Not-So-Essentials

I may be a 'flaky vegan' but I'm not exactly an eco-freako flower child or whatever but there are a few supposed 'essentials' I have been happily doing without for years.

Laundry Detergent and Fabric Conditioner

Fabric Conditioner was an easy one. I ran out at some point 15+ years ago and simply didn't buy more. All that changed was my laundry lost its artificial smell (which I didn't like anyway); I didn't find my clothes rough or scratchy or anything so what was the point of wasting money?!

The Laundry Detergent was a tougher issue. My eldest daughter has mild eczema and is also allergic to biological washing powders so we were stuck on the non-bio stuff. She's an adult now and she uses non-bio for her laundry by the way.

My dad got me these eco washballs years ago and when they finally died I switched to soap nuts. I have been using them for about three years now and have had zero problems. Although I used to do laundry for my job though which was so nasty it got presoaked with nappy bleach tablets and washed with detergents that I didn't use for my own things.

[Edit: since becoming a full-time carer this has gone out of the window. We're back on non-bio as my daughter still lives at home and Dettol Laundry Cleanser has become my most favourite thing ever. I have to do more hot washes too which sucks. But unfortunately my mother's health & comfort is more important to me right now. I have no intention of continuing their use when she's gone and we don't have the need for *ahem* extra hygiene. I'm using washable wipes for her]

Tampons

No, I am not menopausal but I quit traditional sanitary supplies a couple of years back. I've only put tampons here because I do use pads occasionally as a back up if I'm out on a day trip or whatever - same as I used to when I was using tampons. I keep meaning to get a few washable pads for those occasions ***literally pops over to ebay to fix that*** right...where was I?

Oh yes...tampons. I had been using tampons since my 1st period age 12 and as I have a very heavy flow it cost me a small fortune. I saw a lot of hype about moon cups (or whatever brand it was) but , being me, instead of spending £20-£40 I went to ebay and ordered a 99p equivalent from China.

I have never looked back! Each cup lasts me about a year and my body is so much happier for it. I've had the odd placement mishap but overall I wish I'd switched sooner.
This is why I am not a fan of people who complain about the so-called 'tampon tax'. Modern sanitary products are just that: modern. Disposable sanitary pads date back to 1888 but my mum and her sister used washables in the 1950s and 60s; modern tampons date to the 1930s and carry a risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) which can be FATAL. Women menstruated for centuries without disposable products which have a negative impact on the environment. Menstruation is natural not medical and disposables are luxuries, not essentials...unless you have no access to washing facilities - which almost everyone does.

I'm sure there was a third one...
I don't drive or own a bike. I use VERY little make up (more of that in my next blog)...and what the hell even is a skin care routine??? There are probably LOADS of things the average almost 40 year old white British female* would consider essential which I just don't. Either because I'm not interested or have been doing quite well all these years I haven't been able to afford such things.
[*not that I consider these things especially important but ethnicity, culture and biological sex do have an impact on how we all live our lives]
I am far from being a minimalist, I own a LOT of junk; I do not approach every potential purchase with thoughts about whether I really NEED it. What I do think about however, is whether I WANT it or not. A lot of things we're marketed to think we need when we don't, brainwashed into thinking something is 'essential' or we're 'deprived' if we don't have it.
That's kind of how my mum feels about ironing...she thought I was a terrible parent because I didn't iron my kids' school shirts but modern fabrics don't crease like they used to. Washing machines and tumble dryers leave most clothing ready to be put on a hanger and worn so, to me, ironing is not an essential.
So the next time you're shopping you might just want to give a thought...did you add that item to the cart out of need or want, habit or marketing ploys? Live how YOU choose to do, not how you think you HAVE to.

Februdairy Roundup

For each day of February I have posted to Instagram (and linked to Twitter and Facebook) a picture of an alternative-to-dairy food. The one exception was day 4 where I shared a Metro article quoting farmer James Robinson "to show what actually happens on dairy farms and not give way to militant vegan propaganda"...nah mate, vegans and animal rights activists are showing what actually happens on dairy farms countering decades of carnist, speciesist propaganda.

As I accidentally posted my MeatyMarch blog earlier than intended I wanted to sum up here what my anti-#Februdairy posts included. I am putting brands in bold for their first mention only, products I hadn't tried before are in bold red.

I kicked off the month with four cartons of plant milks, representing the stash I keep in. Unsweetened Almond for everyday use, Cashew for milkshakes, Oat for lattes and Chocolate Oat for my dad.

There are lots of different plant milks on the market and many different brands and I wanted to show a range. These were Oatly and Alpro milks; on day 6 I shared Alpro chocolate and strawberry lunch box size cartons and on day 24 it was Rude Health's Tiger Nut milk.

But obviously the dairy industry is a whole lot more than JUST milk. For me the hardest part of going vegan was giving up cheese so it made quite a few appearances during the month.

On day 2 it was vegan pizza with Tesco's mozzarella-style. The mozzarella-style appeared again on day 13 with nachos...and also featuring an Asda soured cream topping. Another serving suggestion appeared on day 5 - Tesco's peppercorn style with kale as a toasted sandwich.

Yet another Tesco's cheese alternative featured on day 12; their chili jalapeno cheese has to be my favourite. Violife slices were day 23's offering.

Then there are other basics. Many margarines are actually dairy free but rather than scanning the ingredients I tend to go for Vitalite (day 19) because it is clearly marked vegan. Flora's new Avocado Lime spread was a product I tried for the first time this month (day 10).

Oatly and Alpro custards shared the spotlight on day 9 and Alpro long-life creamy desserts were featured on day 27.

Alpro blueberry yoghurt was my offering on day 17, Rebel Kitchen's coconut vanilla yoghurt appeared on day 22 and Tesco's Fromage Frais were featured on day 3.

There's a false idea that veganism has to be healthy but junk food vegans are definitely a thing and treats featured regularly throughout the month. 

Swedish Glace is a great everyday ice cream (day 18) whereas Ben and Jerry's is an all-out indulgence (day 7).

Sainsbury's chocolate soothed me on St Valentine's Day (day 14), Vego was a treat on a difficult day at work (day 25) and my final post of the month was my Choices Easter Egg (day 28).

Eve's Tree fudge (day 15) is a newer product to the dairy-free market but like I showed in a Throwback Thursday post you can always MAKE whatever you're missing - day 8 was homemade toffee apples made with coconut cream.

Making things without dairy isn't especially arduous and I also included ingredients for doing just that: Nature's Charm coconut condensed milk (day 21) and Oatly single cream (day 26).

Obviously making your own, especially using plant-milks for coffee, is the easiest option most of the time but obviously you're not always in a position to do so. Hence day 11's Costa coffee - coconut vanilla latte - and a convenience ice coffee from Califa Farms - Cold Brew Cocoa Noir - on day 16.

Favourite for the whole month though had to be day 20's Honey Mustard Dressing from Follow Your Heart. Yes, that's a VEGAN product emulating a honey flavour creamy dressing.

Seriously, answers on a postcard (or in the comments) on what people are 'missing out' from being on a vegan / dairy free diet. DO NOT GO THERE WITH THE CALCIUM ARGUMENT - look up kale and other leafy greens!

Admittedly, even in my 2.5 years veganism has become a whole lot easier. As veganism becomes more mainstream life as a vegan or lactose intolerant person is only going to get more straightforward. Get onboard now and help us all along! ;)

Hashtag MeatyMarch

Obviously I have blogged about my veganism before and this'll probably cover a lot of old ground but, if you know me, you'll know I love to give my opinions...repeatedly.

Personal backstory for those of you new here:

I was ill for YEARS. My symptoms probably started around 1997 and I was diagnosed* with IBS but as a stay-at-home mom the idea of my gut problems being stress-induced never seemed right. Symptoms hit when I was calm and relaxed; I'd be stressed out of my gourd and NADA. On top of that none of the medications I was given did me any good.

*Diagnosis of IBS is basically made if you have a number of a set of symptoms. There is no diagnostic testing. I was not comprehensively tested to rule out other conditions. I never saw a dietitian or nutritionist despite serious weight issues alongside my life-impairing diarrhoea and constipation.

One day in 2012 I was at the GP...about my knee, I think, and I overheard two mums talking. One was detailing her kid's symptoms. I thought "he's got IBS like me" but instead the other mum said "I bet he's lactose intolerant like my kid". AND IN THAT MOMENT MY WORLD CHANGED.

I went into my appointment, I presume. But even at the time I could remember nothing from it. I went home, cleared out the kitchen cupboards and started an experiment. It took time - my bowels were a terrible mess after 15 years - but four months later I was symptom free. My GP still refused to have me tested or amend my records. They REALLY don't like admitting they're wrong.

The next problem was my willpower. I don't have any. I knew I SHOULDN'T eat dairy but I kept giving in to temptation. By late 2015 the solution was obvious: I had to go vegan. I was already vegetarian and my mum is allergic to eggs so it made perfect sense to me. Life has been far easier ever since (although I admit eating out can be a bloody nightmare!)
This is why veganism was the right choice for ME, not gonna assume it is right for anyone else but I strongly recommend trying it...not least cos it's easier than you think. I wish I had done it 'for the animals' but I didn't. I need to be honest about that.

Context backstory for this blog:

I wrote a blog last month called 'Veganuary Validity' which explains a lot of it but for those of you living under a rock... The Veganuary campaign is a year-round campaign but its main focus is to encourage people to try veganism as a new years' resolution for the month of January - to raise awareness and encourage people to at least reduce their animal-product consumption.

It is doing well and is helping veganism to become an increasingly mainstream lifestyle choice.

This, of course, pisses of the industries that produce animal-based products.

The dairy industry attempted to fight back with 'Februdairy' - cute pics of cows in fields etc...naturally, we countered this with tangible facts or as they chose to put it "extremist vegan propaganda". My personal thing was to post to Instagram (linked to Twitter and Facebook) one vegan dairy substitute product per day for the entire month. Fell out with my kids' grandfather over it and had to unfriend him. If he thought *I* was being extreme god knows what he'd make of rape racks and slaughtered newborn calves!

...Now the meat industry are trying their own hashtag campaign - MeatyMarch. I swear, this is so stupid you can't make it up. Our culture has carnism so ingrained that I can't imagine why they think more propaganda would convert us back to meat-eating. 
*Carnism - "the prevailing ideology in which people support the use and consumption of animal products, especially meat" (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnism) usually involving the false belief that humans NEED milk and dairy in their diet, and speciesism - believing that humans have innate rights to use animals as a resource.

This blog is to accompany my own anti-MeatyMarch 'campaign'. 

Just like with Februdairy I'm not going to push veganism as such, I am not going to post graphic images from slaughterhouses; there are loads of people / organisations posting those things. I'm just gonna share a bunch of alternatives to meat.

Y'all don't have to quit meat, y'all don't have to be offended by my veggie burgers - I'm just showing what I eat and trying a few new products along the way. For me, this is about AWARENESS; if I can inspire anyone to try meat-reducing that's just a bonus.

Now for the important point: 

Veganism doesn't HAVE to involve mock meats. There are a whole load of *ahem* certain vegans who say you're not even vegan if you eat mock meats. There are also a whole load of people who give you hassle if you eat these things because they're not super healthy.

Let me make this perfectly clear: the principle of veganism is about eliminating cruelty to animals. Mock meats are not hurting animals ergo mock meats are vegan. You can be a raw food vegan or a junk food vegan - IT DOESN'T MATTER. Or at least not to anyone but yourself.

I eat quite a lot of products intended to replace meat in a meal. Partly because that is what I am used to and partly because I enjoy them. I am not 'promoting' the use of mock meats as such...just showing that just cos you go vegan doesn't mean you can't have a Christmas Feast or a Burns' Night Haggis or whatever. Most carnists are all "I couldn't live without bacon" or something equally inane so naturally enough I have chosen to show that yes, we too have bacon.

I do actually want to cut down my dependence on comparatively expensive, processed, premade vegan foods including mock meats but I don't anticipate ever giving them up. I enjoy food and I don't subscribe to the idea that veganism is about going without. That was the whole point with my Februdairy posts...it  was all about saying "Look! I have milk, cheese, yoghurt, Ben and Jerrys, chocolate, custard, fudge, ranch dressing and EVERYTHING! Veganism ISN'T all raw carrots and tasteless cardboardy shit and self-denial" and that's the attitude I'm taking into MeatyMarch.

If people want to eat fully raw, raw till 4, wholefoods whatever that's entirely their choice and I don't have a problem with that but I will never be okay with those people hassling junk food vegans or saying sh*t like eating something that looks like meat is as bad as killing a cow. It literally makes no sense and makes all vegans look like psychos.

The infighting between vegans is really concerning. Everyone has their own way of doing things - their own preferences and lifestyles. For someone who can spend a couple of hours preparing a meal from scratch to criticise someone who lives a busy commuter lifestyle is grossly unfair. As someone with an eating disorder the idea of complete strangers feeling they have the right to tell me if they feel my dietary choices are healthy or not is terrifying. 'Live and let live' should be for other humans as well as farmed animals.

Oh yeah, and if you don't think there are vegans who are a problem in and of themselves there are videos such as this explaining just why it's an issue:
"The Problem With Crazy Vegans" by What Mia Did Next
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkfRKHPJwhY
...and I quote: "militant, insulting, offensive vegans". Alienating potential vegans is just such an incredibly dumb tactic. I may not know marketing, and TBH I don't care, that's not what I'm here for. I'm into the leading by example thing: 'if I can do it you can too, if you want to' and...'this is what I eat, feel free to give it a try'.

Postscript
Another thing I want to touch on here is veganism and pet ownership. There's the PETA type lot who think that having a pet is tantamount to slave ownership; and there's the ethical vegan lot who think that you simply can't have a pet (like a cat) which is an obligate carnivore and buy meat for their consumption.
Meat is necessary for a cat; it's not for a human. That shouldn't mean a human who eschews meat can't have a cat.
Here's my take: pet ownership can be cruel. Keeping one animal in isolation is TERRIBLE. Animals have rights. END OF, okay?! But...I have a cat. He has his personal freedom. Yes, he is neutered but as the 'owner' of a male cat I feel that is a responsible decision. I wish there was another option but...you know, if I'm not the owner of the momma cat I can't take responsibility for that.
I buy my cat meat because he needs it, biologically. I don't buy meat for myself and my homo sapiens family because we don't. We get an ethical choice; he doesn't. I love my fur-baby; I am confident he has a good life; he was adopted, not bought from a breeder. I feel ZERO guilt here.
Of course NOT having a cat and NOT buying meat would be better but I LOVE my cat...it feels to me kind of like my 'choice' to be a teen mom. It was a choice in a sense but in another it wasn't...like, this cat would have been born if it wasn't for me so I feel no guilt giving him the best life I can; my kids have a life because of me and I do my best by them, even if 'society' disapproves.. All I do is look after him the best I can. Just as my kids were a choice of sorts and I stepped up to do the best I could by them. Saying the world would be better if my kids weren't here is just as much bullshit as to say the same of not adopting a fur-baby. Does that even make sense??? Do the best by any lives which depend on you.
An animal lover who won't offer food and shelter to a living creature is a strange contradiction to me. Love your pets, treat them well, don't deny them what THEY need.