Can vegans eat honey? Honey has a lot of natural health benefits.
-Question from FormSpring. Ask me anything!
No, honey comes from animals. It sounds funny to most people when I say this. Killing bugs is pretty acceptable in our culture, and honey doesn’t even kill bugs! I understand this completely, and I’m sure there are health benefits. However, vegans don’t consume animal products, no matter what.
I’ve been fascinated by bees for as long as I could remember. The hive is more organized than any human organization could ever hope to be. It sounds silly, but to me, honey just seems like stealing the bees’ supply of food. Beekeepers “encourage” overproduction, but I don’t agree with human interference in animals’ lives so regardless of the situation, I won’t buy it.
Honey is also bee puke…which makes it pretty unappetizing. If you already think bugs are gross, why would you eat their puke?
There’s a lot on the internet about the ethics of eating honey, but I’ll just say two words: agave nectar. You know, the stuff tequila is made out of. It’s wonderful, just like honey, but unlike honey, it doesn’t interfere with these tiny, awesome creatures.
This is my “honey pot”, where I store my agave nectar. Super cute, huh? Once you go vegan, you need to get creative with such product-specific kitchenware. I need better ideas for what to do with my cute egg cups.
I’m running out. Donations would be appreciated!
Sometimes, the honey issue is a little difficult for me – not because I love the taste so much, or because agave isn’t good enough. That’s not it at all.
Honey simply sounds lovely. Just say it. The idea of something so sweet coming from a bug with a stinger has been in so many poems, so many stories, so many art pieces. It’s the idea of honey that’s hard to break away from. But when it comes down to it, for all animal products, the allure and romanticism behind any ingredient is not worthwhile, in my opinion. Agave is the way to go!