The English Mademoiselle Diaries: vegan

Showing posts with label vegan. Show all posts

Sourced from PETA

PETA has become renowned for their anti-fur protests at fashion weeks over the last couple of decades, from the disruption of Oscar de la Renta's fur show in 1991 to meetings with Calvin Klein in 1994, right up to this year's protests in London. For me at least there is no doubt about the effectiveness of PETA's fur protests, more and more designers are rejecting fur and other materials sourced from animals in favour of more ethical options, but there can be no doubt that these protest will continue until the abuse of animals to create clothing has stopped.

From @chloekoffman

There definitely is a slower move to more ethical and environmentally friendly options by luxury brands because by nature they are slower to enact change due to long production times and small client bases. As well as this their products are generally not to be thrown away and are made to last. This definitely a case of waiting for designer brands to move towards a blending of ethics and environmentally conscious choices while maintaining the aesthetic that the brand represents.

I think this slow change is the reason that the PETA protests have become so prolific in recent years during fashion month (made up of fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris). It is during fashion month that these designers take the world stage and set the trends for the upcoming year, not only this but there is an incredible amount of press coverage and social media discussion about the events. Thus making the protest reach as many people as possible, and therefore more effective at creating change within the industry. These protests are not the only thing demanding change, even surveys conducted by the RSPCA in 2011 found that 95% of Brits wouldn't wear real fur, which begs the question why are fur and other animal materials still produced so openly?

Now personally I was never always against fur and other animal-based materials, I still own leather shoes from before I went vegan, I used to have a goose down duvet for most of my life. Fundamentally the reason I was never against all of these things was because I never questioned the way they were produced I allowed them to be disconnected from the violence and abuse that is required to create them. But the protests this year at London fashion week opened my eyes to something new, the detrimental environmental and heath effects of the production of real fur and leather etc.

Please don't wear real fur or leather or any other material from an animal! Because if for no other reason no one wants to be like Cruella de Vil

XO, Miriam

P.S. Here are some resources that I used to inform this post and that have more info on other protests both physical and online:

Anne (2016) Why are these models at London fashion week wearing gas masks? | PETA UK. Available at: http://www.peta.org.uk/blog/models-london-fashion-week-gas-masks-fur-protest/

Gamble, I. and Dazed (2016) Anti-fur protesters storm London fashion week opening. Available at: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/29922/1/anti-fur-protesters-storm-london-fashion-week-opening

Gonsalves, R. (2015) Fashion’s faux and sustainable options: How designers are redefining luxury with ethical substitutes. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/fashion-s-faux-and-sustainable-options-how-designers-are-redefining-luxury-with-ethical-substitutes-a6736671.html

Kretzer, M. (2016) PETA’s New York fashion week ads would fool even fashion editors. Available at: http://www.peta.org/blog/petas-new-york-fashion-week-ads-would-fool-even-fashion-editors/

opinion, S. (2016) Second opinion doctor. Available at: http://www.second-opinion-doc.com/the-history-of-petas-anti-fur-campaign.html

The environmental costs and health risks of fur (2010) Available a; http://www.furfreealliance.com/environment-and-health/

//The China Study// 2.5/5 //

Let start with this I wanted to love this book, I wanted to be educated further through scientific evidence about the benefits of a vegan diet, I wanted to have something to refer people to when I am asked questions about my lifestyle choice. Instead, I have conflicting views about this incredibly popular non-fiction book within the vegan community.

For me, the best thing about this book was the writing style, it allowed the scientific bits more accessible to someone who hasn't read a scientific report or review for 3 or so years. By allowing the science to be more accessible it made it possible for me to form my own views on the evidence presented and whether it could help in explaining my lifestyle choice, and in working out how I should eat as a vegan to remain healthy.

This for me is where the problems lie, I felt as though some of the information was being manipulated or not included in order for the authors to further their own viewpoints. While I believe this book was in part written for this reason it felt forced, everything seemed to add up in their favour which for me at least felt a little bit off. I have since read other reviews of the book and I'm not the only one who has felt this way, by no means am I trying to say that the evidence that the book puts forward is wrong or has been misinterpreted but it does leave out some possible counter-arguments which I believe should have been considered. Having said that I don't know all that much about science and the way it should be conveyed to the public.

My overall conclusion on this book is to dip in and out of it, and only read the sections that interest you and affect your life personally and will help you educate those around you about a plant based diet.

XO, Miriam

Breakfast:

So I have recently rediscovered cereal, nothing special I know but you can definitely blame on watching too much Bonny Rebecca and Steph (AKA HappyHealthy96) lately. I mixed several different types of cereal together firstly to bulk up my more expensive cereal and secondly to get a bunch of different textures. Today I mixed up cornflakes, puffed rice and strawberry granola. And of course I have to get my fruit in, in the morning so I topped it with passionfruit and blueberries as well as the normal chia seeds, cacao nibs and coconut. I ate this all with rice milk today, but I normally prefer almond milk in the morning because it is sweeter.

Lunch:

My flatmate and I made a small stir-fry using some leftover mix and bulked it out a bit using Thai rice crackers, and some veggie sausages. We used a pre-made sweet chilli sauce and I added some sriracha. I don't eat that much for lunch because it doesn't normally suit my schedule very well, so I generally eat more in the mornings and the evenings.

Dinner:

This photo isn't actually from today but basically had the same thing. I made a bean chilli using kidney beans, black beans and sweetcorn. The recipe I used is here... I ate it with potatoes baked with no oil or salt and some mixed salad with a lil' olive oil on. You may have noticed quite a lot of carbs in my diet which is just how I feel good, I mean don't get me wrong I love vegan ice cream and avocados but on most days eating a lot of starchy carbs is the most practical way for me to eat and to feel good. More on that in a later post.

XO, Miriam

Since going vegan back in January there have been a few meals that I have missed, the main one being chilli as my mum always used to make with Quorn or I would have it with turkey mince when cooking for myself at uni last year. And because I can't even imagine eating meat anymore let alone believe the idea that it is 'healthy' I decided to make a less processed version using whole plant based foods and fresh ingredients that my body will thrive on.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of canned or soaked kidney beans
1/2 cup of canned or soaked black beans
1/4 cup pearl barley (optional)
1 small can of sweetcorn
2 cups of whole cherry tomatoes
1 can of canned tomatoes
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 pieces of dark chocolate
1 onion finely chopped
1 bell pepper
1 clove of garlic crushed

Method:

1. Heat a non-stick pan over a medium heat, and soften the onion and garlic in a small amount of water.

2. Add the bell pepper and the cherry tomatoes, allow to heat up for about 5mins.

3. Stir in the chilli powder and cumin powder.

4. Pop the now soft cherry tomatoes and stir in the beans and canned tomatoes.

5. Leave to simmer for about 5 minutes, then stir in the dark chocolate (I used dark chilli chocolate this time but it doesn't make much of a difference) and add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Turn down to a low heat and stir in the pearl barley if you are using any.

7. Allow to cook for about 30 mins on a low heat.

8. Serve with rice and tortillas or potatoes.

9. Eat.

I also add nutritional yeast and sriracha to mine because I add them to everything...

XO, Miriam

The addiction to smoothies continues forever... And the simpler the better in my eyes!

So grab these things from your fridge/freezer/cupboard or wherever else you may keep your food.

4-6 super spotty bananas

1 cup of baby spinach

1 cup of mixed tropical fruit

1 cup rice milk

1-2 cups of ice cold water

Blend the spinach with the coconut milk into a paste first, then add all the fruit and the water and blend blend blend.

*and the vegans are going to blend blend blend*

Drink up and be happy.

XO, Miriam

Tah-dah! Another 'What I Eat In A Day' post, I wanted to do these more often than I have but I don't always have my camera near by when I'm eating...

Breakfast: As always I started the day with a big bottle of water, and on this day I had marmite on brown toast (get that B12 in people) and a bowl of oranges.

Snack: You guessed it more oranges, I happened to have loads of really juicy rip oranges so why wait to eat them!

Lunch: *please excuse the over exposed photo* *cringes* Can we all raise our hand to me finally putting blueberries in salads because this is the best! I made this salad with a mix salad bag, falafel, thai crackers, sesame seeds, tahini, chai seeds and moron hummus. I had two bowls of this, because second helpings are important to me okay...

Dinner: PIZZA! I bought some remade bases from the supermarket and put loads of veggies on top of some tomato sauce. The veggies included onions, potatoes, spinach, peppers, and mushrooms, all topped with siracha.

So there you have it what I eat in a day.

XO, Miriam