Meet Ace Anderson: Finding Joy, Creativity, and Purpose Through Plant-Based Living
What does it look like when a Black man chooses a plant-based lifestyle? For Ace Anderson, it looks like a lot of things. He's an actor, rapper, graphic designer, photographer, poet, content creator, and vegan advocate. He describes himself as an artist and storyteller, with creativity connecting all of the different things he does. But his journey to veganism didn't start with activism. It started with curiosity.
Watch the full interview here.
From Curiosity to Plant-Based Living
Ace was introduced to veganism through his ex-wife, who had already been vegan for several years when they met. At first, he wasn't vegan himself. But he noticed how she lived, how she cared for her health, and how she seemed to feel in her body. That made him curious. The two eventually did a five-day cleanse together, followed by Ace committing to eating strictly plant-based for seven days. That experience opened the door.
He started realizing that many of the foods he already enjoyed were naturally plant-based. When he wanted to cook Jamaican food for his girlfriend, he called his mother to learn how to make some of the dishes without meat. That's when something clicked for him. The seasonings, spices, sauces, and cooking techniques were already doing much of the work. In his words, he realized that it wasn't the meat giving the food its flavor. From there, plant-based eating started to feel much more approachable.
The Moment Everything Changed
Ace continued eating mostly plant-based while occasionally adding chicken or fish. Then he watched What the Health. One particular scene stayed with him: a Black church community discussing health challenges while a large animal farm was located nearby. Ace said the documentary made him think about how his own spending was connected to the food system. That became a turning point.
He told his girlfriend that he wasn't ready to call himself vegan, but he was going to stop spending his money on animal products. Two weeks passed. Then three. Then a month. Then two months. Eventually, Ace realized, “I guess I'm vegan.”
There was still one food that tested him: barbecue chicken.
The Thanksgiving Barbecue Chicken Test
Ace grew up eating chicken and especially enjoyed barbecue chicken. After moving to Texas, he was excited about trying Texas barbecue, although he quickly discovered that the style of barbecue there wasn't quite what he had imagined. Then Thanksgiving came around.
He had been vegan for about six months when friends served barbecue chicken. He spent about three hours debating whether he should eat it. Eventually, he decided to have a piece. And it was underwhelming. After six months of eating plant-based food, Ace realized he had been enjoying his meals and didn't feel like he was missing out. The chicken simply wasn't as exciting as he remembered.
More importantly, he had started thinking about the bigger picture: his health, animals, the environment, and how his food choices connected to all of those things. That was the last time he intentionally ate chicken. Since November 2017, Ace says he hasn't looked back.
Jamaican Food Didn't Disappear When He Went Vegan
Ace is a first-generation American with Jamaican parents and grew up around Jamaican culture and food. So naturally, one of the questions that comes up when talking about his plant-based journey is whether he still enjoys Jamaican cuisine. His answer is absolutely.
In fact, he says he appreciates Jamaican food even more now because he understands what makes it Jamaican in the first place. Scotch bonnet pepper. Thyme. Allspice. Curry. Coconut milk. Those ingredients bring so much of the flavor and character to Jamaican cooking. And many traditional Jamaican foods are already plant-based or can easily be made plant-based.
Think:
Plantains
Bammy
Rice and peas
Vegetables
Beans
Coconut-based dishes
Jamaican spices and seasonings
For Ace, understanding the foundation of the cuisine made it easier to continue enjoying the food he grew up with.
Making Plant-Based Eating Feel Less Complicated
One of the things Ace believes can make plant-based eating challenging is the learning curve. We're used to eating the same foods our families cooked, buying the same groceries, and going to the same restaurants. When you change the way you eat, you have to rethink some of those routines. But Ace compares it to changing a variable in a math equation.
You can take a familiar recipe and replace the animal product with a plant-based ingredient. That doesn't mean every recipe will work exactly the same way, but it can be a useful way to approach familiar foods without feeling like you have to start over completely.
For Ace, this also changed how he thought about desserts and other foods. He points out that when we enjoy a cake, for example, we're enjoying things like sugar, cacao, cinnamon, coconut, and other flavors. The ingredients that make a recipe memorable can often be recreated without animal products. The more he learned about cooking, the more possibilities he saw.
Using Creativity as Activism
Ace didn't set out to become a vegan content creator. When he first went vegan, he didn't necessarily see himself as part of a larger movement. He was primarily focused on his own health and how much better he felt. That changed in 2020.
Ace noticed how much negativity and division he was consuming online. He wanted to create content that made people laugh. He wanted his mother to be able to open Instagram and enjoy herself. He wanted his future children to find content that was entertaining and uplifting. So he started making comedy. And because veganism was already part of his life, it naturally became part of his content. Some of his jokes took off. People responded. And Ace realized that humor could be another way to introduce people to veganism. Instead of leading every conversation with statistics, suffering, or arguments, he could make people laugh first.
Why Joy Matters
For Ace, joy is a major part of how he communicates. He believes that when people are constantly presented with suffering and negativity, they can begin to feel overwhelmed or powerless. His approach is different. Create something entertaining. Make people laugh. Show them what a healthy, joyful plant-based lifestyle can look like. Then let them get curious.
Ace says most of the people who follow his social media aren't vegan. Many are plant-curious or considering veganism. He's heard directly from people who became interested in exploring veganism again because of his content. His mother is another example. Ace says that while she wasn't interested in talking about veganism when his ex-wife would bring it up, his own everyday presence had a different effect.
She saw him cooking and eating plant-based food, and eventually began making meals that he could eat too. For Ace, that matters. Sometimes the example you set can start a conversation without you saying much at all.
Why Black Men Need to See Black Men Choosing Plants
Representation is another important part of Ace's story. He believes Black men need to see other Black men living plant-based because there can be assumptions that veganism is somehow incompatible with masculinity. Ace challenges that idea simply by living his life. He wants Black men to see that they can choose plant-based foods while still being themselves.
For him, health also extends beyond what is on the plate. He talks about how eating well, exercising, and taking care of himself affect how he handles the challenges of everyday life and how he shows up for the people around him. He sees that as having a ripple effect from himself to his partner, children, family, and community. And that's part of why visibility matters. Sometimes seeing someone who looks like you making a different choice can make that choice feel possible.
Veganism and Relationships
Ace also gets candid about dating as a vegan. He's currently experiencing being single and vegan at the same time for the first time, and he's found that veganism can definitely come up in dating.
His approach is pretty straightforward: he's willing to pay for a date, but he doesn't want his money paying for animal products. He's also experienced people losing interest after discovering that he's vegan and an outspoken vegan advocate. At the same time, he says conversations in person can be very different. When people get to know him and understand why he lives this way, they're often more interested in hearing about his experience. For Ace, it's another example of why conversation and personal connection matter.
Ace Anderson: Artist, Advocate, Storyteller
Ace wears a lot of hats. Actor. Rapper. Poet. Graphic designer. Photographer. Content creator. Advocate. But he doesn't see these as completely separate identities.
Creativity is the thread connecting them all. He describes his different roles as different fingers on the same hand. Each one gives him another way to tell stories and communicate ideas. Social media has become a kind of portfolio for him; a place where he can experiment with comedy, poetry, music, vegan content, dad jokes, and other creative ideas. And his philosophy is simple: Put it out. You can make the next one better. Instead of waiting until an idea is perfect, Ace encourages people to create, share, learn, and keep going. He believes that when we hold back our ideas, we miss the opportunity to share a perspective that only we can offer.
Creating a Legacy of Light
When asked what he wants people to remember about his impact, Ace talked about the idea that everyone has a unique, divinely given spark. His hope is to be a light to remind people that they have their own light within them. That idea connects many of the themes throughout his story.
His vegan journey began with seeing someone else living in a way that made him curious. His activism developed through creativity. His content focuses on joy. His approach to life is rooted in spirituality, creativity, and purpose. And his message to people is ultimately about recognizing what they already have within themselves.
Ace's Final Message
At the end of the interview, Ace shared a line that captures much of his philosophy: “Time just keeps on timing, but there's really only now. Focus on the why. Don't worry about the how.” For Ace Anderson, plant-based living is one part of a much bigger story, one that includes creativity, culture, health, spirituality, relationships, and the desire to bring more joy into the world.
And that's exactly why his story belongs in Black Men. Plant Powered. Because there isn't one way to be a Black man who lives plant-based. There isn't one reason to choose plants. And there isn't one way to create change. Sometimes it's through education. Sometimes it's through food. And sometimes, as Ace shows us, it's through a joke that makes someone laugh, and gets them curious enough to learn more.
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