My first response to the honey question is generally something along the lines of:

I don’t really care too much if you eat honey or not. I’m mostly interested in trying to help you think about cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and fish in a way that is more compassionate and respectful.

Farmed animals are generally treated awfully and they suffer tremendously before they’re killed.

This booklet has more information about that and about vegan food choices you can make instead of eating animals.

But he insisted, “What’s wrong with honey? Why don’t you eat honey?”

Again, I tried to redirect the conversation to the foods he eats most often: eggs, cheese, chicken, pork, beef, and fish. What happens to these farmed animals would be illegal if it happened to a dog. (And dogs don’t receive much protection!) Farmed animals are literally treated like meat before they become meat.

I joked that there are plenty of things neither of us eat – carpenter nails, wood chips, puppy placentas, crickets, monkey brains, and vomit – yet our individual reasons for avoiding eating those things aren’t the basis of our ethical philosophies. So why should my feelings about honey matter so much to him?

He wouldn’t give up. He demanded to know why I avoid honey.

Though I didn’t have time to go into great detail with him about the issue, you and I now have the time to consider it. So let’s consider the honey issue.
(If, in fact, you haven’t got the time, just print out this article and read it later.)

To me, the honey issue has always been simple and clear. Vegans avoid animal products (as much as possible and practical). They do so for the benefit of animals, the environment, and their health. Honey comes from bees. Bees are animals. Therefor, honey is an animal product. (Honey is also both possible and practical to avoid.) Thus, vegans avoid honey. Simple.

Ah, but that’s almost too simple. It’s certainly too simple for most people. Like the nonvegan who questioned me, people usually ask, “But why?”

Let’s start here:
Why vegans avoid animal products.

As stated earlier, vegans avoid animal products for the benefit of animals, the environment, and their health. Each vegan is unique and each has his or her own reasons. But in general, vegans care about these things:

• eliminating cruelty to animals
• reducing animal suffering
• ending animal exploitation
• protecting the environment
• preventing disease

Preventing Animal Cruelty, Suffering, and Exploitation
It’s a well-documented fact that most animals – certainly the animals most commonly consumed as food – feel pain and can suffer. They can suffer physically from pain endured through beatings or mutilations like tail docking, debeaking, or castration. They can suffer when they are ground up alive. They can suffer when their heads are slammed against concrete floors. They can suffer when they are hung. They suffer when they’re transported in extreme temperatures without protection. They suffer when they’re boiled alive.

Animals can also suffer emotionally from pain endured through the loss of their loved ones such as when dairy cows‘ calves are removed and turned into veal. Or they can suffer emotionally from the absence of a stimulating environment such as when egg-laying hens are confined in battery cages and cannot walk, spread their wings, perch, nest, or explore.

Animal have their own interests and desires. They do not want to become food for humans. They do not want to suffer in our food system. And they don’t need to. We can choose vegan options.

Protecting the Environment
Current animal agricultural practices are terribly destructive to the environment.

Animal products – as currently produced – are not sustainable. Modern fishing methods are literally draining the oceans of fishes. Beef has a huge “carbon footprint.” One estimate shows that leather is 20 times more environmentally destructive than synthetics.

Simply stated, vegans are better for the environment than nonvegans. As the PB&J Campaign states, “each time you choose a plant-based meal you make a difference, just like taking out the recycling or taking public transportation to work instead of driving.”

Here is some more information about veganism and the environment >>

Protecting Human Health
As the ADA states, “appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.”

Vegans tend to have lower incidences of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and some other diseases. Moreover, vegan food is less likely to cause of food poisoning – like Salmonella and e coli – than animal products.

Switching from individual health, let’s look at the public health. Animal agriculture is responsible for the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA. And animal agriculture poses a human health risk by polluting waterways, poisoning our drinking water.

Ahhhh, but I still haven’t fully covered the issue of honey. You may be asking, “Are bees really animals?” or you might wonder, “Do bees feel pain? Are they sentient?” You’re probably wondering how honey is collected. You might even have questions about the environmental impact of bee-keeping or you could be wondering whether honey is a health food or not.

On point one: Yes, bees are animals. Bees are insects and insects are animals. In fact, insects include over a million species and represent more than 50% of all known living organisms. Insects are among the most diverse group of animals on the planet.

Their scientific classification is Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Arthropoda, and Class: Insecta. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Just think about it. Where do bees fit best: animal, vegetable, or mineral? They’re not rocks, right? They’re not plants, right? So they must be… animals!

“Do bees feel pain?” That’s a good question. On this point I will refer you to the expert on bees and why vegans avoid honey: Noah Lewis. He maintains an entire website that explains the issue of honey and veganism. On the issue of pain, Noah says, “why wouldn’t bees feel pain? They are animals with a large nervous system capable of transmitting pain signals.” (Bees are not oysters.)

Perhaps you’re unconvinced. You don’t like Noah’s studies and citations and/or you doubt their conclusions. You just don’t believe bees feel pain.

OK, you’re free to believe what you want. I can’t stop you from thinking our moon is made of cheese or the Earth is flat, that’s entirely up to you. It would be nice if everyone’s ideas about things corresponded with reality, but that’s not always the case, is it? So let’s just move on, shall we?

Honey was traditionally collected by killing the bees and removing the honey. Modern bee-keepers generally remove honey and replace it with sugar water, which is an inferior food source for bees. Bees make honey for a reason and that’s because honey, not sugar, is an ideal food source for bees.

What about the environmental impact of bee-keeping? Well, today’s kept bees don’t just make honey, they are “employed” to pollinate crops. In fact, honey is no longer the primary “product” of bees in industrialized farming, pollination is the “product.” Bee-keepers make a living by charging farmers to “rent” their bees. Today’s bees are shipped around to pollinate here and then pollinate there, many getting lost or killed along the way.

Modern bee-keeping is so stressful to bees that the compounded stressors of transportation, the limited diet of monoculture crops, and pesticides are resulting in Colony Collapse Disorder. I’m sure you’ve heard of CCD. The bees are dying and it’s having a ripple effect on the environment because kept bees have replaced many other native pollinators.

The honey bee – introduced to the Americas by European settlers and transformed into a for-profit pollinator – is just one more example of how industrialized farming of animals is not only bad for animals and the environment, it’s also unsustainable and is likely doomed to failure. (If you’re concerned about the issues caused by industrialized bee-keeping, the things to do are to buy organic and attract other pollinators.)

Lastly, there’s the myth of honey as a “health food” and thus the related misconception that honey is a necessary component of a healthy diet. Nothing could be further from the truth. Humans do not require honey and in fact, honey can be dangerous to infants. Never feed a baby honey! There is simply no nutritional need for honey. Suitable alternatives to honey include agave syrup or maple syrup. Or we can forgo liquid sweeteners entirely if we want.

As in the case of virtually all animal products, we can choose a plant-based option instead.

So, then what is the answer? Why do vegans avoid honey?

In my mind, an avoidance of honey is mostly symbolic but still worth doing. It’s so easy to avoid honey, so why not? Avoiding honey is a gesture that symbolizes a respect for animals, the environment, yourself, and other humans.

But for something more substantial than a mere symbolic gesture? For an action that more concretely expresses respect for animals, the environment, yourself, and other humans. Well, I think you know the answer by now: GO VEGAN!

—
If you found this article interesting, inspiring, informative, or insightful, please subscribe to the Vegan Soapbox feed to receive more articles.

If you’d like to support the Vegan Soapbox, please visit the Vegan Soapbox Amazon store >>

Renee claims: “I am not a monster and would certainly not support intentional animal cruelty but I am a meat eater.  I have always been a meat eater and will always be a meat eater.”

My rebuttal: I’ve never met Renee in real life, but I’ve read enough of her blog posts to grant that she is not a monster. She genuinely cares about other people and actively tries to make the world a better place. She has good intentions when it comes to animals.

The problem is that animal agribusiness is so often and so routinely cruel that it’s impossible to “not support intentional animal cruelty” while also eating animals. The notion of humane meat is a myth.

Jonathan Safran Foer explains this in his interview on Ellen. He says, “You have to ask yourself, does this thing I’m holding in my hand correspond with reality?”:

Beyond that, Renee claims that she “will always be a meat eater.” It’s such a ridiculous claim! How can she see into the future and know for certain what lies ahead?

Why does she include “meat-eater” as a part of her identity in the same way that she includes her gender? Does she really think she’d be a completely different person if she refrained from eating animals? Does she truly believe there is something about being vegan that will make her act like her worst vegan enemy?

Next Renee claims: “veganism is not sustainable unless you consume imported food.”

Let’s start with this: Even if Renee can’t yet fathom how she could be a vegan, and even if she thinks that the only kind of vegan worth being is a locavore vegan, that doesn’t mean she can’t begin to try. But first she’ll have to drop the meat-eater identity. She’ll have to allow herself to explore new foods and new ideas without  prejudice. I suggest she start by going veg one day a week:

Next, Renee worries about worker’s rights: “When you buy a bunch of bananas for 50 cents a pound, do you really believe a worker has gotten a fair return on their investment?”

I will absolutely grant that farm workers deserve more rights and better working conditions. But that’s not a good reason to eat animals! That’s a good reason to purchase fair trade items, to grow our own food, to buy organic, to consume less, and to vote for worker’s rights. Veganism fits with these values, not against them.

Moreover, has Renee forgotten about the slaughterhouse workers? Does she really think she shouldn’t slow the line? (click here for more information on animal agribusiness workers.)

Renee then talks more about local eating, to which I respond: Please read The Myth Of The Locavore.

Finally, she says, “There are certainly POC that advocate for veganism/vegetarianism but just like any other social justice movements, their voices are not the ones that are being centered.  The debate is most certainly controlled by White middle to upper class women.”

I agree with Renee, in part. The animal movement doesn’t pay enough attention to the diversity of its membership. It’s something we should work on improving by becoming better allies with people of color.

However, none of that should matter in Renee’s decision to eat animals. The cows and chickens and fish don’t care about racism, classism, or sexism within the animal movement, they just want freedom from suffering for themselves. How can someone who claims to care about animals overlook the animals’ needs and instead focus on the animal movement’s imperfections? Eating animals in order to spite privileged people doesn’t do anything good for anyone! It’s just mean.

Ultimately, Renee’s entire article is more an exhibition of her ignorance about animal exploitation than a criticism of veganism or the animal movement. To that end, I suggest Earthlings:

Imagine a whole “life’ of captivity?

So, if you’re a bit stir-crazy being temporarily home bound… But you still don’t get the urgency of ending animal use AND suffering; Now would be a great time to - Watch Earthlings

Some of his comments after realizing what happens to animals in animal agriculture, entertainment, fur, and other exploitative industries:
“it’s wrong”
“it’s cruel”
“it’s barbaric”
“I had no idea what my ignorance was supporting”

If you haven’t seen Earthlings, watch it now:

amoral, adj. 1. without moral quality; neither moral or immoral. 2. lacking or indifferent to moral standards, criteria, or principles

moral, adj. 1. of, or pertaining to, or concerned with the principles of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical

I watched Earthlings for the first time last week with a group of university students that were also seeing it for the first time. Now I’ve been fighting and speaking up for the rights of animals for almost 10 years and I’ve seen a lot of sickening, twisted and horrible animal cruelty caught on tape. I thought I was immune!

But what I saw in Earthlings was so vile and so overwhelming that it truly disgusted me to be associated with the rest of humanity. I wasn’t myself for days. I won’t go into the graphic details of the film, as I’m sure most of you reading this have already seen it. But if you haven’t, I recommend you do, animal activist or not (albeit armed with a good supply of tissues).

As I facilitated the post-film discussion, I asked the teary-eyed kids in attendance if they thought the people committing the incomprehensible acts of violence in the film were psychopaths or if our entire society was psychopathic to allow, promote and participate in the institutionalized cruelty we so easily and without provocation inflict upon the animals.

I believe our society, hell, our whole damn species, is psychopathic. I can’t think of any sane reason for what we do to the animals. We know they feel pain. We know they suffer and bleed and fear death. We know that when they’re beaten they cry out in agony.

We know they can sense when they’re about to be slaughtered and we know they try to avoid it with every fiber of their being. We know they experience terror and we know that their screams are screams of terror and not of indifference. We know it but that knowledge doesn’t stop most of us from doing it.

And what do we make of people like ourselves; part of this violent and sadistic culture yet dedicated to peace and compassion? What makes us different? Not everyone who sees Earthlings, or sees the inside of a slaughterhouse for that matter, will go vegan (although I’m certain many will). Why do some people change while others do not?

Is it perhaps that we are the next link in the evolution of humankind; homo sapiens pathiens (from the Greek pathos meaning to evoke pity or compassion): the wise and compassionate human? I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers.

But I do know that sooner or later some of us will ask ourselves: how do we go on? How do we keep on fighting when 99% of humanity – our friends, family, co-workers and community leaders – have such utter contempt and disregard for the feelings and suffering of animals? How do we go on when it seems like we’re powerless to protect the animals from the evils of the human race?

The answer is we just do.

—
Update: This post’s timestamp has been changed in order to re-publish it on the front page without a “sticky.” It was originally published on Aug. 12th 2009.

Warning: disturbing images.

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MONSANTO
(full feature-length film)
KING CORN
(preview)

SUPERSIZE ME
(full feature-length film)

RAW FOR 30 DAYS
(preview)

EARTHLINGS
(full feature-length film)
MEET YOUR MEAT
(full length film: about 12 minutes)

Natascha Kampusch had to spend more than eight years in a tiny room after being kidnapped in Vienna when she was only ten years old. In 2008, when she was 18 years old, she managed to escape. [...]

“It is now up to Minister Aigner to decide whether social, intelligent and beautiful living beings should continue to be humiliated because ruthless or naïve people keep them chained in cages – depressed, broken and limited to an amount that prevents them from living a normal life according to their needs. Animals, too, would run away if they could, just like I took my chance to escape. Because a life in captivity is a life full of deprivation”, says Natascha Kampusch in a press release  (link here)

Here is the Earthlings segment on circuses: