I’m Jahson, the founder of The Vegan Rasta.
I grew up in North Peckham Estate. I know every inch of Peckham and it's home.
I've been a cook since about seven. I think you have to when you grow up in a Caribbean household. My big brother, he was no good, so it fell onto me. My mum would start cooking in the mornings then I'd be given instructions on how to finish it when we returned from school. By 11, I was cooking the whole Christmas dinner. I was never forced, I wanted to learn.
I'm a Rastafarian and within Rastafarian teachings, there is a saying: 'Eat not flesh’. Long before it was called vegan, we called it Ital. Ital is food that is natural and pure - no salt, chemicals, or flesh.
I started to study not just the cuisine, but the effect it had on the body. And how we can use vegetation as a medicine for both the physical body and spiritual body. So being vegan became about finding a balance for me. I want to create vegan products that are vital for a healthy balanced life. Products that do good for us and do not harm the world.
That's what The Vegan Rasta is all about. Vital products for the good of the inner and outer self.
One love,
Jahson