Attracted to veganism

[Earthchild]

Hi, I'm new here, thanks for letting me join! I'm attracted to veganism, inspired by a blogger I follow who writes about intentional living, minimalism and veganism. I'm attracted to the health concept, the ethicalness of it and the help it gives to environment.

I've been vegetarian for many years (since my twenties, I'm 41 now) and on occasions I've been vegan but lapsed back into eating dairy and eggs and honey.

Again now I want to give those up as well. I've had oat milk for several months already, and the last few days I've not eaten eggs. The only problem is honey. I'm struggling to give that up because I've heard of its medicinal qualities. It's a big thing in my religion (Islam). But I'm drawn to being vegan...

I downloaded the Daily Dozen and VeGuide apps yesterday and find them quite useful. Then today I googled vegan forums and here I am!

 

[Deleted member 20024]

Welcome onboard! You have made the very best choice.

If you have been vegetarian for such a long time, you will probably not find it difficult to make that little switch. I am really pleased to read about the steps you have already taken, and I can only encourage you to continue.

Honey is not really necessary for us humans to stay healthy - if you eventually get sick, there are plenty of other kinds of medicine to use.

 

[Lou]

Hi, I'm new here, thanks for letting me join! I'm attracted to veganism, inspired by a blogger I follow who writes about intentional living, minimalism and veganism. I'm attracted to the health concept, the ethicalness of it and the help it gives to environment.

Welcome aboard! And congrats for going vegan.

I've been vegetarian for many years (since my twenties, I'm 41 now) and on occasions I've been vegan but lapsed back into eating dairy and eggs and honey.

Again now I want to give those up as well. I've had oat milk for several months already,

Dairy has got to be the easiest thing to give up because of all the excellent subs/ alternatives. Oat milk is readily available and usually lower in price than soy milk, but check out soy milk. although oat milk is lower in calories and higher in fiber than soy milk - soy milk has more than twice the protein.

and the last few days I've not eaten eggs.

eggs are harder than dairy because of baking. It's in almost all store bought bakery items. but with a little extra effort you can find almost all the bakery items you need. And when baking at home there are lots of vegan recipes for everything.

You can even find lots of egg-like products. You won't be able to find the same ones as me but I'm sure you can find some in the stores. There are also some good recipes for vegan scrambled eggs and omelettes.

The only problem is honey. I'm struggling to give that up because I've heard of its medicinal qualities. It's a big thing in my religion (Islam). But I'm drawn to being vegan...

honey has a long history of medicinal uses. plus lots of anecdotal evidence. But not much real science evidence that it helps us. But if you want to keep consuming honey then I would say just go ahead. The damage to bees done in small honey farms is minimal. In fact there is probably more damage done to bees in almond and avocado production. Here in America almost 1/3 of our food is dependent on the commercial bee industry which harms bees in the billions.

FYI

Why vegans can't decide whether they're allowed to eat honey.

There's never been a better time to be a half-assed vegetarian. Five years ago, the American Dialect Society honored the word flexitarian for its...

slate.com

 

[hitty]

Hi, I'm new here, thanks for letting me join! I'm attracted to veganism, inspired by a blogger I follow who writes about intentional living, minimalism and veganism. I'm attracted to the health concept, the ethicalness of it and the help it gives to environment.

I've been vegetarian for many years (since my twenties, I'm 41 now) and on occasions I've been vegan but lapsed back into eating dairy and eggs and honey.

Again now I want to give those up as well. I've had oat milk for several months already, and the last few days I've not eaten eggs. The only problem is honey. I'm struggling to give that up because I've heard of its medicinal qualities. It's a big thing in my religion (Islam). But I'm drawn to being vegan...

I downloaded the Daily Dozen and VeGuide apps yesterday and find them quite useful. Then today I googled vegan forums and here I am!

Warm welcome! Yea it's a different mindset altogether. Always nice to see there are more out there searching for the compassionate path.

Honey is sugar and a little water. There are some traces of certain enzymes and other stuff bees vomit up together with the sugars. The healing properties are very small. It might ease your sore throat, but so will a shot of whiskey. Home made lemon and ginger tea is much better, add some agave to it, wonderful stuff!

 

[Emma JC]

welcome to the forum - you sound like a lovely person and we really like lovely people here!

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Well done for being vegetarian for so many years.

Is it harder being vegetarian in an Islamic culture? I've been led to believe that is is very uncommon, at least in an Islamic country. I imagine it's different being Islamic in South Africa.

I don't think honey is necessary for health but if it's important to you because of your religion you could be mostly vegan or vegan but make an exception for honey.

 

[Graeme M]

honey has a long history of medicinal uses. plus lots of anecdotal evidence. But not much real science evidence that it helps us. But if you want to keep consuming honey then I would say just go ahead. The damage to bees done in small honey farms is minimal. In fact there is probably more damage done to bees in almond and avocado production. Here in America almost 1/3 of our food is dependent on the commercial bee industry which harms bees in the billions.

Honey has been in and out as acceptable within the definition of veganism by the UK Vegan Society over the years, with it last being excluded in 1988. At times the Society has recommended against its consumption but left it to individual conscience. The truth is, of course, that ALL "banned" foods under veganism are up to the individual conscience - what counts is how much anyone wants to conform to the definition.

While I understand the sense within which the taking of honey from bees is exploitation, it's a little questionable to reject that use while accepting the exploitative use of bees in pollination. One way to tackle that is not to eat honey while also actively seeking out vegan-friendly foods that minimise the use of bee pollination services. For example, drink soy or oat milk rather than almond milk. However, you cannot avoid this use completely.

My take is that honey sales are important to commercial apiarists and their services are for now essential to food production. Given this relationship, I think honey consumption is fine. Also, most apiarists don't appear to be the gung-ho cowboys we are led to believe they are, negligently killing billions of bees. Heck here in Australia they have even invented a special hive technology to minimise harm to bees when retrieving honey.

That said, honey ISN'T currently regarded as vegan-friendly for good reason. It's probably better to avoid honey, but I'd not fault anyone who does buy it.

 

[Earthchild]

Well done for being vegetarian for so many years.

Is it harder being vegetarian in an Islamic culture? I've been led to believe that is is very uncommon, at least in an Islamic country. I imagine it's different being Islamic in South Africa.

I don't think honey is necessary for health but if it's important to you because of your religion you could be mostly vegan or vegan but make an exception for honey.

Being vegetarian/vegan in Islamic culture is similar to being one in a western one. Islam neither promotes meat nor discourages it. It says eat it sparingly like the Prophet Muhammad did (peace be upon him). Unfortunately in my country, South Africa, Muslims seem to eat it a lot, but so does the South African culture! Milk and honey, are promoted more in Islam. But then again, I'd argue that if the prophet lived in 2025, he'd not support the dairy industry or exploitation of bees, cows, and other animals. It's all about context.

It is tricky being invited to Muslim dinner parties, but as my husband is of Indian descent, there are vegetarian options. It's hard being vegan when eating out with them, because of eggs and dairy, but I make an exception on rare occasions I do eat out, and eat vegetarian as much as I can. I can avoid meat easily but dairy and eggs is trickier. I try my best and not stress over occasional consumption of them. When I'm at home I can eat as vegan as I like.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Thanks for sharing your viewpoint/experience.

Yeah I'm still basically the same. I was in a place where I couldn't find a proper good vegan option yesterday on the menu and I just fancied the vegetarian lasagna, it was great but it had some cheese in it. I asked them if they had vegan cheese but they didn't.

I had a similar thing a few days ago with a sandwich with cheese and no vegan cheese available so I just asked them to make it without cheese, I wasn't sure if the lasagna without the cheese would even work, I thought I might be making it hard for them.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Honey has been in and out as acceptable within the definition of veganism by the UK Vegan Society over the years,

I think honey consumption is fine.

That said, honey ISN'T currently regarded as vegan-friendly for good reason.

This is basically true but I think for some years now vegans have agreed that honey isn't vegan and the arguments against it seem to be correct.

Still, if someone I knew said that that were going vegan except for honey I'd be very happy.

 

[g0rph]

This is basically true but I think for some years now vegans have agreed that honey isn't vegan and the arguments against it seem to be correct.

Still, if someone I knew said that that were going vegan except for honey I'd be very happy.

I think this is how I feel.
I don't eat it "for completion's sake", but honestly, I don't have an issue with it.

What I would suggest is to get proper local honey, from a place you can visit and see them working.

We had a neighbour a number of years ago with a couple of hives and whilst strictly speaking he was exploiting the bees, it was more of a hobby and the bees were more like pets and they happily pollinated gardens all around us.

I always have a laugh when someone who goes vegan suddenly reacting strongly against honey when only a week ago they were tucking into a rib-eye steak...

 

[Lou]

And I give honey eaters a pass. I think more bees are exploited in almond cultivation. So in order not to be hypocritical you need to to stop buying almonds. (and almond milk)

In California, where intensive almond cultivation has killed more than 50 billion bees in a single year, a third of the entire population of commercially bred bees.

then how about apples, cranberries, blueberries, kiwifruit and vine crops. To a minor extent bees are also used to pollinate strawberries, peppers, peaches, pears, plums and citrus. Finally, these insects are extensively employed in producing carrot, onion and other seed crops.