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What's Wrong With Honey?

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  • Honey is not a very nutritious food anyways (it is for bees but not humans). There is no need to consume it since we do have all of the other sweeteners available.

  • that’s so crazy. i’m totally going to stop using honey. i have a strange affinity for bees; i think they’re amazing creatures…i love the taste of honey, but i think i’ll switch exclusively to agave nectar now, thank you!

  • I love honey, too, but for me it is like any other exploited and abused animal. I won’t consume a product if it is going to perpetuate cruelty or disdain for wildlife or domestic animals. I certainly don’t need it to survive. Cows produce milk for their calf, the same way bees produce honey for their hives. It really is not meant for us or ours to just take or exploit. And besides, there are so many wonderful alternatives now! Scientists are discovering that bees are mysteriously disappearing, and one can imagine the consequences, because plants need bees for pollination. I think a lot of people are confused about honey the same way many are confused about dairy. Many people believe that it’s okay to consume dairy because it is not meat. They don’t really understand about the mass cruelty involved in factory farming and dairy farming. I’m glad I can share this information with people who really do care about this planet and all it’s creatures, too.

  • kandacekandace Raw Newbie

    There is more information (and links) at this discussion as well.

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    I just read this:

    Bees pay their respect: Margaret Bell, who kept bees in Leintwardine, about seven miles from her home in Ludlow, Wales, died in 1994. After her funeral mourners were astonished to see hundreds of bees settle on the corner of the street opposite the house where Mrs. Bell had lived for 26 years. The bees stayed for about an hour before buzzing off over the rooftops. The local press ran a photograph of the bees, hanging on the wall in a cluster.

  • When I first transitioned from being vegetarian to being vegan, it was more because I found out about how the animals were treated and how products were “created” than about my own health (even though I have always had some trouble digesting dairy). Cows milk is “breast milk” for baby cows. Mama birds chew up worms and spit them out into baby birds mouths. Bees eat pollen and vomit up what we call honey to feed their young. So for me, the reason I don’t eat any animal products is partly the gross-out factor, and also because I prefer to eat foods designed for human consumption!

  • Bluedolphin – Actually I don’t use fertilizer. I live in a city apartment without my own garden. (I think that’s what you meant by fertilizer….)

  • this has made me sad! lol i can’t even think about eating honey anymore…

  • this has made me sad! lol i can’t even think about eating honey anymore…

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    i totally respect this and think that, whether we eat honey it or not, we should probably keep it out of our recipes on this site out of consideration for those it offends. unlike nama shoyu or other non-raw products, this is an ethical issue and i think we should promote the most ethical recipes possible.

  • I remember reading the PETA information many years ago. However, seeing it again gives me chills! There are so many alternatives to honey, and factory farming is absolutely dreadful.

  • Anyone live in Nor Cal? traveling down 5 to get to LA.. passing that MASSIVE Cow Factory Farm.. always reassures myself that im doing the right thing when i whent Vegan..

    really sucks driving by that..

  • Plan B – I just made that drive a couple of weeks ago. As if the smell isn’t bad enough, to see all of the cattle in “cages” in their own feces is terrible. The thought of eating one of those animals grosses me out. That was actually one of the things that pushed me into being a vegetarian in the first place 10 years ago. Can you imagine driving by that while eating a fast food hamburger… enough to make anyone sick.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Putting aside the serious side of the beef industry, did you see Oprah’s reaction to going through a cattle area on her summer car trip? It was hilarious. And then thinking that the beef industry sued her adds additional spin to it… Just a little injection of a “lighter side” for a Friday…

  • This is my HONEY STORY:

    So you are a Mother and you just got home from buying alot of groceries, and you have your child in the car. You bring your child into your house and keep going out to your car to get the groceries, especially the babies food into the house. You are on your last load when all of a sudden the House is covered in SMOKE!! You cant even find the entrance, you can hear your baby crying inside. You search frantically to find a way in when suddenly…POOF! The whole house, disappears, child, food all GONE!! So this is what bees go thru bringing to thier home (the hive) groceries (honey) to thier children (baby bees) when suddenly they get smoked out (bee keeper) of thier home and thier food and children get taken away!!! Left homeless and without food, some die, some continue on…pretty sad..just for some honey that is about the equivalent of White Processed Sugar.

  • I agree you shouldnt exploit things if you can help it. But isnt making honeys what some bees are breed to do. If we no longer harvest the honey they wont have any reason to for being. I think using honey once in awhile from a humane provider helps keep the delicate balance in order. Just a thought.

  • ecvraw, you couldn’t have put that in a better light. I think it’s time for me to refrain from using honey ever again!!

  • I think it’s time for me to give up honey. I need to modify my recipes!

  • skizzyskizzy Raw Newbie

    if you know where your honey is coming from and how the bees are treated, then this is not such an issue. buying from local beekeepers is ideal.

  • humanimalhumanimal Raw Newbie

    I have a negative reaction to honey so that is one reason I do not consume it. Also like cows milk is for baby cows, honey is for the bees. If you do consume honey I would cut down on it because the bees are disappearing quite quickly and we really do need them. They are the ones that are responsible for pollinating plants which we eat. Without them fruit and veg prices will skyrocket and soon we will have to rely on unnatural methods for growing plants. Yes.. that would truly suck!

    V

  • Luna bluLuna blu Raw Newbie

    I rarely use honey, but what about honey bought from a little local farmer? Are the bee still treated poorly?

  • Luna bluLuna blu Raw Newbie

    ecvraw, I just read your post. Is there no other way to obtain honey. That’s harsh! Well, I guess it’s agave from now on!

  • (Full disclosure: I don't eat honey, as I have a horrible hypoglycemic reaction to it. My family does, in small amounts.)

    I completely agree that bees should not be factory-farmed. Bees are amazing, intelligent, fascinating creatures, and should be treated with gentleness and respect. And while that PETA article is true about some bees and their lives, it is not true for all hives. (This is one of my beefs with PETA. They sensationalize everything and stir up militantism where wisdom and rationality would serve far better.)

    Not all bees are factory farmed. There are thousands, if not more, local beekeepers who are gentle and respectful and maintain a healthy, symbiotic relationship with their hives. My grandfather was one. My father-in-law, another. Honey has a number of medicinal uses . . . it is anti-bacterial, a powerful humectant, and is one of the most wonderful healing compounds on earth for wounds of all kinds, burns especially, which I know from personal experience.

    I think that wisdom should be used whenever you choose what you eat. Imported organic produce can be grown by workers who labor under inhumane working conditions, slowly poisoned by the various chemicals allowed under current organic standards. Or paid less than a living wage. Etc. Yes, honey is food for bees. But it can also be used as food and medicine for humans, in small amounts. I remember hearing once that the "milk & honey" diet mentioned in the Old Testament was mentioned because it was the only way a man could eat without directly killing something else.

    So go ahead and use honey if you wish . . . just don't buy it from a source you can't verify. Local, small-time beekeepers will look you in the eye and talk about their bees, and their care for the creatures will be evident. That's all the verification I need. :o)

  • Q: What's wrong with honey?

    A: Absolutely nothing.

  • rawmamanibblesrawmamanibbles Raw Newbie

    If you get your honey from a local farmer near you, that you know treats their bees with respect, then i dont see a problem with it. It's a sweatner at it's most natural whole form, unlike agave. I use both, but i prefer local honey.

  • Raw CurlsRaw Curls Raw Newbie

    I've always used local honey, I don't buy the commercial stuff and don't use it very often, I don't have a problem using it myself. It's great for therapeutic use, sore throats and such, plus it's an antiseptic. It's a whole food as opposed to other sweeteners such as agave (which I use on occasion as well) which is an extracted food.

    I think it's great to see this kind of passion for bees, it reminds me of pro-lifers.

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    For years I had five hives. All but one of the hives loved me. Cant please every one. So I just let the mean hive bee.

    I still eat honey when from a reputable bee keeper. Honey is a live product and all the sweeteners mentioned is dead food. For the exception of dates and fruit or stevia leaves dried at home at raw temperatures.

    As you can see, my name is beany beegan for a reason. lol

  • teacupteacup Raw Newbie

    I also see nothing wrong with using honey cultivated locally, organically, mindfully.

  • rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

    I think pollution and environmental changes would also put stress on the bee colonies.

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