Veggie Tales

Oklahomans are adding plant-based items to their menus for a more health-conscious, colorful, and inclusive culinary experience.

- KARLIE YBARRA

NEARLY FORTY YEARS ago, Mary Bernt, owner of Veggies Health Food Center & Café in Ardmore, noticed something alarming: Her children’s health was suffering, and it got worse the more animal-based foods they consumed. The family tried vegetarianism. That wasn’t enough, however, so they soon cut out animal products. Dairy, eggs, and gelatin all had to go.

“When we did that, their health issues disappeared,” Bernt says. Today, about 5 percent of Americans identify as vegan or vegetarian. There isn’t much data on the subject from the 1980s, when Bernt’s family made the switch, but it’s safe to say that number was probably lower. There have always been certain groups who abstain from various animal products for health, religious, or financial reasons, but at the time, a wholly plant-based diet was considered fairly radical.

“Our son was in public school in a special education class, which was actually one of the things that drove us to take the final plunge into becoming completely plant-based,” Bernt says. “The school’s initial response was, ‘What are you feeding him?’ They sent the school nutritionist to find out why I had taken these steps. They really frowned upon it. I had to convince them I knew what I was doing.”

As Bernt taught herself everything she could about nutrition and how to cook vegan meals her family would enjoy, she witnessed positive changes in her children.

“I got called into a meeting with the team at school, the same ones who had diagnosed my son as learning disabled, because he had such a significant turnaround over the summer,” she says. “They were all scratching their heads, but they came to the conclusion that I had done something so significant that he started to learn.”