oy vey it's - still july
no migratory pollinators were required to produce this newsletter, probably...
Well hey there and welcome to all the new subscribers! Here’s a meme that’s funny and also summarizes exactly what my brain is like and basically what you can expect in all following newsletters. Best of luck!
What I’ve Read
Gavin Newsom and California Legislators Allocate $5 Million for Cultivated Meat R&D - The money is one time funding for research and development going to UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis. These universities already have initiatives and research in the alt meat space.
Nonwhite Americans are eating less meat. Vegan activists of color explain why - “A Gallup Poll from 2020 found that nonwhite Americans reported reducing how much meat they eat at a higher rate than white Americans. When asked about their meat consumption in the past 12 months, 31% of nonwhite Americans said they had been eating less meat, compared with 19% of white Americans.” Nice to see women of color getting recognition for their work in addressing and breaking down the mainstream whitewashed perception of veganism, now go buy their books, follow them on social, and support their organizations (linked in the articles)!
Nutrition labelling: policy brief - Published by the WHO in early June, this is 16 pages about international labeling standards and recommendations (if anyone else actually enjoys stuff like this let’s be friends). I find the call to action to be quite soft and think it would be interesting to see a report that doesn’t delicately dance around how private industry manipulates most food product labeling while impeding potential innovations or government regulation.
People say they don’t want plant-based meat. But they can be convinced - a decent, brief dive into the history of factors that have shifted the preferences and consumption of animal meat in the US. I may have LOL-ed at the bit about “Demand doesn’t always have to lead industry; sometimes, the industry can lead demand” because NO SHIT. Highly suggest reading this before reading the next piece for a fun juxtaposition from “leap-of-faith” investment working out for an egg producer in 1923 to invest your money in plant-based alternatives and maybe it’ll save the world after you get rich!
Plant-based meat by far the best investment, report finds - (or you can read the summary of the report from the Boston Consulting Group, note I did not read the full report from 2021) nothing here is revolutionary, you get the basic regurgitation of how plant-based food is a fast growing sector that’s better for the environment in terms of lowering GHG emissions, the climate is in crisis, etc. A lot of things about this framing gave me the ick but here’s one big ick quote for you, “‘We call it the untapped climate opportunity – you’re getting more impact from your investment in alternative proteins than in any other sector of the economy.’” Like okay, I understand industry and investment has to play a role, they do cite some science that says we need to take action and that food is a good way to do it, but the Guardian article largely leaves out the action items from the report including: supporting farmers, leveling the protein policy and regulatory playing field, and optimizing waste recovery. This is why I keep saying a vegan capitalist system won’t solve shit. They want more money pumping into “sustainable food” and, of course, want to see greater consumer acceptance so they can get an acceptable ROI but they aren’t game for changing the system or radicalizing past the point of capital. As the article points out, tons of money is being pumped into green tech in other sectors besides food and yet WE ARE STILL IN A CLIMATE CRISIS. We will innovate ourselves into flames before we dare remove the chokehold private industry has on the systems that could actually bring change.
Microplastics detected in meat, milk and blood of farm animals - Microplastic presence isn’t limited to farmed animals, they have been found literally everywhere. Here is research that shows the presence in produce and human blood. Not surprising but also, so not great, happy eating!
Adults Who Still Drink Milk: Are You Okay? - lighthearted, not a nuanced piece, still funny. Let me add some brief nuance- for many populations animal milk can be a crucial source of nutrients and hydration. I believe the article’s sentiment is directed at the grown, food secure adults who have the options and choice to drink literally anything else.
How Jewish Latin American Chefs are Redefining Jewish Food - a brief history of Sephardic Jewish/crypto Jewish migration to “the Americas” and highlighting Latin Jewish chefs and restaurants blending cultural cuisines. Someone please take me to El Ñosh!
Wheat and dairy punctuate 12.2% spike in food prices in the last year - shoutout to my Mom (hi Mom!!) who keeps reminding me how expensive food has gotten and the drastic difference a $1 price increase per product can be for a lot of people. Another opportunity to remember there is still a war going on in Ukraine and inflation isn’t some mythical beast. Click into the article to see a good graph showing percent increases for prices of major food groups as of June. Also the article recommends CPG brands not pass on the full weight of inflation to their consumers if they want to maintain a customer base, real cutting edge stuff!
4,000 beagles will be rescued from a Virginia breeding facility - (CW animal cruelty) today is a great day to rescue a beagle considering 4,000 of them are being transferred from a negligent, abusive breeding facility to humane societies across the country. Also, if you’re not vegan, a couple things you can incorporate into your life are adopting animals, supporting spay/neuter clinics, divesting from products tested on animals (many of whom are beagles and bunnies), and supporting animal rights advocates who work in all of these areas
What I’ve Listened To
HEAL Farms, Not Factories recording - interesting conversation lead by HEAL about CAFOs and organizations working to shift the industrialized food system away from factory farming.
Mother Country Radicals (not food related) - a really well done podcast that added details to my knowledge of late 60s/70s counter culture, and introduced many new-to-me people, organizations, and stories to dig further into.
Restoring Forests With Fire - A Permaculture Approach - I learned a lot from this video about fire suppression and indigenous land stewardship practices that proactively protect forests
What I’m Excited About
Exploring some vegan-friendly wineries and restaurants in wine country with friends
Cook for the Climate! (July 22) - a virtual cooking class with vegan charro cakes on the menu! If you can’t make this date there will be other virtual cooking events but this recipe looks so gooood
Finishing any or all of the 4 books I’m currently reading because I just ordered a few more and holy hell I need a bigger bookshelf and more free time
Kvetch Sesh
So a couple of weeks ago my partner and I went out for some frozen yogurt. I had never been to this particular shop before, but Yelp said they had vegan options and it was only a few minutes away. It was hot AF so it seemed perfect, but of course the only vegan flavor ran out the second I started pouring it. Since I only got a little bit I took it as a cue to load up on toppings. While the yogurt was labeled vegan and disclosed the ingredients, the shop’s topping bar had no labels beyond stating the name of the item (also…self-serve topping bars are one thing I thought COVID would rid our society of completely, but here we are).
I didn’t want to be *that person* asking too many questions because contrary to my internet persona I really hate interacting in situations like this. I am always a respectful customer, since I worked years in food service, and know my questions are valid but I still tend to feel like a burden to the employees. Add it to the list of things I hope my therapist will solve for me. I managed to ask one of the teenagers behind the counter if the boba pearls were vegan, since I know boba can be soaked in honey. They responded with something like, “uhh I’m pretty sure it’s vegan” so I said, “cool would you mind just double checking the ingredients if the container is accessible? I know sometimes they’re sweetened with honey”. So they responded, “oh, I’m vegan but I eat honey” and then directed a fellow employee to go check. There was no honey, I loaded up on toppings, but the interaction has definitely been sticky in my mind.
Then, this past weekend a group of friends and I shared a meal at an omnivore restaurant, with a wonderful vegan menu. There, I was asked by a new friend if I (the only vegan in the group) eat honey. They said they know honey is a hot debate for vegans, and while I've definitely heard this "debate" before, I find it strange that a subject that is quite minor to me is somehow one of veganism’s most popular talking points.
Of course, my initial thought is that this is an issue because of the lack of a universal definition of veganism and how every vegan applies their philosophy and interpretations differently. Naturally, I turned the question to my social media audiences.
I asked my LinkedIn and Instagram followers, “do you think bee honey should be considered vegan?” with the poll options: yes, no, depends (elaborate in comment). I specifically mentioned the poll was open to vegans and non-vegans.
LinkedIn: 20 votes - 4 yes|18 no|1 it depends (they did not elaborate in a comment)
Instagram: 184 votes - 5 yes|173 no|6 it depends (only person elaborated saying, “ethics and environmental diets sometimes conflict: oysters and honey can be good🌎”.
My interest in this topic is not really about the individual who identifies as vegan and eats honey. I’m much more intrigued that society treats honey differently from other animal byproducts and secretions. According to the Codex Alimentarius via FAO, honey is defined as, “the natural sweet substance, produced by honeybees from the nectar of plants or from secretions of living parts of plants, or excretions of plant-sucking insects on the living parts of plants, which the bees collect, transform by combining with specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store and leave in honeycombs to ripen and mature”. So, it is unequivocally an animal byproduct making it incompatible with my vegan practice.
Common pro-honey responses in this conversation are often about differentiating between the types of bee farms, how the bees are treated, and that if honey isn’t vegan because of the forced labor of bees then neither is most other mass agriculture that is grown thanks to pollinators. There are many crops produced through “migratory pollination” and pieces like this from The Washington Post dive headfirst down the slippery slope that if honey isn’t vegan, nothing is. Although the article did include a quote by a PETA rep who made a great distinction that, “while it’s difficult to avoid fruits and vegetables that have been created through migratory beekeeping, ‘everyone can easily avoid honey, which is made by bees for bees…’”. Simply put, they make it why should we take it?
Other whatabouts often raised in a similar vein to honey are bivalves, like scallops and oysters, fungi, and backyard hen eggs. Nzinga Young recently pointed out that while truffles are a plant, they may also not be considered vegan because animal labor is typically used to find and harvest the truffles. It is definitely a slippery slope, and it fully depends on the vegan’s personal philosophy and motivations. Considerations and concessions by people who follow a “vegan diet” versus those of us who see it as a lifestyle or practice will vary greatly.
The people who claim honey, bivalves, backyard eggs, etc are consistent with veganism tend to mirror many of the justifications non-vegans have for consuming animal meat and milk. Think justifications like humane-meat, grass-fed, locally produced, small farm, plants feel pain, cows naturally produce milk so what’s the harm, type of logic. Honey-inclusive vegan enthusiasts typically say, I know the beekeeper, I only purchase xyz honey, it’s a natural part of the ecosystem to take honey, etc. The reality is that if people want to eat honey they will; it’s not about lack of options for sweeteners that aren’t a direct animal byproduct, it’s about aligning their beliefs to justify what they want to choose. We all make some concessions, have our own loopholes, or a mental gymnastics routine that convinces us we’re doing our best.
But let’s go back to the idea that nothing is vegan because all plants require pollinators, and migratory beekeeping is such a widely used practice in our industrialized food system. This logic absolutely falls under the straw man fallacy, it completely distorts veganism where (generally speaking) vegans do what is practical and possible to divest from the commodification of animals. It also neglects the fact that honey bees are not native to “the Americas” and were brought here by European colonizers, the same folks who brought over cows and have spent the last couple hundred years convincing us we need to eat cow meat and drink cow milk to survive.
Honey bees are pollinators but not all pollinators are honey bees or even bees at all. Also, many of the dangers to bee populations are a result of industrialized farming practices and other products of colonization; like the clearing of native plants for grass lawns and aesthetically pleasing non-native gardens. People are so quick to point out supposed hypocrisies of vegans yet when any semblance of critical thinking is applied, those gotcha arguments, lead us to the actual culprit of industrialized agriculture that grew from a food system built upon imperialism and colonialism.
So, do you think bee honey should be considered vegan? Comment your answer below.
P.S. I haven’t tried any bee-free honey yet but it is definitely a thing, and check out this apple honey recipe video from Iye for a homemade version.🍯
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Totally relate to the honey debate. Some family members of mine can't seem to understand that honey is an animal product - like the others - and thus I (a vegan) refrain from eating... It's really not that hard to comprehend!
Great read! Appreciate the effort you put into this.