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I've just been told that vegans don't eat honey. Is this true and if so, why?

111 replies

Bubble99 · 09/05/2008 21:56

That's it really.

I'd always thought that vegans don't eat animal products that have been produced by causing pain or exploitation. Does honey fit with this? I'd have thought that bees can, well...buzz off ...if they don't like where they are.

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Carmenere · 09/05/2008 21:58

I dunno probably something to do with disturbing the bees natural environment, I suppose honeycomb is where they live.

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Bubble99 · 09/05/2008 22:01

OK. I suppose that fits.

How about eating vegetables grown using animal manure produced from a farmed diet? Or am I just being silly now?

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CombustibleLemon · 09/05/2008 22:02

See here for a full explanation.

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Bubble99 · 09/05/2008 22:07

Ah! OK. That explains it.

Do vegans use animal manure to grow vegetables?

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Miggsie · 09/05/2008 22:08

I have a good friend who is vegan, and no honey!
If you really want to wind a vegan up start talking about YEAST!

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Bubble99 · 09/05/2008 22:10

Yeast! Help!! I'm making pizzas with some children next week (including one who is vegan) and I'd planned to make dough using, er...yeast.

Is that a no-no?

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StopSpyingYouFreak · 09/05/2008 22:11

Because it is stolen from bees

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Bubble99 · 09/05/2008 22:12

How about yeast?

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Bubble99 · 09/05/2008 22:13

A fungi. Nowt to worry about, I hope.

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CombustibleLemon · 09/05/2008 22:19

This is about the use of manure as a fertilizer.

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RIELOVESBACARDI · 09/05/2008 22:20
Hmm
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WigWamBam · 09/05/2008 22:20

Ah, but yeast is also a living organism. Vegan friend of mine used to get her knickers in a knot because of that ... she was a bit intense and prone to over-thinking these things though! Most vegans are OK with it given that it is not animal in origin.

Do be aware, though, that some dried yeasts contain emulsifiers, which can be of animal origin - fresh yeast is OK, but read the label of any dried you use and check it states that it's suitable for vegans.

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Blandmum · 09/05/2008 22:23

Well, plants are living organisms too.

5 kingdoms of living things
Animals
Plants
Fungi
Protoctista (eveything they can fit into the other 4 basically)
Bacteria.

If vegans are only interested in Animals, then Yeast is fair game, at least as fair as mushrooms.

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Bubble99 · 09/05/2008 22:25

So human manure is OK but only if it comes from a vegan?

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CombustibleLemon · 09/05/2008 22:27

Don't ask me, I only did the link!

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WigWamBam · 09/05/2008 22:29

Oh, I know, MB.

My friend's argument was that yeast differs from mushrooms because it continues to live and multiply until it is killed by the action of baking it ... but as I said, she was a bit intense about these things!

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Blandmum · 09/05/2008 22:29

You have to be very careful if using Human manure. Or you can spread disease. You have to make sure that any composting has been done very well and the composts has gor high enough to kill off the bacteria.

A 1/3/ to a half of the mass of human faeces is bacteria....most will be dead, but not all, and obviously there is the resk of contamination

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Bubble99 · 09/05/2008 22:30

Thanks, CL.

I can understand the not eating animal products but the manure thing sounds a step too far in my (un-vegan) opinion.

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Blandmum · 09/05/2008 22:31

WWB, well, point our that her veg is still busy respiring until it is cooked or eaten.....that is why veg and fruit produce water that you see inside a plastic bag.

Or I see in a plastic bag, if she is that intense she probably spurns plastic !

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Bubble99 · 09/05/2008 22:34

I definitely couldn't fancy a carrot grown in human manure.

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CombustibleLemon · 09/05/2008 22:34

The site suggests urine which is pretty much sterile. I know that they mean people should collect it in a bucket or something, but now I've got the image of vegans squatting in their vegetable patches stuck in my head.

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wannaBe · 09/05/2008 22:34

I can sort of understand vegy but imo vegan is barking.

How do they know the plants don't suffer?
wtf is wrong with eggs?
and manure? I mean an animal has to crap, it will do so regardless of whether said crap is going to be spread over the plants, no?

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WigWamBam · 09/05/2008 22:36

Even non-vegan organic gardeners pee on their compost heaps. It's good stuff, is pee.

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Bubble99 · 09/05/2008 22:36

Does baby poo have less bacteria? As in, less bacteria in the gut at a young age?

I can see a sideline to the children's daycare business opening up.

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Bubble99 · 09/05/2008 22:37

wannabe. I imagine wild animal poo is OK. But not intensively farmed and fed poo?

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