In fact, I don't advocate any particular diet for anyone. I think that's a very personal decision that people have to make. I will say this, however: There are more and more studies in terms of the health benefits of veganism; there are more and more studies that are showing that a properly executed vegan diet is highly beneficial for cleansing, for detoxing, in addition to lowering the risks for and even ameliorating chronic illness. We all have our own body constitutions and cultural food ways and personal tastes that determine what will work for us.

Given that I'm from the South, I wanted to do something to address that. I have been focusing more energy and resources on addressing those issues.

In terms of the contemporary food system we see a lot of racism currently. Obviously we have a large supply of food. A lot of people don't examine why that is the case, but there are a number of nonwhite migrant workers being exploited every day.

I think more and more foundations are putting resources into food activism. But I think that given the state of the economy, foundations won't be giving as much in general. For me it's about working with these existing institutions in communities that people already go to, that people trust, that they know, and determining how best they can play a role in the creation of local food systems and address the ills that are right around them in the community.

In terms of addressing some of the most impacted communities and historically excluded communities - often of color, often low income - there is this adage in specifically African American communities that on every corner in low income neighborhoods you'll find a liquor store.

Food historian Jessica B. Harris says African American cuisine is simply what black people ate. When I think about what my family ate, we ate what people think of as soul food on special occasions, on holidays, but our typical diet was leafy greens and nutrients and tubers - food that was as fresh as being harvested right before our meal. Whatever was in season, that's what we were eating. It was being harvested right from our backyard.

The thing that I think about most often is the loss of biodiversity. We talk about these food issues so often with concern to historically excluded communities, but I'm concerned with everyone having access to healthy foods. Consumers across the board are being robbed of biodiversity.