Champomade
Member
By now, I imagine pretty much everyone in the Anglosphere has been exposed to this earth shattering piece of news: avocados, in addition to other less instagram friendly (except maybe kiwi?) fruits and vegetables, may not be vegan after all.
If this gathers enough momentum in the right circles, what could it mean for the US economy and society? For a start, I would imagine this would create quite an interesting moral dilemma for the tens of thousands of vegan instagram influencers who rely on avocado smoothies pictures to make a living? Will money comes before ethics?
If not could the economy of California be impacted by a potential bankruptcy of these influencers, with the numerous jobs catering to them (pilates coach, starbucks baristas, meditation gurus) potentially impacted as well?
On the other hand, maybe avocado cultivation could move from Mexico (the country numero uno at the moment) and its poor farmers to some highly ethical Google-owned labs in the Silicon Valley?
https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/d3qeez/avocados-are-not-vegan-argues-bbc-tv-show-host
If this gathers enough momentum in the right circles, what could it mean for the US economy and society? For a start, I would imagine this would create quite an interesting moral dilemma for the tens of thousands of vegan instagram influencers who rely on avocado smoothies pictures to make a living? Will money comes before ethics?
If not could the economy of California be impacted by a potential bankruptcy of these influencers, with the numerous jobs catering to them (pilates coach, starbucks baristas, meditation gurus) potentially impacted as well?
On the other hand, maybe avocado cultivation could move from Mexico (the country numero uno at the moment) and its poor farmers to some highly ethical Google-owned labs in the Silicon Valley?
https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/d3qeez/avocados-are-not-vegan-argues-bbc-tv-show-host
For those that eschew all animal products, the lines can be hard to draw; we’ve all heard about vegans that don’t eat honey, because they don’t want to take advantage of the hard-earned fruits of bees’ labor by stealing their vital food source. But color us surprised to hear that for some, even ordinary fruits and vegetables, like avocado, aren’t seen as vegan, after all.
That was the claim made by Sandi Toksvig, host of the British comedy quiz show QI. On the BBC-aired program, three guest panelists answer questions that are “extremely obscure,” according to Wikipedia, earning points not only for the correct response, but also for unusual or funny answers. On a recent episode, according to Plant Based News, Toksvig asked the panelists to name the item—out of almonds, avocados, kiwi, butternut squash, and melon—that was not vegan. The answer? All of the above.
“It’s the same reason as honey,” Toksvig said on the show. “Because they are so difficult to cultivate naturally, all of these crops rely on bees which are placed on the back of trucks and taken very long distances across the country.”
Toksvig was referring to a real practice called migratory beekeeping, in which, just as she described, honeybees get trucked around to commercial crops that need extra help with pollination, including apples and berries in addition to the ones QI cited. In support of her claim, studies have concluded that the stress of travel can shorten bees’ lifespan and leave them more vulnerable to both disease and parasites.
“It's unnatural use of animals and there are lots of foods that fall foul of this. Broccoli is a good example,” Toksvig said on QI. “Cherries, cucumbers, lettuce. Lots and lots of vegan things are actually not strictly vegan."