Keep Austin Green

The spread of plant-based diets in Austin

By: Nithya Rupavatharam

Green, red, orange, and yellow sizzles in the pan as it is swirled around to create a fusion of colors. The kitchen smells of fresh produce and natural ingredients as if it has dropped straight from the farm. Outside of the kitchen, people laugh and talk with one another as they nourish their bodies and souls with good food. This is plant-based cooking in Austin. Plant-based cooking is a term that can be manipulated and interpreted differently from person to person, but essentially it’s a type of cooking that does not use any animal or meat products. This can include an actual “part” of the animal (ex. a chicken leg) or a product that comes from an animal (ex. milk from cows). The two main types of plant-based diets are Veganism (no dairy) and Vegetarianism (only no meat).

In 2000, a vegetarian named Leslie Martin opened Bouldin Creek Cafe, a plant based restaurant located in Central Austin. “My original inspiration for the place in general was to have a community meeting space. I wanted there to be a place where it was like an open environment and people were interacting,” Martin said. The restaurant first started as a coffee shop with a small menu, but Martin later expanded the menu as more customers were attracted.

Although the majority of the menu items are vegan, there are many vegetarian options too, thus it is not considered 100% vegan. This is because Martin wanted to create a place where people who may not be comfortable with going 100% vegan could eat.

Though Bouldin Creek Cafe has had great success, it didn’t come easily. For a restaurant trying to sustain their business, plant-based cooking takes a lot of creativity, time, and money.

“I could just take a hamburger patty and put some salt and pepper and make a burger. Whereas we make all of our veggie burgers by hand. And it’s a big process,” Martin remarks .

Although, Martin emphasizes that just because plant-based cooking can be expensive, that shouldn’t be a deterrent. There are plenty of affordable ways for someone trying to maintain a plant based diet that could simply be started at a grocery store. It’s different for a restaurant like Bouldin Creek Cafe because they strive to keep their foods visually appealing, complicated and authentic to maintain a good business.

A lot of Martin’s inspiration for her menu items came from other restaurants and the internet. She would look online and on other restaurants’ menus and find out what people were into and how she could provide a plant- based alternative to those foods. Menu items like the veggie chorizo and the queso came from this inspiration.

Martin had been living in Austin when she opened the restaurant. This was around the time when many restaurants were closing because of the Dotcom Boom, a stock market bubble in the late 1990s. Martin wanted to create a space that would bring back the “feel” of Austin.

“I wanted to create that same small, funky vibe that I liked about Austin,” she said. According to Martin, there are also a lot of people in Austin who are open-minded to trying plant-based diets, thus it wasn’t very hard for her to attract customers.

Another plant-based restaurant option in Austin is Community Vegan, a food truck owned by Marlon Rison. Rison transitioned to being vegan six years ago, and he lost 150 pounds unpurposefully from this transition. For the first couple of years, Rison explored various vegan restaurants and food for inspiration on what to cook and where to start his vegan diet. Then, Rison started sharing his vegan cooking on social media and gained a reasonable following. Soon, people started telling him that he should start a restaurant or food truck, but he wasn’t interested because he was content with his life at the time and thought it would be too difficult. However - over time - he became more open to the idea and started his food truck, Community Vegan.

“What I wanted to do was provide something that I felt like was missing, but to make sure that it was heavy on the comfort foods. I wanted to make sure that it was foods that, whether you were vegan or not, you were still going to be interested in because it tasted good,” Rison said.

Rison got a lot of advice on plant-based cooking from his mom. “What she told me when I asked her for advice was that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, all you have to do is find what veggie substitute works for you, and then do everything else the same way that you would, but at a veganized version,” he notes.

Rison also opened his food truck to spread the positivity and goodness of plant-based diets/ cooking for people and the planet.

Plant-based cooking is one of the best sources of getting adequate nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and Rison wanted to help create healthier communities in the city by spreading this message to encourage people to reduce their meat consumption.

In addition, the mass production of cattle and the processes of breeding large numbers of animals for human consumption are a big contributor to greenhouse gasses. Rison believes that in the time period we are in, with the resources that we have available, this shouldn’t have to happen to provide food for humans.

“We have access to all the plants, all the veggies, all the fruit that we can eat, it would make us a healthier society, it would make us a more compassionate society. Also, it would show the type of love that our Earth needs, just in terms of how we take care of it,” Rison said.

Rison also opened Community Vegan to oppose the animal cruelty that takes place for people to get meat. “Another thing that was big for me was being more compassionate to all sentient beings. I think about all of the animals that are being sent to the slaughterhouses, what they go through, the fact that they’re living beings with feelings and emotions. I recognize how important it is to not contribute to that,” Rison stated.

Not only does plant-based cooking make people more compassionate, it also helps people develop a relationship with their food. Rison says that eating is one of the most intimate things someone can do, and with plant-based cooking, someone has to touch, feel, and work hands-on with their food, thus it will strengthen their relationship with that food.

Another chef in Austin who supports the spread of plant-based cooking is Marko Ellinger, who is a plant-based wellness chef in Austin. Ellinger primarily focuses on teaching people how to cook plant-based and has been in this line of work for almost 40 years. He taught at Natural Epicurean - which is a plant-based culinary school in Austin - for five years, and he has been influenced by other chefs and instructors. Although he was originally trained to cook all kinds of food, he pivoted to plant-based cooking many years ago. “I could see that it was not just more rewarding, it was more creative,” he said.

“I think about all of the animals that are being sent to the slaughterhouses, what they go through, the fact that they’re living beings with feelings and emotions. I recognize how important it is to not contribute to that.” of the negative effects of animal farming. “Well, I mean, if you just look at the numbers, 15% of global greenhouse emissions result from livestock farming. Right there, that’s a huge number,” he said.

This type of farming also contributes greatly to global warming, climate change, and CO2 emissions. He also believes that humans have plenty of other food options available to help provide an adequate diet, so there’s no reason for us to be consuming animals.

In addition, Ellinger adds that Austin is a progressive city, thus plant-based diets are on the rise and easily spread amongst people. “We’ve got all kinds of farmer’s markets. We’ve got really interesting restaurants. And we’ve even got a vegan fest. We’ve got all kinds of events that support plant-based,” he shared

Chef Ellinger deals with a lot of people who have a hard time starting plant-based cooking because they believe it’s too difficult. “If I’m talking to somebody who doesn’t really like to cook, I have to put them in an even more challenging category because, part of the answer as far as they’re concerned, is being comfortable in the kitchen and being able to do it for themself. And that is cooking wholesome meals at home, which will do wonders for your well-being,” he said.

Chef Ellinger also shares the belief with Marlon Rison that plant-based diets would be good for people and the planet because

The main piece of advice that these experts can give people who are wanting to go plant-based is to take it slow. Although some people take the big leap of faithlike Marlon Rison - most people are the most successful when they take baby steps and slowly introduce plant-based foods into their diets, whether it be adding vegetables in their rice instead of chicken, or replacing their hamburgers with veggie patties.

As Marko Ellinger says, “I would just say try it out sometimes, maybe even just once a week. See what you think. I think a soft approach is a lot more sustainable, but there is no doubt in my mind it’s way better for people.”

One popular example is having Meatless Mondays. This is a movement that encourages people to reduce/remove meat from their diets on Mondays, which could possibly encourage them to keep up the practice throughout the week. This movement allows people who don’t have much experience to start somewhere and see how it goes.

Austin is one of the most rapidly growing cities in the nation. With this, more open-minded people are moving here, thus plantbased diets are spreading. Because of this, Austin is transforming into a healthy, compassionate, earthloving, and healthful city. These restaurants, food trucks, and plantbased experts/eaters are just a small percentage of the vast number that support and participate in plant based living. The future of this city is looking to be very sustainable and green.