I’m one of those vegans who eat honey. Once, someone told me I wasn’t even a vegan for eating honey, and other times I’ve met vegans who didn’t bat an eyelid at it. This article is for people who are in between, or are otherwise interested in a discussion about food ethics 
My main argument in favour of eating honey is: I can’t be perfect. I kill trees for my toilet paper every day. I use modern technology which generally supports the rape of the environment and the bringing about of climate change (and probably the odd animal is tortured somewhere along the line too). Sometimes I accidentally eat something that has an animal product in, or accidentally wear clothing that has some leather in it.
Causing Harm
Basically, causing harm is an endemic part of modern society, and unless I live like a caveman I can’t avoid it. It’s only by leveraging the power of modern society, though, that I can do good, which potentially could make all of the harm worth it.
A lot of meat eaters use the fact that we can’t avoid all harm as an excuse to eat meat. I don’t agree with that. I believe that we can and should try to minimise the harm we cause. But I also believe that it’s impossible to be perfect. At some point we have to draw the line where more effort in minimising harm isn’t going to be worth it. Or maybe we just don’t have more effort to spare.
I know making a dietary change is effort. I’ve wanted to be a 100% raw foodist for a couple of years now. I know that it’s the best diet in terms of environmental impact and plant welfare, to say nothing of the good effects it has on me. But so far it’s been much too much effort for me to maintain sustainably. I’ve accepted that. I’ve let myself not be perfect.
So it’s OK even if you’re a meat eater who can see that making a change would reduce the harm you cause. So long as you can stay aware of the impact of your actions, of the potential for (external) gain by changing them, then it’s okay to take your time and accept when you’re not strong enough.
I think later the resources (internal or external) to make a change will come. So long as you stay aware, and you don’t let your lack of resources be an excuse for sinking back into unconsciousness.
Vegans Who Eat Honey
As for the ethics of being a vegan who eats honey, I see it as somewhere between eating animals and eating plants. At times, I’m even unsure whether the harm to plants might be more intolerable.
Bees, like plants, have short life cycles, making the death of a bee less tragic than the death of a long lived animal. I also get the feeling that the worker bees are made to be more “expendable” somehow than most animals are. They often die when attacking to defend their hive.
Whatever the reason, I don’t feel as connected to the hurt bees go through as the hurt an animal goes through. I’m sure it’s invasive and horrible to go through your hive being ransacked for honey, but somehow I don’t know if bees feel it all on such an intense level as animals.
I wonder if I would change my mind if I witnessed bee farming. I’m sure I wouldn’t do the worst practises myself if I was there – and maybe I wouldn’t do any form of bee farming myself if I came to experience it. I don’t know.
But here’s the clincher: I don’t eat much honey. It’s not daily, not weekly, and I probably go some months without eating it. Which is why making a big effort to give up honey isn’t worth it for me.
It may seem more effort to write this article than the subject deserves, then. Except that vegans often give honey eating a lot of thought, so I wanted to give my perspective. More than that, I wanted to write about self-acceptance and letting yourself not be perfect. Being vegan – or, in whatever way, trying to reduce the harm you cause – is enough effort without torturing yourself about the details.
By the way, I also reserve the right to be wrong. Maybe later on I’ll write an article about how I’ve decided that giving up honey permanently is worth the effort for me after all.
Well, it’s not worth the effort now; what I’m saying is that maybe I’ll feel it worth the effort later on, and that that’s okay, too.
Addition:
It has come to my attention that some people consider honey to not be vegan because it’s part of the definition created by Donald Watson, the originator of the term “vegan”.
I think that’s a bad argument, mostly because it shows a sort of blind obedience to what an authority says, kind of like a religion. You have to be exactly how the God of veganism has deigned you to be?
Another thing to bear in mind is that a word is how you use it, not how it’s defined. I know most people would call the way I eat vegan; both the way I eat and my philosophy is in line with vegan principles. It would be a waste of time to try and invent a word for the way I eat. No-one would understand it, and the only upside is that strict(er) vegans get to maintain the purity of their idealism.
The point is to make a difference. Not to be extremely successful in nitckpicking the fine details of a philosophy.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s interesting, our views on honey are basically the same. I eat honey, but it’s not a priority for me. I also see insects as a middle ground between plants and animals. I sometimes describe myself as an empirical vegan, which means that my diet reflects the suffering I observe and the emotional experience it evokes in me.
Question: “I’ve wanted to be a 100% raw foodist for a couple of years now. I know that it’s the best diet in terms of environmental impact and plant welfare…” Just curious about how raw food is better for the environment and plants than a non-raw vegan diet.
Hi Andrew,
You (and your readers) might be interested to read this recently-published piece on the subject of honey and the exploitation of bees.
http://gentleworld.org/3-reasons-not-to-eat-honey/
Best,
Angel
Hi Isla and Angel,
you guys may be interested that since writing this article – basically immediately after writing it – I kind of said “okay whatever” and stopped eating honey. I still believe in everything I’ve said, just I made the small decision to avoid honey in future because whatever. It’s too “whatever” to even update my blog about it. I still think vegans who make a big deal about honey are getting their priorities backwards. I think vegans who eat honey should be “allowed” to eat honey and still call themlseves vegan. Not that anyone has any official capacity to stop them
Isla: when I’m in a very sensitive state I realise that I feel a profound respect and empathy towards insects as well as plants. I don’t want to hurt plants or insects. (Though animals are a priority).
So a fruit based diet – which is the sort of raw foodism I’m talking about – means less hurt to plants. Fruit, hopefully, means no pain to the plant. It also encourages trees to grow which is nice.
I also read that you can get something like twice the amount of calories per acre from fruit than from grain. If you want I’ll look up the exact figure from google or you can try yourself.
I’ve also thought of doing a “cooked fruitarian diet”. That is, grains, fruits, vegetable fruits, nuts, and seeds, but nothing that requires the hurting of the plant itself. However, if I get my food from industrial farming, I have no control over the actual practises the plants are subjected to.
Great article, great comments. A few I’d like to add and answer a couple questions.
Agreeing with Donald Watson is not the same as ‘blindly following religion’. He is not “The God of Vegan”. HE simply has proposed and codified a basic definition. It’s ok to say….well I’m not vegan anymore !! Basically you want to have that title..but disagree with the agreed upon definition. That’s fine – but to lash out at the originator of the term is illogical. In other words– What stops someone from saying “Well I eat eggs only once a month but I’m a vegan” ? No — they’re vegetarian, not vegan. Anyway. Maybe we call ourselves BEEGANS…I also have a vegan diet PLUS occasional honey.
It’s not about “having an official capacity to force you to stop calling yourself vegan” Why conflate this discussion with other, heavy stuff about hierarchical society, control structures, being forced to do this or that. No one EVER said tried to force anyone to call them selves vegan or not!! But — words have meaning — and think about the results if people just want to start re-defining words at will –we’d have a much harder time communicating simple ideas.
“So , you;re a violin player? Great, we’re looking for one. I saw your profile said so”
“Well, no, really I play ukelele. But I like to call myself a violin player, because it also has four strings, and I used a bow sometimes on my ukelele. So, I call myself that.”
“Uum…you really shouldn’t call yourself a violin player – its incorrect and confusing..”
“No!! You can;t make me!! I Will call myself what I want to!! You’re not the boss of me..!”
Etc. Really stupid, right?
The problem with not upholding a word as defined — is one I’ve run into. I have been ordering food– and asked “well what kind of stock is in this soup, listed as vegetarian” – and the person has said “Well there’s fish stock in it”
“What!! that’s not vegetarian!!”
“Well, yeah — I know this girl, she’s vegetarian, and eats fish, so I figure sometimes you guys eat fish”
Etc. I have spoke to many chefs thru the years, who have said ” Oh I know this vegan who eats organic butter occasionally”, etc. So — this confusion ALREADY affects us and I urge you all to ALWAYS ask what is in your ENTIRE meal when ordering in a non vegetarian restaurant. There is a place in Annapolis MD : “The Ram’s Head”, that has a “VEGETARIAN BURRITO” listed — and the rice is cooked in chicken stock!! Again — the chef has the attitude “Oh I know vegetarians that eat chicken once inna while”
So — those vegetarians have made this happen for the rest of us!! Do you see hoe confusing the definition of “vegan” will cause the same for someone trying to avoid honey etc..??
Anyway – I am IN SUPPORT of the definition of “vegan” being expanded one day. I’m with you. I just also think the word means what it means TODAY and we must respect that.
The other thing to consider is — “bee” pollen, honey, propolis etc – are all MADE FROM PLANT MATERIAL..in other words the bees are processors or manufacturers. But they USE all vegan substances to make the stuff we then take or steal or share from them, depending on your perspective.
@ Isla — raw food uses less resources because…you’re not cooking it!! You use less gas, electricity etc, because you only soak your food or eat it as is. You are not passing the cooking fuel usage to some company in california or across the globe — who then uses more fuel to ship the now heavier item (in a container like a can or plastic box). Then you re-heat it — using fossil fuels a SECOND time on the same food.
With raw foods, maybe you use a de-hydrator occasionally -low power usage. You also eat less volume once you are well into it. YES, there is still fuel used to bring those bananas, almonds, kale, lettuce or dulse to your local store, But far less since it;s not processed. Also — most of us can find ways to get local food, in season. I’ve been vegetarian since 1984, vegan most of that time ,and raw from 1999-2001. It was the best two years of my dietary life and I am re-integrating more raw all the time.
In closing — I think vegetarians should eat bee products , seeing as how important bees are to the whole chain of life.
-We should support ORGANIC, COMPASSIONATE bee farmers, ones who DO NOT kill the bees in the winter nor take ALL their food.
-We should realize that bee pollination is the key to most of our food crops, and the recent epidemic sicknesses in the world bee population is something we should pay attention to, and not let Monsanto define the solutions, while we protest against “bee slavery”
-We should do the impartial research — and admit that bee products like pollen, propolis, royal jelly and raw, organic honey are fantastic for human health – and resonate perfectly with many of our nutrition needs. It’s clear from their nutritional usefulness and ease of access that humans used these substances for millenia. We should rethink this, and support the bee farmers who are NOT the factory farm, poison-gas type. We should NOT support “golden blossom” and other brands that drug the bees, kill off “excess bees” for no reason other that profit, etc etc.
Hey Andre – you wrote a lot! I can’t reply to everything, at least not now, but I feel compelled to say a couple of things.
1. I feel what you’re saying about definitions. But, I think the difference between a honey-eating vegan and a full vegan is far smaller than the difference between a fish-eating vegetarian and a strict ovo-lacto vegetarian. Intuitively I feel that. I think that the very reason that there isn’t a special word like “beegan” in the popular consciousness is that most people don’t see it being a big enough thing to merit a new word. Yet, some vegans are kind of stuck up and won’t let you join their club if you’re a beegan. Which I think is dumb.
Lol, I like that word. Beegan.
I should mention, seeing as you were referring to my tone, that I wrote like this because I’d met quite a few guys who were stuck up like this. Making veganism some big clique and throwing you out of it metaphorically if you didn’t fit their definition of it. Screw that.
I also don’t believe that the “official” definition by Watson has to be the definition of vegan. A word is how you use it, not how an “official” source has defined it as.
2. Why is raw food a less impactful diet? Because it takes about half as many acres to produce the same amount of calories if you use fruit rather than grain as a crop. Also, trees are carbon sinks and natural filters for pollution, and more than half of all fruits come from trees.
Clarification. A word is how it’s generally used and understood to be. I think most people understand veganism as a diet which removes meat, eggs, and milk and milk products, as well as a lifestyle that aims to minimise animal suffering. The second part of the definition is the most important, and due to the simple need to set priorities for how you defend animals I think that’s compatible with being a beegan.
I’ve been a vegan for 9 months now and I absolutely loved honey before that.
I was the only person in the house who ate the honey, and now about three bottles of it are just sitting un-used in the cupboard.
I was just wondering, would it make my beliefs redundant if I used up the honey?
I always wonder about it, as I really don’t know whether bees can feel or not?
However for me, the reason I stay away from honey is the exploitation and the ‘we can have anything we want’ attitude that most humans possess.
All great points Andrew, and I basically agree. I think however it’s OK to have a definition for words, and following from that it’s OK to be “vegan plus honey”. With all due respect, and not being antagonistic, but I think it’s arbitrary to push back on the definition of ‘vegan’, and not, say, ‘vegetarian’. I disagree that we should split hairs on how different it is to include honey in a vegan diet vs. including fish in a vegetarian diet.
It’s so, so easy to just continue the way we are — if you are “vegetarian plus fish”, saying so makes it very clear to people, as does “vegan plus honey”. Because I know people who are “Vegan plus soy cheese”…should we just give up the meaning there and call them vegan, because they are 98% animal-free?
Yes, some people make this an elitist club, I just ignore them. What I’m concerned about is new people/kids understanding these terms — and restaurants/manufacturers and chefs being clear on what’s what. If we keep blurring the lines — then what is ALREADY HAPPENING will continue — chefs will use honey in stuff and say “Look, I know ten ‘vegans’ who eat honey. Leave me alone!”.
Otherwise — it’s all good, thanks for the chance to comment and you have a great blog!
You’re welcome, thanks, and thanks a lot for your participation!
Andrew