THE HONEY ISSUE
I said I would come back and tell you what I learnt about why vegan don't eat honey. I went to the Vegan Society website to find out what the issue was. Click here to read the article. Some of this I did know - the sugar solution given to the bees to get them through winter because the farmer has taken the honey. Why can't beekeepers leave some honey there for them instead of feeding them substitutes? Is this a possible solution? Maybe not for farmers who want all the profits but for ordinary beekeepers. It would be interesting to find out if this would work.
I also know that some hives are destroyed after a season and I've always been against that. I love bees. We should work with our world not against it. I do tend avoid beeswax candles only because I have this 'feeling' it's not right.
I have just spoken to hubby (the bee expert) and he says it is possible to leave enough honey for the bees to 'over winter'. Bees won't fly until the temperature is at 50c. He tells me he doesn't know of any destroying of hives in the UK unless there is disease, but he does admit that some clipping of the wings of Queen bees does happen. It's interesting to get a first hand view of this.
We have lots of jars of honey at home (hubby is a bulk buyer!). Do I not eat them now? Well, I suppose after my pledge ends I could just forget the whole thing, but I don't think I can. After all I gave up wearing silk when I found out that the silkworms were killed (burnt) to get the silk. They may be tiny and unglamorous creatures (not like a cuddly panda) but they are still creatures capable of feeling pain. My view on my hordes of honey is that I will eat what we have but perhaps not buy it again. No final decision on this yet. It will rule out my Nature Valley cereal bars which I love. Hard choices coming I think.
Well, I got round to making a rice pudding today and I added some dried cranberries and other dried fruit to the ingredients. Looking forward to it. The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating.
I've had a double vegan cheese day (not ideal but that's the way it goes sometimes). Lunch was vegan cheese on toast and dinner tonight was home made sausages. I adapted a vegetarian recipe. The mix is 100g oats, 50g cheese, 3 carrots grated, chopped onion and tomato puree. I didn't have celery so I used green pepper. Flavoured with soy sauce, salt and black pepper. I omitted the egg and flour. You can make these into burgers or sausages. I fried them with extra onion and served them with Quinoa, supersweet sweetcorn and broccoli. A squirt of tomato ketchup was all it needed.
There is some mixture left over for either my veggie son or I'll keep it for tomorrow. I might add some chilli powder next time to give a bit of a kick. It's all about trying things, adapting recipes and experimenting.
I said I would come back and tell you what I learnt about why vegan don't eat honey. I went to the Vegan Society website to find out what the issue was. Click here to read the article. Some of this I did know - the sugar solution given to the bees to get them through winter because the farmer has taken the honey. Why can't beekeepers leave some honey there for them instead of feeding them substitutes? Is this a possible solution? Maybe not for farmers who want all the profits but for ordinary beekeepers. It would be interesting to find out if this would work.
I also know that some hives are destroyed after a season and I've always been against that. I love bees. We should work with our world not against it. I do tend avoid beeswax candles only because I have this 'feeling' it's not right.
I have just spoken to hubby (the bee expert) and he says it is possible to leave enough honey for the bees to 'over winter'. Bees won't fly until the temperature is at 50c. He tells me he doesn't know of any destroying of hives in the UK unless there is disease, but he does admit that some clipping of the wings of Queen bees does happen. It's interesting to get a first hand view of this.
We have lots of jars of honey at home (hubby is a bulk buyer!). Do I not eat them now? Well, I suppose after my pledge ends I could just forget the whole thing, but I don't think I can. After all I gave up wearing silk when I found out that the silkworms were killed (burnt) to get the silk. They may be tiny and unglamorous creatures (not like a cuddly panda) but they are still creatures capable of feeling pain. My view on my hordes of honey is that I will eat what we have but perhaps not buy it again. No final decision on this yet. It will rule out my Nature Valley cereal bars which I love. Hard choices coming I think.
Well, I got round to making a rice pudding today and I added some dried cranberries and other dried fruit to the ingredients. Looking forward to it. The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating.
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| Vegan sausages (home made) |
There is some mixture left over for either my veggie son or I'll keep it for tomorrow. I might add some chilli powder next time to give a bit of a kick. It's all about trying things, adapting recipes and experimenting.
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| Rice pudding made with soya milk, dried fruit and grated nutmeg (yum, yum!) |
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