Hey, what a spectacular show! I'm a little more than halfway in and I admit as a priveleged white person I find myself getting defensive and having to calm back down to listen to what's being said and taking it from there.

I'm on Kinship Circle's list and I admit that with this and other campaigns regarding animals as meat, or perhaps the use of exotic animal parts in traditional Chinese medicine, for example, I've felt a little awkward: what right do I have to tell non-westerners what to do, particularly as an American (even though the US has been very harsh to non-white cultures throughout its existence, the past 8 years have been particuarly difficult for activists to have any kind of moral leg to stand on)? Then my thought ran to: well, I will tell ANYBODY not to eat ANY animal; what's the difference?

Ah, but one of your guests answered: get the information from the groups working in those countries as to the best way to proceed. Thanks for the answer.

(I'd also love to hear about Earth Balance - they're evil but I haven't been able to stop using it [they apparently use helicopters and trawl the oceans for these little fish who clean up garbage; these are the fish the company uses in their other, non-vegan products. I've been able to pretty much boycott most big companies I hate, but for some reason the Earth Balance is very difficult. I'd love another good reason to boycott them) - hey, look, I've made it all about me!

Thanks for the show. 8)

Hi,
With all due respect for the lifestyle
I would put a challenge out to all vegans regardless of ethnicity, race or colour regarding their views on boycotting the use of honey and bee byproducts. Currently, bees, our most important agricultural pollinators, are not surviving in the wild and are in real danger of becoming extinct. The only bees doing well are those monitored by beekeepers on commercial apiaries. The excess honey produced and harvested by the beekeeper provides him an income and therefore a justification to operate his apiary.

Natural, local honey is a healthy, important and ethical sweetener and reduces one's environmental footprint as opposed to the use of sugar which is unhealthy and imported (90%+ of Canada's sugar supply is shipped in)Transportation and processing requires large quantities of pollution generating fuel and electricity. Workers on the large commercial sugar plantations are often exploited and underpaid. Honey on the other hand is local and as close as your independent beekeeper and the processing is clean and done by nature (the bee)

The time has come for 'EVERYONE' to RETHINK and expand their consumption of honey including vegans for these and other compelling reasons. Don't believe everything you saw in the recent BEE movie.

The quote "If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live." wrongly attributed to Einstein, nevertheless, holds an appropriate warning to those who would not heed this postulate;
"NO BEES...NO POLLINATION...NO FOOD"

Vegans would not be immune to this chain of events but could, if they were as concerned about the plight of the bee as they posture, simply take up the time consuming and hard work of 'apiculture' for the pleasure of it rather than the profit.

gw shepherd- ethical, apprentice beekeeper and honey distributor
violet Hills On
Canada

There are other alternate sweeteners that do not need to be stolen from bees. The bees make honey for themselves, not for us! Humans do not need animal products whatsoever. As far as the environmental concern, we can also buy local maple syrup, molasses, and agave nectar. Without hindering the bees freedom, there are also green sweeteners such as stevia and brown rice syrup.

Thanks! And let's let the bees keep their honey!!