With so many people starting to eat a vegan diet there are many questions about some ingredients. As a vegan can you eat honey? Some people say categorically no, some say yes. Why is it not straight forward? It depends partly on why you choose a vegan diet and partly where you are getting your honey from. Let’s look at the issues…
Benefits for the environment
People choose vegan diets for different reasons, including concern for animals and environmental impacts. Honey comes from bees, so those who avoid animal-derived foods generally exclude it.
For people who do eat honey, understanding the producer’s practices can inform a purchase. A remote location or the word raw does not, on its own, establish an environmental outcome.
Exploitation of animals
Another reason for adopting a vegan diet is to avoid cruelty to animals for food or other purposes. For most this means adopting a plant-based diet avoiding all animal foods such as meat (including fish, shellfish and insects), dairy, eggs and honey - as well as products like leather and any tested on animals.
Why is honey included in this list of foods?Beekeeping practices vary between producers. Ask about colony care, harvesting, feeding and any hive movement rather than assuming all supermarket or commercial honey is produced by one method. Those differences do not change honey’s animal origin.
Beekeepers using traditional methods do none of these things – these are the only beekeepers that Balqees work with. We have formed cooperatives in rural Yemen and other countries so that the beekeepers can continue to work in harmony with the bees while making a living and not having to bow to the pressure of quantity at any cost.
This is why some people adopting a plant-based diet will still eat raw honey provided they are absolutely certain of its source and the practices of the beekeeper who harvests it.
Health reasons
There is a lot of debate about whether a plant-based diet is healthier for you. Claims such as weight-loss, heart health, protection against some cancers and diabetes are the deciding factors for becoming vegan for many people.
Cutting down on sugar is also a factor is eating healthily. Raw honey is the only sweetener that is unrefined and actually contains health promoting nutrients and enzymes. The intensity of sweetness in pure, raw honey also means that people with a sweet tooth can eat less to get their fix.
Conclusions
We all have to make decisions every day about what we eat, where our food comes from, the way food is produced and impact on our health and the environment. We respect every individual’s choices including vegans who avoid eating honey. At Balqees our aim is to harvest raw honey with minimal intervention with the bees and in harmony with the natural environment.
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