From USC potlucks to local restaurant menus, plant-based eating gains ground in Columbia

Plant-based eating is growing in Columbia as more people try it for better health, to help the planet and for trying new foods.

The Peace and Plants Club at the University of South Carolina shows how views on food are starting to change. The student-led group hosts monthly potlucks open to anyone interested in learning more about plant-based cooking.

“You don’t have to eat very many vegetables,” Victoria Colón-Laborde, co-founder of the club, said. “There’s a huge stereotype that vegan food is a salad – that’s all we eat – which is not true at all. I probably eat one salad a week.”

Peace and Plants meets once a month on a Friday evening in the Green Quad Learning Center Kitchen. Each gathering is a vegan potluck where members can bring food or simply show up, play games and hang out.

“I think in college you’re sort of exploring new things,” Colón-LaBorde said. “Finally, you’re living on your own for the first time, for most people. And so, I think it’s important to have different options.”

The shift toward plant-based eating isn’t just happening on campus. It’s also taking root in Columbia’s kitchens and restaurants.

“When I was in my nutrition training, Dean Ornish was a big sort of plant-based researcher,” USC health promotion Professor Brie Turner-McGrievy said. “I was really excited to see the use of this diet be so powerful in, you know, looking at helping to reverse cardiovascular disease, which we didn’t think was possible.”

Turner-McGrievy said it’s a common myth that plant-based diets lack enough protein.

“In the U.S., we get way more protein than we need,” she said. “And it’s fairly easy to get enough protein on an entirely plant-based diet. There’s protein in vegetables. There’s protein in beans. There’s protein in grains.”

Plant-based diets offer health benefits beyond just getting enough protein.

“There have been studies that have been looked at, for example, menstrual pain in women improved on a plant-based diet,” Brie Turner-McGrievy  said, “There have been studies that have looked at skin, so clearing up skin, reducing acne, …. athletes and doing plant-based diets, that they recover faster because they’re having such a high amount of antioxidant in the diet.”

Sustainability also plays a role beyond health.

“People always think like, ‘I’m going to recycle,’ she said. “’Recycle’ doesn’t really have anything to do with climate change. Whereas, making sure that you are (eating) lower on the food chain does have a really big impact.”

Columbia restaurants are also adapting. Hunter Crowe, director of hospitality for City Grit, smallSUGAR and il Focolare Pizzeria, said smallSUGAR was built around local produce.

“The idea behind smallSUGAR was to help local farmers go through excess produce that they have,” Crowe said. “The smallSUGAR menu was designed and created and really has not changed within six years because of that.”

Crowe thinks vegan dishes take more creativity.

“I love butter and milk and eggs just as much as anyone else, but there are definitely options that we have intentionally made that can be vegan,” he said.

He said working in the restaurant has opened his eyes.

“I was very ignorant when it came to types of vegetables and what you could all do with them,” Crowe said.

Ben Eubanks, chef of cuisine at smallSUGAR and City Grit, agreed.

“Everything starts with a good product,” he said. “And since we’re getting good local products in, it’s easy to incorporate. Definitely the sweet potato bowl is my favorite, and that can be vegan easily with just taking one ingredient off.”

From college potlucks to restaurant menus, plant-based food is becoming a staple in Columbia.

“We’re not saying you have to eat this way,” Colón-LaBorde said. “Just try it. Keep an open mind.”