The Vegan View

It is my understanding that vegans do not consume anything that is a product derived from an animal. I can understand that in the case of eggs since an egg is a potential animal. But why honey? Honey is, to me, a "fruit" produced by bees somewhat like the "fruit" a tree produces. So what's the problem with eating honey, especially if precautions are taken to not harm the bees when it is collected?

VegFamily readers reply:

Tim:
The fact is the bees are mistreated. The bees pollinate our crops for us yet we put up cell phone towers and power lines that are killing them with electromagnetic radiation and the very crops we want them to pollunate for us we spray with poisons that end up in the honey and cause birth defects in the bees leading to their ultimate inability to reproduce leaving us with the job of pollinating everything ourselves all the while we take half or more of their food and put refined sugar back in the hive to replace what we took.

Can you stop and see the world from the perspective of the bee or any other animal for a moment? They are powerless over what we do to them. Only our desicion to consciously let them be and do no harm to them will save them. They have no way of telling us that what we do to them hurts. They have no way of petitioning us to stop. They just try to live on despite our threats to their livelyhood. Veganism to me is my gift back to the amnimals that my parents taught me to eat and therefore support the animal abuse and torture business with my food dollars and hopefully lead the next generation into a kinder gentler world. No more of that for me thank you.

Consciousness is raising on the planet. We can choose a better way of being yet much advertising dollars go to keep things the same or increase the maddness. To me it is being a part of the solution or part of the same old problems that have us in such a world wide mess environmentally, financially you name it. Clearly I choose good over evil. Perhaps it is to little too late unless the masses jump on board. All you can do is change yourself and that sends out ripples of change into the world. Many are not ready for this yet a lot of the vegans you meet are. When will you be ready or will you go to your grave abusing animals? You ever hear what goes around comes around? Do you think that only applies to school yards?

Have you heard of lucuma powder? it is dried fruit from peru and it is a low glycemic sweetener that is all natural raw and organically grown. Do you really need to take from the bees to sweeten your food or do you just need to research the alternatives more? Do you know why the bees work so hard? Who is going to feed them if they don't? They don't work so hard to feed you. If so then why would they sting you if you go near their food supply instead of warmly invite you in for a bite to eat?

Crystine:
There are alot of reasons as to why some vegans do not consume honey. You can easily look those up online. I personally have no problem with buying honey from my local honey guy. I know it is produced in small batches, carefully and responsibly. I consider it our local sweetener and I'd rather have that then sugars from afar. You can also "keep" your own hives which we also do. In this way you really know what's happening.

Cassie:
Honey is the reward for a lifetime of hard work by bees. It is their food that they have made. In order for us to consume honey, it means we must take food from bees. With all the substitues out there, such as agave nectar, it seems absurd to rob something from another being when it's not necessary.

Diana:
This isn't so much an answer as it is an observation. Honey bees are more important for their ability to pollinate rather than their honey. They are in real trouble to the degree that feral honey bees are endangered. Beekeepers and beekeeper hobbiest are keeping them going. The relationship between beekeeper and bee is symbiotic. Beekeepers harvest the honey while leaving enough for the bees (who are workaholics anyway). In turn, the beekeeper provides a safe hive for them, protection from preditors and feeds them in the winter, if necessary. Vegans have a point (I am vegetarian, but not vegan), but you can win the battle and lose the war. Lighten up!

Faith:
I posed the same question to the Vegan Society (based in England). The bees *do* suffer mistreatment & are oft-times (unintentionally? carelessly?) killed. Do check out VeganSociety.com for a better explanation. After reading how bees are mistreated, I have sworn off *all* bee products! I do not want/need to consume/wear anything from animals...or insects!

Shari:
My reply is to please refer to this website : www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm

I think that after being more informed there won't be any confusion that honey is not "fruit" and bees are basically enslaved and taken from their natural life cycle.

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