Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Bee Debate

So, I have been struggling with the Bee Debate with myself for a little while.

As it is an animal product, and I have made the choice to abstain from using or eating any animal products, I believe that that also extents to honey.

But now I am starting to wonder about beeswax.

This all came up when I went to grab my Burt's Bees Lip Balm and was stopped in my tracks when I (for the first time) took a long hard look at the name ... Burt's Bees ....

My mind started going a million miles a minute.

Where am I going to draw the line?
Why have I made this choice?

I decided to hit up good old Google. (For reals, does anyone remember what life was like before Google?)

A ton of hits came up. All stating the same things.

BEESWAX AND HONEY ARE NOT VEGAN.

After some more surfing I came across this statement:

If you are thinking to yourself, "But I'm a vegan for health reasons" or "I'm a vegan for environmental reasons," read on. Unlike the word vegetarian, the word vegan specifically implies moral concern for animals, and this concern extends to all areas of life, not just diet. If you do not believe in animal equality, please consider referring to yourself as someone who doesn't eat animal products, as one who follows a plant-based diet, or as one who follows a vegan diet. Or, continue to educate yourself about veganism, and perhaps you will choose to practice veganism. Additionally, anyone who eats honey, yet refers to herself as a vegan, makes life difficult for other vegans--it's like having someone who eats fish and calls herself a vegetarian. When a vegetarian comes along, it is much harder for her to explain that fish is not acceptable for vegetarians.

Clearly I have some big questions to ask myself and have some even bigger answers to come up with.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Interesting... While I, admittedly, haven't done a heck of a lot of research into veganism, honey never crossed my mind. Maybe because I never really considered bees to be animals. I would kill one without a second thought (mosquitoes, spiders and flies included). I guess I hold insects in a different regard than "animals" (ie. cats, squirrels etc.) It's tough to find a place to draw lines when it comes to moral decisions, that I know. With my religion, I've had lines to draw myself. I look forward to hearing about your decision!