About Us

Food Empowerment Project (F.E.P.), the organization behind Vegan Mexican Food was founded by a Chicanx and longtime vegan activist, lauren Ornelas. In 2007, F.E.P. launched veganmexicanfood.com, in part to highlight Mexican foods that do not include animal ingredients, while also modeling that it is possible to eat vegan and still incorporate comfort foods.

Colonization of the Americas forever changed the diets and lives of many – including the Indigenous peoples in Mexico. On their voyages to the “New World,” the Spanish and English brought farmed animals, including cows and goats, and they consumed the milk from these animals. Many Indigenous peoples and people of color are particularly prone to digestive ailments when consuming non-human animal milk. This explains why drinking milk gives many people of Chicanx and Latinx descent stomach pains and other health problems. Since it is not natural to digest milk from another species, we consider this to be lactose normal.

Many Mexican dishes are naturally vegan, like nopales and ensalada de frutas con chile, while others are easily made vegan, like rice, beans, and posole. For those dishes that may contain animal ingredients, we have included delicious vegan recipes so that you don’t have to miss out on any of your favorites.

Vegan foods do not contain animal ingredients, including “meat,” sea life, eggs, dairy, and honey, all of which are products of suffering and exploitation. Of course, the produce we all eat is picked by farm workers, who often suffer and are treated unfairly, so we need to recognize just how important it is to support these workers whenever possible. F.E.P. continues to raise awareness about the labor conditions of produce workers while simultaneously working with them to advance their rights by supporting corporate, legislative, and regulatory changes. We created veganmexicanfood.com to be a user-friendly resource for vegans and the vegan-curious alike, as well as the Latinx community and beyond. We hope that you enjoy these recipes as much as we do!

Vegan Mexican Food is a collaborative effort, and we would like to thank everyone who has contributed: those who submitted original recipes, those who tested recipes, and those who cooked, styled, and photographed each dish!