previous paragraphs. So, I mean, I am cool whether you think so or not. I am that friend who would always check you on what you’re consuming. If I haven’t done that yet then “our friendship is not friending” enough lol, but that is why this blog is specially for you.

Where do you usually eat or buy groceries?

To be fair, most of the fancy restaurants in Accra would have something that is plant based. My only headache is, it’s the same meal in almost all the restaurants with no variety. Some of the restaurants would be kind enough to custom make something for you so I mean we are getting there. I am still looking for a restaurant that can make something interesting with broccoli because any meal with broccoli I eat in town does not look and taste appealing enough.

The full vegan restaurants I frequent are Mahorgany, Vegan diner, Palm moments, Tatale, Vegetarian Health Food Center, Green Eats, Gaia Organics and Kukun (others, I may have left out, but these are places I’ve eaten from severally). I buy groceries in Accra from Palace mall, ShopRite, MaxMart, Fairway, Farmers Market and Agbogboshie. The “Ghanaian Vegan” on IG creates amazing content on where and how to find vegan restaurants in Accra. For vegan skincare, I use Rooibos skincare products, African black soap (alata samina) and local shea butter.

Why should anyone go green/benefits?

• Helps you practice mindfulness
• Fosters self-discipline, concentration, and focus
• Love for the universe and nature
• I don’t how to explain this, but the journey makes you a kind/compassionate person
• Overall good health (including spiritual growth)
• Toned physical appearance and good physique (if you are lifting, try doing it on a plant-based diet)
• Improves vagina moisture. Lubricants are cheap, but I mean organic is the OG (PG so I would end it here)

There is a lot more to say and talk about – if this blog inspired you in anyway, leave me comment.

I am open to having any conversation regarding this journey on any of my socials. And until next time where I go into the nitty-gritty, go green, drink green and eat green!

Namaste

“If you can be anything, be kind. Earth was created for all of us, not some of us”