So, most commercial almond orchards actually ship in bees from beekeepers to pollinate them every year, and as you might assume, the bees aren’t having a good time. Having their hives transported long distances is extremely stressful for them (notably, bees won’t poop inside their hive, and having to hold it in for hours cause severe health issues) the fact that they’re pollinating a monoculture is detrimental to their overall health, and these intense pollination sessions drastically reduce the lifespans of the worker bees.

Actually, this isn’t just for almonds, though that’s the most infamous. Plenty of crops rely on this practice.

What are your thoughts? Are these plant-based foods not vegan because animals were exploited in their production? How, if at all, would your thoughts differ for an orchard that had local bees on site instead of shipping bees in? I don’t think any large scale orchard relies on wild bees, so that’s probably not applicable unless you’re buying super local, like, your friend who has an almond tree in their back yard local.

  • X_Cli
    31·
    2 years ago

    Almonds, cashews… in France, we basically have to import it all, because our national production of these resources is minimal or non-existent. Without even talking about bees, which is a subject I was not aware of (thank you), the mere carbon footprint of these products forces me to consider them bad for the planet, and thus for its inhabitants. Even if it was completely neutral for the bees, the impact on the whole ecosystem is such that I would still consider it unethical. None of these products scale well, and if some vegans consume them, it might be worth keeping in mind that it is a privilege that won’t last long, especially if the vegan lifestyle becomes more widely adopted.

    As to the exploitation of the bees, my personal belief as a rather moderate vegan is that exploitation OK if the situation is mutually beneficial. In the situations you describe (imported or bred locally), I’m not sure that bees would consider it to their benefice, so I would think this is not OK.