Oh No, Don't Eat The Honey

Photo: USA Today

Honey in the Vegan community is often mistaken as Vegan. I know I didn't realize it wasn't vegan either, and for the longest time, I kept putting a squirt of honey in my morning coffee, not even fathoming what I was actually contributing too. And if you know me personally, you know I have an irrational fear of bees, but that being said; they still deserve to live out their lives as evolution intended (even if I run like a child from the closest buzz).

Honey is made by bees for bees, and their health can be sacrificed when it is harvested by humans. Now I've been a Vegan for a year now, and as some of you will know, especially those who have been Vegan for a while, is that there are split factions amongst Vegans over whether or not honey is vegan. I'm not igniting that debate, for the sake of everyone's time, let's just look at the definition of Vegan, and you can draw your own conclusions:

"A philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."

As always I like to highlight the environmental effects that come from harvesting, honey. Mass breeding of honeybees affects the populations of other competing nectar-foraging insects, including other bees. Overwhelmed by the ever-inflating quantities of farmed bees, the numbers of native bumblebees and various bird species have declined. 

Much unlike bees, humans (that's you and I) can live quite well without honey in our diets. Fortunately for us, there are all kinds of alternatives for Vegans like myself, who just have a ferocious sweet tooth. One of my favorites is maple syrup, though I also love molasses and agave. 

It's important to do your research, and decide for yourself if you haven't already the vegan lifestyle. I appreciate you taking the time to read this quick post. You can subscribe, to automatically receive all my future posts. 

Another Post You Might Like: How to save the world with one choice, Go Vegan!

Thank you,

That Witty Vegan