Matt & Nat is a Canadian Vegan leather goods brand based out of Montreal, Quebec (shoutout to my hometown!). A quick browse-through of their website shows the brands simple, minimalist design preference and style. From wallets to cross-bodies, to yoga bags to diaper bags, they have just about everything.
Living in Montreal myself, I have seen this brand out and about a few times. However, it wasn't until after I went vegan that I learned about what an amazing, ethical company Matt & Nat is. Standing for Material + Nature, their cruelty free leather is made from PU and PVC. Each bag is lined with material made out of recycled plastic bottles. Each factory is routinely visited and those involved in the process of producing their products are treated fairly and ethically. To read up more on their ethics and sustainability efforts, visit their dedicated page. In terms of cost, I see their pricing as reasonable. Brand name animal leather pieces go for much, much more, and for the quality of M&N, I believe the prices are worth it. I originally started searching for a new backpack when I first booked my trip to Europe. Months ago, I'd been looking into purchasing a M&N backpack, but couldn't afford to treat myself to one just yet. When the opportunity arose, I began searching distributers and websites for sales and promo codes. Eventually, after a couple of weeks of snooping the internet, I managed to snatch up a basically brand new bag for a bargain. Like, a crazy bargain. I still loving telling everyone. My bag is the July backpack from the Dwell Collection in Black. It features a very simplistic, clean design, with nice silver hardware and a smaller pocket on the front. After testing out this bag for a couple of weeks now, I am extremely happy with it. The quality is amazing; the leather feels soft and high quality. The straps are nicely padded, which is handy when carrying a lot of weight, or for carrying it for long periods of time. The straps are also easily adjustable, with a cloth-y material straps woven through the adjustment loops. (Alright, that was the worst description, but you can see what I mean on their website). This is a small but very useful detail, since leather straps would have been much more difficult to slide through the loops and adjust. The zippers glide easily and smoothly, and the size is perfect. I can easily fit my 13" Macbook Air inside, however I don't know if anything larger would work. I haven't experienced any pain or discomfort while wearing it. Functions and practicality aside, it's also just a very lovely bag to look at, and matches just about any outfit. All in all, I highly recommend Matt & Nat to anyone. I think it's important to support ethical, and in my case local, brands wherever and whenever we can. I definitely plan on indulging in some more pieces in the future, and I won't need to feel guilty about where my money is going.
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The day this post goes live, Sunday, June 4th, marks one year that I've been vegan. It's a bit crazy to look back on it and think that so much time has passed, yet it feels like just yesterday. I've learned a lot over the past 12 months, and I've definitely changed immensely as a person - as you do. A lot of these changes were definitely shaped by my moral-driven decision to go vegan, so I wanted to compile a list of things that the universe has taught me along my journey.
Going vegan was the single most humbling experiences of my life. It brought me closer to animals and the planet, and I feel so much more at peace with myself. That being said, I know that it's only a small step in the right direction. There is so much more that we're capable of doing, and I hope that in the years to come, I'll keep on bettering myself, one thing at a time. C Ahem... let's skip the awkward reintroduction of myself and my blog, since I haven't made a post in two months. Sometimes school and life get a bit crazy, and thats all I can really say. Not that anyone actually reads this thing, but I guess just to my future self who will look back on it - it's okay to slip up sometimes. Tonight, a friend of mine is hosting a holiday party with the theme of sustainable vegan food! I was so excited to get invited, since it meant I would have the chance to make some treats of my own. Since we're going to be eating a whole dinner, I decided to control myself, since I had quite a few ideas of sweets to make. In the end, I settled on two little nibbly bits that hopefully everyone will enjoy: salted caramel cookies, and chocolate bark. As the queen of lazy baking and cooking, I feel a bit silly including recipes. But I mean, this is a food post, so I guess it's kind of necessary. Here we go. Salted Caramel Cookies
Mix all of those together. Roll into balls. Whack 'em in the oven. Vegan goodness. A lot of people are surprised to hear that a good number of premade cake and cookie mixes are actually accidentally vegan. Just make sure to check the ingredients, substitute non-vegan additions to the mix with vegan versions and you're good to go! Chocolate Bark
To make your own DIY double boiler, boil some water in a pot. Rest a glass or stainless steel bowl that fits snug in the opening of the pot, and pour in whatever you're melting - in this case, chocolate chips and a couple of teaspoons of coconut oil. In all honesty, I obviously have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to baking. I've just heard many people say that the coconut oil helps the chocolate melt easier and makes it silkier, so I just followed their lead. I added the second pack once the first was melted, and then poured it onto a flat pan lined with parchment paper. Not gonna lie, this whole process made me feel like a Lindt chocolatier in one of those commercials. Except I was a lot more anxious about the boiling water and having to remember to put my oven mits on every time I held the bowl so I didn't burn my hands off. Smooth the chocolate out evenly across the pan, as thick or as thin as you'd like, and while it's still melted, add your toppings. You can add anything, really, but I just crushed pretzel sticks and oreos in a Ziploc bag before sprinkling them on. Once it's finished, stick it in the freezer to harden. Once it's done, you can break it - possibly use a knife, this is way too hard to break with your hands - into irregular shapes, and you'll have some fancy looking chocolate bark. It's so crazy to me that Christmas is already coming up this weekend. 2016 seems to have sped by, but at the same time, feels like it just kept dragging out. It was definitely a difficult year for the world, and also for me personally. I know it's cheesy, but I can't wait for that "fresh start" feeling of the new year. I know a new calendar doesn't really mean anything, and not much actually changes, but I do have a few resolutions for myself in 2017. Maybe I'll make a post about them - one of them is blogging more frequently, anyway. I hope you all have a wonderful end to the holiday season, whatever you do or don't celebrate. Let me know what vegan goodies you've been baking and cooking to celebrate!
C Sometimes I feel like the world holds vegans to a much higher standard when it comes to morality and right actions. I'm not necessarily complaining, because to be honest, as a society who causes so much harm to our planet and to other beings, we really do need to start questioning what is moral, what isn't moral, and how we can do better. I'm grateful that veganism can be something that gets that conversation going. However, with these passing judgments come the inevitable criticism and scrutiny of the lifestyle. Are we doing enough? Are we hypocritical? Why care so much about animals when there's so many other problems going on in the world?
I believe that these criticisms arise because of a certain stereotype that haunts vegans: the "morally superior" stereotype. Many non-vegans have this idea that all of us are self-absorbed, elitist, and will look down upon anyone who eats meat. I mean, yeah, maybe there's some like that, but we all know that narcissism and superiority complexes aren't limited only to vegans. I'm sure you've met plenty of people in your life who fall under those categories who enjoy cheeseburgers. Being completely honest, I don't think I'm any better of a person than someone who eats animal products. Sure, based on my beliefs, I obviously think that my own lifestyle choices are more ethically sound compared to someone who isn't vegan, but that's a given... since I've chosen this lifestyle for ethical reasons. However, I know humans are complex and I'm not so arrogant as to only base my judgment of someone's character on the food they eat and makeup they buy. I may disagree with your lifestyle choices, but that doesn't give me the right to not offer you basic respect, as long as you return the favour. One of the main attacks against vegans that I see that angers me is claiming that we only care about animals and not about human lives. As a very passionate and proud feminist, Black Lives Matter supporter, LGBTQA+ supporter, anti-Islamophobia advocate - honestly, the list could go on forever - this offends me. It irks me that people would judge me based on the fact that I also care about animal welfare and wellbeing, as if this is a bad thing, and assume that I don't also care about the lives of other oppressed groups of people. Of course I do. Animal rights and human rights are my two biggest passions in life, and I'm sure that many other vegans, especially others around my age, would say the same thing. Just because I find it equally as important to stand up for animals who are being tortured and slaughtered for selfish human indulgence does not mean I can't be equally as opposed to unfair prejudices, discrimination, and killings of minority groups. When I went vegan, one of the biggest changes that occurred to me was becoming much more humble and connected to nature. I don't think I ever consciously believed that humans were more important than animals, however now I can look back and reflect on how that is what our society subliminally teaches us. Most of us see little to no problem with enslaving and exploiting other living beings for our own gain when there are so many other easier, cheaper, healthier, more sustainable ways of doing these things. People defend their "necessity" for eating meat by claiming that we're at the top of the food chain - which is just not true, but it's what we are taught to believe, and this is the sort of ideology that enforces the human superiority complex that I despise so much. We are taught to believe that humans are the most important beings - we don't even refer to ourselves as animals, even though that's exactly what we are, just so that we can separate ourselves - and that everything else on this planet is meant for us to take. And to take, and to take, and to take. And to never give. When I went vegan and I realised how much I value other animal's lives and wellbeing, this mindset changed. I don't put myself before them. I don't put any of our lives before them. So does that mean the jeopardized lives of black people or women aren't important to me? Does that mean I put animal's lives before theirs? Of course not. That's why I openly voice my support for them, and all oppressed groups, which include animals. For the sake of this planet, nature, and all of us, I hope that one day we all learn how to live in harmony, respecting each other and not placing importance on one specific group. To me, veganism is a huge step in that direction. C A very common question I get asked when I mention my veganism is why I don't consume milk or support dairy farms when the animals aren't killed in the harvesting process. It's a difficult question to answer unless the person doesn't mind sitting down and listening to me talk and spew information for 30 minutes. In a perfect world, I would be able to telepathically redirect them to this very blog post. I'm going to explain to you why dairy farms are, indeed, not ethical.
Let me preface this by saying that I'm not trying to convert you to my lifestyle or dictate your life or eating habits. I'm a firm believer that while I do hope that everyone becomes vegan one day, it's not my duty or my place to personally make that happen. Other people are capable of doing their own research and learning, and in turn, making their own decisions based on the knowledge they acquire. That's exactly what I did, and exactly what all other vegans have done. However, I also firmly believe that everyone should know exactly what goes into the food that they buy and consume. And since I know a bit about that, I'd like to share. Remember, when you learn something, you can't unlearn it. So if you're not open to the concept of change, maybe don't read this. When I first went vegetarian about a year ago, I felt so strong about my decision. My conscience felt so liberated and weightless. I no longer had lingering guilt every time I ate meat. I no longer wanted to eat it, because I finally made the ethical connection between my meal and an animals life. I also remember stating very confidently that I could and would never go vegan because it would be far too difficult. However, this quickly changed a few months later, when I was exposed to the truths behind dairy and eggs, and much like after I had learned about the meat industry, I couldn't re-close my eyes and pretend I hadn't seen. I just needed to do it. Most of us have this vision of dairy farms as being these huge wide open green pastures, full of happy grazing cows standing under a beautiful blue sky. The friendly family who runs the farm comes out at the crack of dawn and milks the cows by hand, feeding them and showing appreciation for the work they've done that day. We have this distorted idea of dairy farms because of the little pictures they draw on our milk cartons and the commercials on TV that have been drilled into our minds since we were kids. It's an illusion. The milk you buy from your grocery store doesn't come from these farms. The milk powder that's put on your cheese flavoured snacks or that's mixed into your cookies is not from these farms. But how could it be all that bad? After all, cows aren't killed for milk like they need to be for meat. But the truth is, the cruelty and horror that goes behind retrieving and producing the milk in the first place is unimaginable. Like humans, cows are mammals. Mammals can only produce milk when they are lactating, and they can only lactate when they're pregnant. As you can probably guess, factory farms don't wait around for the cows and the bulls to fall in love and mate naturally. As a matter of fact, the only bulls you'll find on a dairy farm are the babies that were a result of the artificial insemination the mother cow had to endure. In order to guarantee constant profit, dairy farm workers need to guarantee constant milk supply. The dairy cows on these farms need to always be pregnant so that they can lactate, so that humans can steal their milk for their own consumption. Cows are therefore artificially inseminated, typically by a medal rod being painfully shoved into the cows vagina along with one of the workers forearms guiding the "AI gun". If we performed this process on a non-consenting human woman, it would be considered rape, because that's exactly what it is. Non-vegans either give you a concerned look or simply laugh when you put "dairy" and "rape" in the same sentence, but it cannot be argued that sticking a foreign object inside the vagina of another being without their consent to impregnate them is rape. Regardless, whatever your views on this terminology are, I think we can all at least agree that this is horrifyingly inhumane and disgusting. Sadly, the horror doesn't end there. After the cows carry the baby for nine long months, they give birth. If the calf isn't immediately torn away from the mother, this will happen within the first few days of its life. This separation from their baby causes enormous amounts of stress on not only the mother, but also the calf. Could we ever imagine stealing a human mother's baby immediately after birth - or at all? Can we even begin to imagine how distressing and traumatic that would be? The mother is swiftly hooked up to metal machines that pump out her baby's food, packaging it into pretty containers, which are then shipped off to our stores so we can buy it. The cycle continues for these dairy cows. They will be repeatedly raped, their babies will be repeatedly stolen away, and their bodies will be continuously exploited and harmed for our own "benefit". Eventually, they'll be too old to be of any use to these farms. They will most likely be sent to slaughter houses to be killed. As for the babies, bulls are also typically shipped away to slaughter houses for veal, since they are of no use to dairy farming. Therefore, even though I had stopped eating meat of all kind as a vegetarian, I was still consuming large amounts of dairy, which meant I was indirectly supporting and linking myself to the meat industry. The female cows that are born typically share the same fate as their mothers. They are fed insufficient diets, not their mother's milk that is specifically and only designed to help them grow quickly and strong. When they are old enough, they will be artificially inseminated and exploited as well. Repeatedly. And their own babies will continue that same cycle. It's horrifying. It's all so awful that it's hard to even believe. How could this all be hidden so well? How could we be so blind to this cruel reality? Simply put, animal agriculture receives enormous subsidies from the government because of the enormous profits they bring in. We run off of money. False advertising is used to make us believe that everything is done humanely, and like cattle (no pun intended), we blindly follow. The more cautious or critical of us may learn towards "humanely" farmed milk, however the word "humane" cannot logically be connected to animal enslavement and exploitation. Furthermore, these farms aren't much different from the "inhumane" ones. (I'll probably write another post on that topic.) Most of us have the firm belief that the government has our best interests in mind, and that we can trust them. But some of us know better. My own personal view on all of this is that, even if we could somehow create humane dairy farms, where no cows or bulls were harmed and they were all genuinely happy with their lives, I still couldn't support them based on my morals. There's no ethics behind exploiting animals for any reason. I just can't justify enslaving any kind of animal for my own personal gain, even if they were happy with it. I could never enslave another human being even if they were willing. Animals are living, sentient beings. They should be free. They should just be cows, not dairy cows. If this post rubbed you the wrong way, I don't blame you. I encourage you to research more on your own, watch video evidence, etc. Ignorance may be bliss to some, but to me, bliss is actually doing the right thing... C Growing up in a society where eating meat is the norm and genuine leather products are sought after, it's not surprising when we raise an eyebrow to someone who says "I'm vegan." Any kind of deviation from the norm we conform everyone to is immediately scrutinised and criticised. And especially with something like veganism, where our own morals and values may be questioned or looked down upon, it's easy to become defensive. There are many myths that I've become aware of since becoming vegan, some I even used to believe myself. Basically, I just want to set the record straight.
Phew, a long one. That felt really good to write. I hope that at least one thing I wrote resonated with you, and even if you have no interest in going vegan, you no longer look down upon us or paint us all as these angry hippies. I'd prefer to be a happy hippie, thank you very much. C When I began transitioning into veganism, I knew the hardest thing to give up would be my lovely, beautiful, typical Canadian Tim Horton's Ice Caps. I had a hardcore addiction, to the point where going vegan probably saved me a long list of future health problems. Despite the truth behind the dairy cream that went into those drinks, I have to admit, they were delicious, and going from (at least) one every single day to none was difficult. Starbucks has soy, but let's be real, over 5 dollars for a coffee every day? As if.
This is why my first mission on my journey to veganism was to find the perfect recipe to make my own Ice Cap/Starbucks Frappuccino at home. I've never been a fan of traditional hot coffee, and while I enjoy a nice iced coffee once and awhile, nothing beats the blended texture of these drinks. I've come up with a super simple recipe - two ingredients, two minute process. Even if you're not like me, and don't come from a past of tragic addiction, this is a delicious treat to blend up on a hot summer day if you enjoy creaminess and a light coffee taste. Ingredients:
Optional:
Non-Food Items Required:
Super simple! The exact measurements can be tweaked to suit your own personal tastes and likings, but here are some general steps to follow. How-To
One of my favourite things since going vegan has been finding ways to veganize traditionally non-vegan treats and meals. It never fails to excite me when I find a way to enjoy the things I've always loved, but have a less negative effect on animals, my own health, and the planet. Whether you're trying to cut back on your dairy intake, just trying to save some money, or just feel like some coffee, hopefully this recipe can give you a tasty way to do so! C |
Authoradmirer of beautiful things, amateur artist, perpetually confused. Archives
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