Bugs are killed when ploughing a field...

[Smell]

I was thinking.

Why do most vegans favour honey bees over bugs that live in the ground?

We say we don't eat honey.. yet has anyone ever stopped to think about how many bugs are killed to plough a field to grow soy beans in?

[Smell]

Why was this moved here?

I am a vegan.

[harpy]

Hello there. Well, first of all what makes you so sure people don't think about it?

I think most vegans probably do, but the problem is there isn't much you can do about it, if you don't want to starve to death yourself. Whereas avoiding honey is easy.

I bet if you can come up with a bug-friendly farming method you will be very popular here Actually I think one reason vegans often prefer organically grown veg is that they think/hope it involves less massacring of insects, although it doesn't fully solve the problem of course.

[Smell]

If there was a way to grow soy beans without using soil at all, like they were totally GM, and grown indoors, would you eat them and cut out the regular kind?

I think I saw that on TV once actually. They do it in some places in Japan or somewhere?

[Jane M]

Hydroponics?

[Korn]

Why was this moved here?

I am a vegan.

Hi & welcome!

I moved it because it's a kind of question that has been often asked by non-vegans (it has been discussed here several times before), so I guess it's most interesting in a subforum for... non-vegans. From a vegan point of view, indirectly harming one animal wouldn't work as an argument for harming directly or indirectly another animal, so IMO I don't think the two things you mention are related to each other.

The reasons I have not to eat honey are not changed even if some animals or insects are killed in modern agriculture - just like there's no reason for a 'primitive' culture to start with modern agriculture just because they are keeping bees.

If you want to live in a way that doesn't involve using products from modern farms), the only solution is to grow your own plants or to move to an area where plant food that has not been grown using modern methods can be bought.

If you look around, we already have threads about honey and insects...

[harpy]

Hydroponics I would probably go for, although I'd want to know more about the enviromental impact. Not so sure about the GM bit though!

[Pilaf]

As far as I know, hydrophonics doesn't have a very big environmenyal impact, but I believe the typed of vegetables one can grow are limited.

I know Tomatoes grow very well, as I've had lots of hydrophonic tomatoes.. a farmer in my local area grows them.

[veganicat]

my philosophy of veganism is to do the least amount of harm. bugs will be killed by us when we drive, when we buy food, etc;

supporting local organic agriculture will cause the least amount of bugs to be killed. the less driving that is done to get food to you, the less animals killed by trucks, bugs splatted on the windshields, etc; organic by default causes less killing, less poisoning of the earth. best of all is to grow your own garden and regain a connection to the earth.

as far as honey, it is good to avoid it but it is not quite the abomination that factory farmed animals are. it is also easier to make the argument for veganism when talking about mammals, as humans will have a closer connection to them than insects. if you start crying because a bee died people will take your less seriously. once we get people off meat and dairy then we can move on to insects.

i personally don't eat honey, it is a frivolous food, not really necessary in any way and i prefer to be consistent in my veganism. my activism is focused on fish and mammals though, and the environment. i don't think needless killing of even plants is justifiable. but if someone has given up all animal products besides honey i think they are doing an amzing thing and would not critisize them for it.

[Seaside]

yet has anyone ever stopped to think about how many bugs are killed to plough a field to grow soy beans in?

I don't have statistics, but I am pretty sure that cattle eat tons more soybeans than vegans do, especially since lots of vegans do not eat soy anyway. So that's a lot more insects, not to mention the cows, being killed for omnis to eat. Vegetable crops are not planted exclusively for the use of vegans.

[elateridae]

supporting local organic agriculture will cause the least amount of bugs to be killed.

Not really. The goal is to kill the same number of insects using earth-friendly techniques.