TAMPA, Fla. – August is National Black Business Month, and we’ve been talking to Black entrepreneurs in our community all month. I stopped by Da Meat Up, a pop-up vegan soul food stand with a goal to make Southern comfort food healthier.
“So, we’re Da Meat Up. We’re a 100% vegan, plant-based food company that offers comfort food,” said Coleisha Bennett, who also goes by Chef Starr. “Food brings people together – and music – so we tried to combine the two, which is why we’re calling it Da Meat Up, with a play on words.”
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Chef Starr usually sells her food right outside the Black Radish Vegan Grocer in Tampa. “We even made it as far as Connecticut with a pop-up, but we’re everywhere. As you can see, we have our travel tent,” she said, smiling.
“I did research. I did a lot of experimenting. Spent countless hours in the kitchen trying to master the texture of plants and beans and other things that I could use in place of traditional meat products,” she said.
Their menu is quite extensive and includes vegan oxtail, chicken, BBQ ribs, mac and cheese, collard greens, and red velvet waffles, among others.
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Chef Starr founded Da Meat Up in 2020 during the pandemic after receiving rave reviews for her plant-based cooking, but her journey into the plant-based world began about seven years ago after a cancer scare. “They found cells in my cervix and I did some research. Nutrition, everything is nutrition,” she said.
After a follow-up appointment, she said the doctors could no longer find any cancer cells. She took this as a sign to continue her meat-free diet. She also said she felt better afterward.
“When we eat meat products, we usually feel sluggish, we feel heavy. I noticed the difference: when I eat plant-based, I have much more energy,” she explained.
The best business advice she’s ever received is: “The hardest thing is to start, but you have to keep going because there will be quiet days, there will be busy days. There will be days when you don’t feel like it. We were up yesterday getting everything ready and I didn’t sleep. I had to come right back here today. So just keep going!”
