To get updates on new site content, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Difference between revisions of "Honey, Bees, and Pollination"

From JFA Wiki
Line 9: Line 9:
 
== Advocacy ==
 
== Advocacy ==
  
−
Less clear and more nuanced than the question of whether honey is vegan, is the degree of zeal and insistence we should convey when we respond to inquiries about honey. Discussions about honey should be done with an awareness that:
+
Less clear and more nuanced than the question of whether honey is vegan, is the degree of zeal and insistence we should convey when we respond to inquiries about honey. Discussions about honey should be done with a sensitivity to these facts:
  
 
# Insects rank low on society's hierarchy of concern for animals, and
 
# Insects rank low on society's hierarchy of concern for animals, and
−
# Bees are used to pollinate some of the fruits and vegetables that we vegans eat.
+
# Bees may have been used to pollinate some of the fruits and vegetables that we eat.
  
 
In light of this awareness, one way to respond is as follows:
 
In light of this awareness, one way to respond is as follows:
Line 20: Line 20:
 
* Explain that commercial bees are not necessary for pollination, and may actually be harmful to sustainability (see below).
 
* Explain that commercial bees are not necessary for pollination, and may actually be harmful to sustainability (see below).
 
* Invite your interlocuter to research both sides of the issue then decide for themselves.
 
* Invite your interlocuter to research both sides of the issue then decide for themselves.
−
* Point out that they still fell, after researching the topic, that it's OK to eat honey, it would be illogical to use that as a justification for eating other animal products, or as a justification to dismiss other aspects of veganism as invalid.
+
* Point out that if they still fell after researching the topic that it's OK to eat honey, it would be illogical to use that as a justification for eating other animal products, or as a justification to dismiss other aspects of veganism as invalid.
 +
* If called for, explain that avoiding honey is not inconsistent or hypocritical just because we may be eating plant-based foods that have been pollinated with commercial bees. We avoid animal products as far as "possible and practicable,"—just because we can't be perfect does not mean we should not do what can easily be done.
  
 
== Talking Points ==
 
== Talking Points ==

Revision as of 05:55, 31 March 2019

Context

The question of whether honey is vegan is frequently brought up by those new to or considering veganism. According to the most widely accepted definition of veganism, and the definition embraced by JFA, honey is implicitly proscribed. Veganism is "a way of living that seeks to exclude, as far as possible an practicable, all forms of exploitation of and cruelty to animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose."[1]

Considering the information presented below in the talking points, it would be hard to deny that bees are exploited and harmed when the honey they have made for themselves is taken from their hives for human consumption. In addition, honey provides no essential nutrients and can be easily avoided.

Advocacy

Less clear and more nuanced than the question of whether honey is vegan, is the degree of zeal and insistence we should convey when we respond to inquiries about honey. Discussions about honey should be done with a sensitivity to these facts:

  1. Insects rank low on society's hierarchy of concern for animals, and
  2. Bees may have been used to pollinate some of the fruits and vegetables that we eat.

In light of this awareness, one way to respond is as follows:

  • State that vegans avoid honey because it involves the exploitation of animals.
  • Briefly describe how bees are harmed in the making of commercial (see below).
  • Explain that commercial bees are not necessary for pollination, and may actually be harmful to sustainability (see below).
  • Invite your interlocuter to research both sides of the issue then decide for themselves.
  • Point out that if they still fell after researching the topic that it's OK to eat honey, it would be illogical to use that as a justification for eating other animal products, or as a justification to dismiss other aspects of veganism as invalid.
  • If called for, explain that avoiding honey is not inconsistent or hypocritical just because we may be eating plant-based foods that have been pollinated with commercial bees. We avoid animal products as far as "possible and practicable,"—just because we can't be perfect does not mean we should not do what can easily be done.

Talking Points

  • Studies have shown that bees feel pain.'[2] [3] One study that did not conclude bees feel pain depended on injured bees choosing bitter-tasting morphine over sugar water, as if the bees had pharmacological knowledge that even a human would not have without a label.[4]
  • 'Bees have cognitive abilities. Bees can be taught how to perform tasks that are foreign to their natural foraging behavior and can improve on the tasks they have learned by making generalizations. As one researcher put it, "The old-fashioned view is if an animal has a small brain, it’s not intelligent or smart...our study shows it’s not true that small brains are not capable of this kind of cognitive flexibility.”[5]
  • Bees die in the production of commercial honey. One national survey conducted in the United States showed that "the nation’s beekeepers lost 40 percent of their managed honey bee colonies" to parasites, pests, and diseases in a 12 month period.[6]
  • A journalist reported that "commercial bees live grinding, miserable lives of nonstop work in often toxic conditions."[7]
  • Much of the bees' honey is replaced by sugar water which lacks the nutritional richness of their natural diet—honey, nectar, and pollen.[8]

Background Info on Bees and Honey

See Also

Why Honey is Not Vegan


Footnotes

  1. ↑ “Definition of Veganism.” The Vegan Society. Accessed March 31, 2019. https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism.
  2. ↑ Balderrama, N. et al. (biologists) (1987). Behavioral and Pharmacological Analysis of the Stinging Response in Africanized and Italian Bees. Neurobiology and Behavior of Honeybees. R. Menzel & A. Mercer (eds.). New York: Springer-Verlag.
  3. ↑ Núñez, J. A., Almeida L., Balderrama N. and Giurfa M. (1997). Alarm Pheromone Induces Stress Analgesia via an Opioid System in the Honeybee. Physiology & Behaviour 63 (1), 75-80
  4. ↑ Groening, Julia, Dustin Venini, and Mandyam V. Srinivasan. “In Search of Evidence for the Experience of Pain in Honeybees: A Self-Administration Study.” Scientific Reports 7 (April 4, 2017): 45825. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep45825..
  5. ↑ Loukola, Olli J., Clint J. Perry, Louie Coscos, and Lars Chittka. “Bumblebees Show Cognitive Flexibility by Improving on an Observed Complex Behavior.” Science 355, no. 6327 (February 24, 2017): 833–36. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aag2360.
  6. ↑ “US Beekeepers Lose Four of Every 10 Managed Colonies in 2017-18.” Auburn University. Accessed March 31, 2019. http://ocm.auburn.edu//.htm.
  7. ↑ “Why We Can Stop Panicking about the Honeybees.” MSNBC, July 10, 2015. http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/why-we-can-stop-panicking-about-the-honeybees.
  8. ↑ “Honey Bee Nutrition and Supplemental Feeding | Beesource Beekeeping.” Accessed March 31, 2019. https://beesource.com/resources/usda/honey-bee-nutrition-and-supplemental-feeding/
Retrieved from "https://justiceforanimals.org/index.php?title=Honey,_Bees,_and_Pollination&oldid=2712"