Sugar and Honey, Why is it wrong to eat it?!
so most sugar is refined using bone char!. im becoming vegan and i was wondering if i should avoid sugar!? any opinions welcome!. also, honey!. Why should'nt i eat it if im a vegan (other than the fact a vegan is someone who doesnt eat animal products!.) i was wondering what effects it has on the bees and enviromentWww@FoodAQ@Com
Answers:
You should probably avoid refined sugar because yes, it's filtered sometimes with bone char!. You can however, indulge in turbinado sugar, cane sugar, cane syrup, maple syrup, maple sugar, molasses, and stevia if you need substitutes!. Stay away from Splenda (contains arsenic and is made from bone char filtered sugar) and anything with aspartame (just for general health, this crap is REALLY bad for you)
As for honey!.!.!. some vegans eat it, some don't!. Personally, i've yet to hear a convincing reason why I should avoid it!. But, because honey bees are beginning to go extinct in the US, I buy home-grown honey to keep the hives in business and keep our bee population going, as well as the demand for natural honey-bee produced honey!. Besides, if you treat bees wrong, they just die, and the farmer makes no money!. They're so sensitive that they must be treated well to get any results!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
As for honey!.!.!. some vegans eat it, some don't!. Personally, i've yet to hear a convincing reason why I should avoid it!. But, because honey bees are beginning to go extinct in the US, I buy home-grown honey to keep the hives in business and keep our bee population going, as well as the demand for natural honey-bee produced honey!. Besides, if you treat bees wrong, they just die, and the farmer makes no money!. They're so sensitive that they must be treated well to get any results!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
It should be possible for you to find sugars that aren't processed with bone char, although it doesn't usually say on regular sugar packaging!. Try using maple syrup or read the packages at a health-food store!.
The issue with honey for a vegan, obviously, is that it is made by bees!. If you get wild-found honey (which I don't even know if you can), the bee hive will have to have been at least partially destroyed to get it, killing many of the bees and their young, and giving them lots of extra work to do!. They made that honey for themselves, after all!.
Most honey is made by domesticated bees, which means they are treated no better than cows or chickens who are kept for milk and eggs!. Many bees are killed either by accident or on purpose during the bee-keeping process!. For instance, when the beekeeper goes to collect the honey, the bees try to defend the hive by stinging, which kills the stingers!. These would be bees that die by accident!. Bees which are killed on purpose would include queen bees, as I think beekeepers replace them every year or two!.
Less directly, beekeeping can affect wild insect populations!. Large populations of domestic bees feeding on flowers means there are fewer of those flowers to provide food for wild insects!.
also, an issue which is slightly different from the mere ethics of keeping bees is the fact that mass-produced honey comes from bees whose diets are supplemented with regular cane-sugar, in order to allow them to produce honey during times of the year when they wouldn't naturally do so, and to help them produce even larger quantities of honey!. Therefore, if you have an ethical problem with using regular sugar, honey is by no means a good substitute!.
Of course, if you have a problem with mass honey production but don't really care if some bees are kept for honey-making purposes, you can probably find a local beekeeper who produces smaller quantities of better-quality honey!.
Personally, I'm not a vegan and I have very few qualms about eating honey, but if you do care about insect welfare, abstaining from honey would be a perfectly reasonable thing to do!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
The issue with honey for a vegan, obviously, is that it is made by bees!. If you get wild-found honey (which I don't even know if you can), the bee hive will have to have been at least partially destroyed to get it, killing many of the bees and their young, and giving them lots of extra work to do!. They made that honey for themselves, after all!.
Most honey is made by domesticated bees, which means they are treated no better than cows or chickens who are kept for milk and eggs!. Many bees are killed either by accident or on purpose during the bee-keeping process!. For instance, when the beekeeper goes to collect the honey, the bees try to defend the hive by stinging, which kills the stingers!. These would be bees that die by accident!. Bees which are killed on purpose would include queen bees, as I think beekeepers replace them every year or two!.
Less directly, beekeeping can affect wild insect populations!. Large populations of domestic bees feeding on flowers means there are fewer of those flowers to provide food for wild insects!.
also, an issue which is slightly different from the mere ethics of keeping bees is the fact that mass-produced honey comes from bees whose diets are supplemented with regular cane-sugar, in order to allow them to produce honey during times of the year when they wouldn't naturally do so, and to help them produce even larger quantities of honey!. Therefore, if you have an ethical problem with using regular sugar, honey is by no means a good substitute!.
Of course, if you have a problem with mass honey production but don't really care if some bees are kept for honey-making purposes, you can probably find a local beekeeper who produces smaller quantities of better-quality honey!.
Personally, I'm not a vegan and I have very few qualms about eating honey, but if you do care about insect welfare, abstaining from honey would be a perfectly reasonable thing to do!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Do a Google search for "honey vegan" or something similar!. There are several pages explaining the ethical issues of keeping bees!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Since sugar is made with bone char, you should probably avoid it (you should anyway!.!.) and try to go for raw sugar or cane sugar!. Sugar isn't good for you, so it's better to avoid it whether you're vegan or on the Atkins diet!. In my experience, many vegans turn a blind eye to refined white sugar!.
Honey is a product of bees, which are animals, and is therefore not vegan!. Many vegans are really upset about honey because it takes the honey away from the bee, and the bee produces it in order to survive through the winter and feed larvae!. also, some bees may die from the harvesting of honey, but that's pretty much like how aphids die from being on plants that happen to he harvested!. The effect on the environment is only applicable if the bees are dying in large numbers, as they have been in recent years!. This is NOT because of beekeeping!. Without bees, pollination does not occur as often, and plants cannot reproduce or produce fruits!. This is the effect of having fewer bees!. Please bear in mind that beekeeping does not reduce the overall bee population!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Honey is a product of bees, which are animals, and is therefore not vegan!. Many vegans are really upset about honey because it takes the honey away from the bee, and the bee produces it in order to survive through the winter and feed larvae!. also, some bees may die from the harvesting of honey, but that's pretty much like how aphids die from being on plants that happen to he harvested!. The effect on the environment is only applicable if the bees are dying in large numbers, as they have been in recent years!. This is NOT because of beekeeping!. Without bees, pollination does not occur as often, and plants cannot reproduce or produce fruits!. This is the effect of having fewer bees!. Please bear in mind that beekeeping does not reduce the overall bee population!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Some white sugars are refined through bone char!. I understand that's becoming rarer, as using a carbon filter is cheaper!. You can avoid worries about bone char-filtered sugar by using turbinado (raw) sugar, evaporated cane juice or beet sugar!. Whole Foods has a product labeled "vegan sugar"!.
Vegetus!.org has a good essay on why honey isn't vegan!. But basically, the bees make honey to nourish them in the winter time!. It's not for us!. It's also bee puke!.
Some good substitues for honey are agave nectar, brown rice syrup, maple syrup!. I use agave in my hot tea when I'm sick, and it works just fine!. Get REAL maple syrup, not the pancake syrup type that's mostly corn syrup with a little maple flavoring!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Vegetus!.org has a good essay on why honey isn't vegan!. But basically, the bees make honey to nourish them in the winter time!. It's not for us!. It's also bee puke!.
Some good substitues for honey are agave nectar, brown rice syrup, maple syrup!. I use agave in my hot tea when I'm sick, and it works just fine!. Get REAL maple syrup, not the pancake syrup type that's mostly corn syrup with a little maple flavoring!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
I eat absolutely no animal products but occasionally eat honey!.!.!.!.and I call myself a "strict vegetarian"!. Basically the only people who will consider you non-vegan for eating honey are other vegans!. If you don't wanna deal with that then call yourself strict vegetarian!.
Some vegans don't sit in leather chairs, some do!.!.!.some eat refined sugar and some don't!. That's just the way it goes! Do your best to avoid things you know aren't vegan!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Some vegans don't sit in leather chairs, some do!.!.!.some eat refined sugar and some don't!. That's just the way it goes! Do your best to avoid things you know aren't vegan!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
"Why should'nt i eat it if im a vegan (other than the fact a vegan is someone who doesnt eat animal products)" You are either a vegan or not!.!.!.if vegans don't eat anything from animals, then that is the answer!.
There is nothing wrong with honey, has many good properties as long as you are not allergic!. But then again, so does fish and eggs, but vegans don't eat them either!.!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
There is nothing wrong with honey, has many good properties as long as you are not allergic!. But then again, so does fish and eggs, but vegans don't eat them either!.!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
honey is not vegan because it is produced by bees but i am ignorant on many vegan issuesWww@FoodAQ@Com
Suga!.!.!. Ooh, honey honey!.!.!. You are my candy, girl!.!.!. and you got me wantin' you!Www@FoodAQ@Com