How the North Carolina natives food journey made her a social media sensation.
It all started with a sandwich.
Lord have mercy," she said in an unmistakable North Carolina drawl.
Credit:Kwaku Alston; Wardrobe Styling: Heidi Meek/The Wall Group; Makeup: Brandie White; Prop Styling: Justin Fry/Art Department
“You know I can’t sing, but this done made me sing.”
She turned her head to the side and took another bite on camera.
Truer words were never said.
Brown’s Mother, Patricia Ann Blackstock Johnson.Credit: Courtesy of Tabitha Brown
For over a year prior to that, she had experienced depression and inexplicable, debilitating headaches.
“I started having chronic pain throughout my body.”
She was also constantly exhausted and plagued by panic attacks.
Credit: Greg DuPree, Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
“I felt like I was dying,” she continues.
She had good reason to be alarmed.
A number of her family members had died young of heart attacks and strokes.
Brown, in center, with her sister and father.
Unable to walk or talk, her mother lost her battle in 2007 at just 51 years old.
So she decided to go vegan for 30 days.
By the 10th day, something had changed; she had energy, and her headaches were gone.
She started feeling like herself again and transitioned to a plant-based lifestyle permanently.
Even their cockapoo-terrier mix Blacky Brown gets in on the antics.
Some days, she’ll fix vegan recipes.
In one 60-second snippet, she makes carrot bacon.
In another, it’s “UnTuna” salad with chickpeas.
Occasionally, she’ll introduce her followers to tropical fruits like rambutan and mamey.
“Hello there,” she says with a soothing tone.
“I’m just checking in on you.
It’s okay if you’re not….
I promise we are.
She spent her childhood running up and down the dirt roads with her cousins.
“I love to tell stories.
“A Southern favorite would bemy vegan mac and cheese,” she explains.
“This is good comfort food.
Brown often substitutes raw pecans for the meat in her recipes for chili and tacos.
Brown deeply misses her father because she hasn’t seen him since the beginning of the pandemic.
She misses the distinct smell of humidity in the air and the scent of freshly cut grass.
Until things are different and she can safely travel again, she will continue spreading joy through the internet.
I’ll talk to you later.”
