30-Year-Old Breast Cancer Survivor Opens Vegan Restaurant in Baltimore

Vegan entrepreneur and breast cancer survivor Taneea Yarborough recently opened a franchise location of Gangster Vegan Organics inside Cross Street Market in Baltimore, MD. The organic, mostly raw eatery aims to make it “gangster” to eat healthy and be kind by offering access to unprocessed plant-based meals. Gangster Vegan’s menu features burgers such as the ODB Broccoli Burger with marinated kale and sunflower-seed cheese on dehydrated onion bread; bowls such as the Dirty South BBQ Bowl with brown rice, marinated kale and mushrooms, black beans, roasted beets, carrots, pickled cabbage, and sunflower-seed cheese and BBQ sauce; and salads such as the Notorius Tuna salad with romaine, kale, and sunflower-seed tuna and cilantro dressing; along with smoothies, juices, and wellness shots. Yarborough, a school principal-turned-entrepreneur, became vegan as part of her wellness routine after being diagnosed with cancer. She opened the Gangster Vegan franchise with her husband James just two weeks before she was scheduled to undergo a bilateral double mastectomy and reconstruction surgery in September. “I knew I wanted to share our mission with as many people as possible, and honestly, I didn’t have the benefit of waiting until everything was perfectly ready,” Yarborough told media outlet Essence. “But spending my day surrounded by whole organic produce and talking to people about how our food at Gangster Vegan is helping them on their journey of healing and wellness allow this to not feel like work.” Gangster Vegan was founded by Vince DePaul and currently has four locations in Philadelphia and Maryland, with a fifth to open in Riverdale Park, MD this winter.