Honey...seriously.
Honey...seriously.
Bees make honey. I guess they think it is some form of slave labor...
Bees make honey. I guess they think it is some form of slave labor...
Don't be so judgemental, your own ethical boundaries are just as arbitrary as theirs -- you're just accustomed to them so they don't seem strange. For many vegans the philosophy is to live a life that is not reliant upon animal resources, at all. It's not just about animals being misused, it's about them not being used in any way. Among other things this means wearing no wool and eating no honey.
So you don't agree with that philosophy? That's fine, neither do I. But it's no more or less arbitrary than our own personal morals.
Worker bees, throw off your chains!
How can bees not be eating vegan? All they do is gather pollen and nectar, both plant products. Then they do some magic bee stuff and make honey out of it, which they eat. So if you sit down to share some honey with some bees, how can they be eating vegan and you're not? If they're getting the honey from the crops humans planted and tend, wouldn't that make bees dependent on farmers and mean that vegan bees can't eat nectar because it's a human product? Wouldn't this line of logic mean that vegans can't eat food produced by other vegans because an animal (a hominid) was involved in its production?
How can bees not be eating vegan? All they do is gather pollen and nectar, both plant products. Then they do some magic bee stuff and make honey out of it, which they eat. So if you sit down to share some honey with some bees, how can they be eating vegan and you're not? If they're getting the honey from the crops humans planted and tend, wouldn't that make bees dependent on farmers and mean that vegan bees can't eat nectar because it's a human product? Wouldn't this line of logic mean that vegans can't eat food produced by other vegans because an animal (a hominid) was involved in its production?
I'd say if you are so ethical about harming cute little cows and piggies and chickens, you should be as ethical about sweets, or is human slave labor just fine?
http://www.slavefreechocolate.org/
http://www.slavefreechocolate.org/
Again, I don't contend the arbitrariness of the boundary, and I honestly can't tell if you're being serious, but, as I said before, veganism is about not using any animal product. Honey is the product of bees, pearls are the products of oysters, wool is the product of sheep. Sure, your human example points out the arbitrary nature of the philosophy, but again, if you step back and take a look at your own moral and ethical choices, I believe you'll find your lines to be just as arbitrary, and I'm sure there are many out there who could as easily mock them as you do those of vegans.
Once, I was teaching my students about the Donner Party, and I assigned them an essay question asking them to explore their morality, and what they thought they would do in that situation. I had one student who had very pronounced and stereotypical Asperger's, he wrote, simply: "I would eat the meat, but I would insure that it was thoroughly cooked as contamination and subsequent dysentery would be a serious concern." He continued with an essay about food sanitation.
Well, there's a good reason they call it the Donner Party. Heck, they even had those nifty little finger sandwiches.
Anyway, given their experience and that of the Rugby team in the Andes, wouldn't it be wise to tell people, "On day one, send some people out walking. You're going to send them anyway, a month or two later, but by then half of you will be soup bones. Why not start the hike before you're all starving to death?"
1. White chocolate is for pussies.
2. Honey is a farmed product, the bees are bred and kept by humans so that they can produce a product humans use. Like milk.
3. Fair Trade is a big topic with it's own scandals and misinformation. Still a good thing to consider and research though and if it informs your shopping choices good for you.
2. Honey is a farmed product, the bees are bred and kept by humans so that they can produce a product humans use. Like milk.
3. Fair Trade is a big topic with it's own scandals and misinformation. Still a good thing to consider and research though and if it informs your shopping choices good for you.
A
Amaris
Guest
[takes notebook out of pocket]
[writes]
Pick up container of white chocolate for next date.
[/places notebook in pocket]
Yep. I love honey, though I use it very sparingly.
I'm usually wary of anything promoting itself as an environmental/equality solution. It's way too easy to do, and requires little authentication, like the term "free range," or "organic."
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