Is Honey Really Vegan? A Beekeeper Shares What to Know

From realsimple.com

Bee experts share their thoughts on the popular food 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Honey sits in a grey area for vegans because it’s made through the labour of bees, so whether it fits a vegan diet depends on personal beliefs about animal involvement.
• Ethical and small-scale beekeeping can minimize harm and even support ecosystems, but concerns about animal welfare still lead many vegans to avoid honey altogether.
• For those who skip honey, there are plenty of plant-based alternatives—like maple syrup, agave, or date syrup—that offer similar sweetness without using bee products.

Honey is one of the oldest foods we have recorded history for—in fact, humans have been enjoying the sweetener—or using it as a natural remedy—for at least 8,000 years. But with the rise of plant-based eating and vegan diets in recent years, the question of whether or not honey is vegan has emerged for those who avoid animal-based products.

We spoke with two bee experts to learn more about how honey is made and used by bees to ultimately answer this question.

                                                                                                 Credit:  aire images / Getty Images

How Honey is Made

It’s first important to note exactly how honey is made when considering this topic.

“Bees fly up to a three mile radius around their hive to gather resources: nectar, pollen, and propolis. To make honey, bees suck the nectar out of the flower. That nectar is put into a separate honey stomach within the bee (called the crop) and then they fly back to the hive,” explains Danielle Brooks, head beekeeper and owner of The Honey Truck Company in St. Augustine, Florida.

Back at the hive, bees take further steps to produce honey. “Upon returning to the hive, the honey bees spread the nectar on the walls of the wax cells, and fan their wings to evaporate off the water,” says Nissa Coit, a former honey bee researcher and educator. As this moisture evaporates, the sugars in the nectar thicken and develop into honey—where the bees then seal it with a thin layer of beeswax.

Honey provides energy and essential nutrients for the bees to survive and thrive, especially in winter when flower nectar isn’t available. The nectar from a staggering two million flowers is required to make just one pound of the popular sweetener. However, healthy bee colonies typically produce more honey than they need, sometimes two to three times more. “The honey bees make, that we harvest, is considered the surplus, meaning they don't need it,” Brooks explains.

Is Honey Vegan?

With this information in mind, does honey technically qualify as vegan?

“While honey bees do not produce honey from their bodies, the way that a cow produces milk, they do labor to produce it, and their bodies modify it,” says Coit. “Essentially, eating honey is stealing a bit of their labor, rather than a product produced by their actual bodies.” Brooks echoes this, adding, “it's not technically a product of the animal.”

That said, some vegans avoid any food whose production is closely tied with animals, which would include honey. One could argue that taking honey from beehives for human consumption negatively impacts bee communities, too. For example, Coit shares that a few squished bees are a standard part of beekeepers’ interactions with the hive throughout the season. 

“Sure, not all bees are kept in the best conditions, but if you are a small-scale beekeeping operation, it is easy to maintain a great environment for the bees,” adds Brooks. Ethical beekeepers always ensure their bees have more than enough honey to sustain them until the next harvest period.

Plus, beekeeping (and in turn, honey production) can actually offer important benefits to the environment. “If you practice beekeeping in a holistic and ecological way (as opposed to industrial management), especially if you live somewhere that bees are native to, keeping bees can provide an overall benefit to the population and greater ecosystem,” says Coit. In fact, bees are essential for food production—around 30 percent of the global human food supply is pollinated by bees!

Coit also provides additional food for thought, sharing, “if you replace locally, holistically-produced honey that killed a few individual bees with, say, coconut sugar that was flown on a fossil fuel-burning jet from across the world that originated from a plantation that deforested a rainforest, how many more animals were harmed by that habitat loss?” These factors are important to consider when determining whether gray-area foods—like honey—can be broadly labelled “vegan” or not.

Ultimately it’s a person-by-person decision. “As someone who works with bees, and has talked with people over the years, it comes down to the person making the choice,” says Brooks. For vegans comfortable eating honey who want to ensure animal welfare, seek out ethical, possibly local beekeepers and ask about (or research) their production practices

And while we’re on the topic of whether bee products are vegan-friendly (or not), propolis, royal jelly, and beeswax are also worth discussing. “Propolis is tree sap or resin that the bees collect to use inside the hive as glue or a way to secure things. It's not something that is made directly from bees. It's more of a resource they gather and use within the hive, making it a grey area for vegans (like honey),” Brooks shares.

On the other hand, royal jelly and beeswax are more obvious no-go’s for vegans. “Royal jelly comes from a developing gland in nurse bees and they feed it to larvae for only a few days during the larval stage. If they are trying to develop a queen, she is fed it the entire larval stage,” says Brooks. Meanwhile, beeswax also comes directly from the bee. “To make wax requires a lot of honey. It takes about six pounds of honey to produce one pound of wax,” Brooks adds.

Vegan Honey Alternatives

Regardless of where you stand on whether or not honey is vegan, there are alternative sweeteners to choose from if you’d like to avoid this bee product—that aren’t refined white cane added sugar.

These include agave nectar, maple syrup, molasses, date syrup, coconut nectar or sugar, golden syrup, rice syrup, and barley malt syrup. Alternatively, a slew of vegan honey brands are available, including Blenditup’s Organic Vegan Honey made from apples; these offer a more honey-like flavour compared to the other substitutes listed here.

While the question of whether honey is vegan isn’t straightforward, there are reasonable arguments on both sides that individuals must ultimately weigh for themselves. Those who choose to consume honey can support bee and ecosystem health by seeking out small-scale beekeepers who prioritize ethical practices.

https://www.realsimple.com/is-honey-really-vegan-a-beekeeper-explains-11968639

Vegan Honey Brand Uses Discarded Apples Instead Of Bees

From plantbasednews.org

The Canadian company makes bee-free honey using apples 

A company that makes “honey” from discarded apples has won CAD $100,000 in prize money from Canada Post, the country’s national postal service.

                                                     Vegan honey is a growing market - Media Credit: Mindful FÜD

Mindful FÜD, run by Venessa Stonehouse, makes Bee Mindful Hunnie using juice and vinegar from apples that would otherwise go to waste instead of using bees. It offers the consistency and taste of honey while protecting bees and the environment.

The company won the Going Green category of Canada Post’s Tales of Triumph contest, which celebrates stories of small businesses. As well as the prize money, Mindful FÜD will get shipping credits, promotion across Canada Post digital channels, and will feature in national and regional marketing campaigns.

Success from struggle

                            Demand for plant-based honey is growing   Mindful FÜD

Stonehouse began using apples to make vegan honey after her original Mindful FÜD site burnt down in 2021. In the wake of the tragedy, she spent time visiting a friend, whose neighbour had an unused apple orchard.

Bee Mindful Hunnie was born a few short months later. Stonehouse has since added a hot version to the range. Her products are now stocked in 250 stores across Canada and used in several restaurants.

“I’m incredibly honoured to have Mindful FÜD recognized in the Going Green category for Canada Post’s Tales of Triumph Contest,” Stonehouse told Plant Based News. “This win is a testament to the hard work, passion, and belief that sustainability, innovation, and deliciousness can coexist. Our mission has always been about creating real change -reducing food waste, protecting bees, and offering plant-based alternatives that don’t harm the environment. By giving bees a break, we’re helping preserve their vital role in our ecosystem.”

https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/food/vegan-honey-apples/

People are only just realising avocados might not actually be vegan

From joe.co.uk

It comes down to the bees

Avocados, usually cited as the reason millennials can’t afford to buy their homes, are now being questioned as a suitable food for vegans.

The creamy green fruit, also blamed for causing “avocado hand” injuries by cack-handed attempts to remove them from their skin, is, some suggest, not vegan-friendly after all due to the way they’re farmed.

ABC News raised the question – Should vegans stop eating almonds and avocados? – in a 2018 op-ed after a clip from the BBC panel show QI resurfaced.

The clip suggested that avocados, as well as almonds, kiwi, and butternut squash, technically shouldn’t be designated vegan because of a system called “migratory beekeeping.”

Commercial farms in US states like California have to shuttle bees between farms in the backs of trucks because there are not enough native bees in the region to pollinate the plants on which they grow, The Kitchen reports.

Still failing to see the connection? Well, many vegans tend to avoid honey because bees are exploited in order for the sweet substance to be harvested.

So, if the bees are being incarcerated in the back of trucks for long periods of time, maybe even mishandled along the way, then perhaps vegans will think twice about eating avocados. So goes the logic.

However, The Kitchen notes, that not every farm in the US uses the bee-move to pollinate plants, so purchasing produce from smaller farms may well solve the issue.

On QI, host Sandi Toksvig asked what can be eaten from a choice of avocados, almonds, melons, kiwis, or butternut squash, by “strict vegans.”

When one contestant answers “any of them,” Toksvig informs him that he is wrong, for the “same reason as honey.”

“Because they’re so difficult to cultivate naturally, all of these crops rely on bees, which are placed on the back of trucks and taken long distances across the country. It’s migratory bee-keeping and an unnatural use of animals and there are lots of foods that fall foul of this.”

According to the Global Food Security Programme, the UK gets most of its avocados from Mexico but also relies on imports from Peru, South Africa, Chile, Israel and Spain.

Vegan Food and Living wrote about the avocado conundrum, and in its article examined what The Vegan Society, the creators of the words, ‘vegan’ and ‘veganism’ define that as. Veganism, it explained “is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all form of exploitation of, and cruelty of, animals for food, clothing or other purpose.”

https://www.joe.co.uk/food/people-only-just-realising-avocados-might-not-actually-be-vegan-442306 

Are Almonds Really Unethical? The Truth About Their Bad Rep

From plantbasednews.org

Almonds have been scapegoated by everyone from Piers Morgan to the writers of ‘The Good Place’ - but how unethical are they really? 

Over the last few years, there has been growing awareness of the huge impact our diet has on the environment. Study after study has shown that meat and dairy is destroying the planet, and the science is clear that we must move towards a more plant-based food system to avoid climate collapse. But despite this, society often chooses to ignore the impact of animal foods, and focus instead on demonizing vegan foods. One of its favourite targets? Almonds.

The furore against almonds can be largely traced back to the exploding popularity of almond milk, which took place in the 2010s. As more and more people went plant-based and became vocal about our food system’s problems, the media and popular culture fought back, deciding to blame vegans for eating almonds, rather than themselves for eating dairy. 

Piers Morgan regularly labels vegans “hypocrites” for eating almonds on his show. Publications often cite almonds in articles claiming that vegans are destroying the planet. A daytime show called This Morning once warned viewers not to drink almond milk if they had an “environmental conscience.” In the hugely popular TV sitcom The Good Place, a running joke throughout the series is that Chidi ended up in hell because he enjoyed almond milk on his coffee, despite knowing its “environmental impact.”

But why are almonds so notorious? And do they really deserve this reputation? Here, we delve into everything you need to know about the ethics of eating almonds. 

The popularity of almond milk 

                           Almond milk is growing in popularity             Adobe Stock

Variations of almond milk have been around in some cultures for hundreds of years, but its popularity as a plant-based milk alternative started in the 21st century. Around a decade ago, in 2014, almond milk hit headlines when it overtook soy as the USA’s favourite plant milk. It maintains this title today, with soy and oat milk following behind. In just three months in 2021, almond milk sales reached USD $344 million. The global almond milk market is worth around $5.46 billion. 

Almond milk is essentially a blend of almonds and water, and many brands add sweeteners or sugar, as well as fortifications of vitamins and minerals. Almond milk is popular in coffee, breakfast cereal, and a wide range of plant-based recipes. It’s now available at pretty much any cafe, supermarket, or restaurant you go to. 

The environmental cost of almonds

The main reason why almonds are controversial is because they use up a lot of fresh water. Around 80 percent of the world’s almonds are grown in California, a state that regularly experiences droughts. Between the years of 2012 and 2016, a time when almond milk was first becoming mainstream, California experienced its worst droughts on record. Blaming almonds for these droughts has therefore been easy, convenient, and commonplace. 

And, to an extent, almonds do deserve this blame. Tree nuts need a huge amount of freshwater to grow, and almond farming uses up nine percent of California’s freshwater. This is a substantial amount, and the fact that almonds have become more popular over the years has worsened the problem. Due to growing demand, growers have started planting almond trees in hot and dry regions, such as the western San Joaquin Valley, where water supplies are fragile. This means that a huge, and growing, amount of groundwater is being irrigated to keep these trees healthy in difficult conditions. 

There is no doubt that almonds are using up water, and people are right to label them as not environmentally-friendly in that regard. The mistake society makes, however, is believing them to be worse than dairy.

Almonds VS dairy 

The vast majority of media reports, segments, and popular culture moments that attack almond milk for its water usage fail to give any mention to the huge water use of dairy. 

While nine percent of California’s agricultural water is used for almonds, around 16 percent is used to grow a crop called alfalfa, which is predominantly grown to feed dairy cows, as well as other farmed animals. A Food and Water Watch report published in 2023 found that dairy farming alone uses 142 million gallons per day. A study published in the journal Nature in 2020 reported that beef and dairy production is “the leading driver” of water scarcity in Western USA. A University of Oxford study published in 2022 found that dairy milk uses 628 litres of water per litre of milk, while almond milk uses 371 litres.

When assessing the environmental impact of a food, it’s not just water use that should be taken into account. The amount of greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and land use the food contributes to, are all key indicators of how eco-friendly it is. In regards to these three categories, almond milk actually fares quite well. 

According to the Oxford study, almond milk produces the lowest emissions of all plant milks cited, at 0.7 kg per litre. Oat milk produces 0.9 kg, soy milk 0.98 kg, while rice milk emits 1.18 kg. Dairy milk is by far the biggest contributor to greenhouse gasses, producing 3.15 kg per litre.

Almond milk also uses far less land than dairy at 0.5 square meters per litre, opposed to dairy’s 8.95 square meters. It’s worth noting that almond farming uses trees, which help remove carbon from the atmosphere, meaning its use of land is considerably more environmentally friendly than dairy’s. In terms of eutrophication (the pollution of ecosystems with excess nutrients), almond milk is the second least harmful of all milks studied. 

Almond milk and bees

Another highly publicized issue with almonds is that they use bees in their production, as almond trees require cross pollination to grow. 

Migratory beekeeping refers to the practice of transporting hives of bees long distances so they can help pollinate certain crops. Beekeepers often make a significant amount of their income by renting out their honey bees for this purpose. Bees are sentient beings, and making them travel in this way is likely highly stressful for them. Many die on route, and huge numbers are also killed on farms. 

According to a 2020 report by the Guardian, beekeepers renting bees to almond farms were seeing bees die in “record numbers.” High mortality is attributed to pesticide exposure, diseases from parasites, and habitat loss. Using honey bees to pollinate crops also wreaks havoc on native bee populations, as they compete against them for food and resources. They may also spread diseases to other bees. 

There is no doubt that migratory beekeeping is exploitative, and some people have claimed that foods like almonds (as well as avocados, cherries, kiwis, melons, and butternut squash) are not vegan because they are grown as a result of it. 

Are almonds vegan?

Contrary to what some of the media says, almonds are suitable for a vegan lifestyle   Adobe Stock

The assessment that almonds are not vegan because of migratory beekeeping is not true. Almonds, along with avocados and other vegetables, are suitable for vegans. The definition of veganism, as outlined by The Vegan Society, is about avoiding animal use and exploitation “where possible and practicable.” It would be both impossible and impractical to avoid all indirect harm to animals while living in a non-vegan world. Veganism is about minimizing harm, rather than avoiding it altogether.

That said, that doesn’t mean that vegans support migratory beekeeping. Many strive to buy products that come from farms who do not rely on it, and vegans also fight for a plant-based food system where crops are farmed more naturally, and migratory beekeeping is not viable or needed. 

If you are using the bee exploitation argument as a reason to consume dairy over almonds, it’s worth remembering that migratory beekeeping is also used to grow alfalfa and other crops fed to farmed animals, meaning dairy consumption contributes to bee exploitation too. Animal farming is also the leading cause of biodiversity loss, which is having a significant effect on bee populations.

Drinking cow’s milk directly supports an industry that breeds, raises, and exploits 270 million sentient beings globally. Cows, like all mammals, must give birth to a baby in order to produce milk, and they are forcibly impregnated around once a year to that end. After they give birth, their baby will be taken from them after just a few hours. If the baby is female, she will likely suffer the same fate as her mother. If the baby is male, he will either be shot or sold to the veal industry. Illnesses like mastitis (a painful udder inflammation) and lameness are common on dairy farms due to the conditions in which the animals are kept. Dairy cows will therefore often spend their entire lives in pain. Once their milk dries up, they will be sent to the slaughterhouse. 

The bottom line

There is no doubt that almonds are more water intensive than many other plant foods, and they are far from an environmentally-friendly food. Almond farming also causes harm to animals, contributing to exploitation and death of bees. 

To some, therefore, almonds and almond milk are unethical foods, and should be avoided. This is a reasonable assessment to make, and it is absolutely right that almonds may not be compatible with some people’s lifestyle choices. If you are concerned about almonds but consume meat and dairy, however, it’s very likely that your issues with almonds are eclipsed by the products you are eating. 

Over the last few years, almonds have gained a reputation that they don’t entirely deserve. Our society gives huge emphasis to the environmental and ethical costs of almonds and other plant foods, while largely side-lining or ignoring the significant costs of animal foods. This is misleading, and it gives the entirely false impression that almond milk is worse for the environment than dairy. Time and time again, however, almonds – and other plant foods – have been shown to be more environmentally-friendly, and more ethical generally, than animal products.

https://plantbasednews.org/culture/ethics/are-almonds-unethical/