veganism: I know that there's an ethical issue with exploiting any other species for human consumption (I currently avoid honey products) but I'm not sure where to draw the line. Why sure I avoid honey in particular? I'm just looking for different opinions... And no I don't eat meat, dairy products, buy leather, go to rodeos, use products tested on animals, etc....|||From http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Ve鈥?/a> "While some vegans eat honey, others would like to avoid it. Agave nectar is a general-purpose liquid sweetener derived from the agave plant that serves well as a honey substitute. It is produced by Sweet Cactus Farms and Madhava, among others. Golden syrup is also a good substitute. Other excellent substitutes include rice syrup and other grain syrups, which have a similar taste." I'm allergic to honey so I use agave nectar and it is delicious.|||queen bees are killed to encourage production. many bees are killed during fumigation to harvest the honey. + vegans have the whole issue of exploitation regardless of if the bees die or not.|||Why are you avoiding honey? The bees don't die or aren't harmed by producing it. I do respect your choice not to eat it, but if you did, and you didn't eat ANY dairy products, you'd still be vegan. Honey is NOT a dairy product. Being vegan means you don't eat dairy products of any kind. And that's all it means.|||someone answered this question very well the other day - it was a very complete answer, I suggest you use the search for questions facility and look it up.|||Vegans and honey consumption is a story of hypocrisy. Vegans won't eat honey because the honey is taken from the bees without the bees permission, but those very same bees are shipped regularly from state to state to pollinate the crops of veges they eat, but that's ok. Why? No honey? No effort. No veges? Effort. "queen bees are killed to encourage production. many bees are killed during fumigation to harvest the honey." Many more bees die in the fields and on the highways than in commercial hives. "+ vegans have the whole issue of exploitation regardless of if the bees die or not." My example has shown how this "issue" works. Being a vegan is an open ended proposition because the adjusted definition says to exclude all forms of animal exploitation---when practical. Since each vegan is allowed to decide what's practical and what isn't, it leaves a lot of leeway. Your best bet is to do what you think is best for you and don't worry if your vegan status symbol is taken away.|||www.vegetus.org has a page on why honey is not vegan.