Are Figs Vegan?

[passenger]

.....The Surprising Truth About Wasps in this Fruit...

Figs are in season and ready to be sliced onto charcuterie boards, mixed into jams, and tossed into fresh salads. But if you're a fan of the fig, you may have heard a rumor that's not so appetizing: that they're full of dead wasps. And if you're vegan, this may leave you questioning whether figs are actually vegan at all.

It is true that many trees that produce figs would go extinct without wasps, which are key pollinators that lay their eggs in the fruit of the trees. This relationship dates back to the time of the dinosaurs and is the source of the concern. Before you throw away your Fig Newtons out of fear you’re eating dead bugs, here’s what you should know about figs, wasps, and whether the fruit should be part of your vegan diet.

Why do figs need wasps?
There are hundreds of species of plants in the Ficus genus, from the fiddle leaf fig tree in your living room (Ficus lyrata) to the tree that grows the figs on your charcuterie board (Ficus carica). Here, we’ll only be talking about the figs we eat.
“In nature, if there were no fig wasps, Ficus species would be unable to reproduce and would be extinct,” said Mike Shanahan, biologist and author of Gods, Wasps and Stranglers: The Secret History and Redemptive Future of Fig Trees. “This relationship is among the tightest in nature and is around 80 million years old.” Hundreds of animals also rely on Ficus species for food, so it's a vital plant.
.......there's more....LINK

​

 

[Webster]

Yes, figs are a vegan product.
While most varietals use wasp pollination, they do not contain the dead hulks of wasps inside them; if they did, people allergic to wasps (and bees, etc.) would have to avoid them. (I know this because I'm allergic to bee stings)

 

[ElegantAura]

Yes, they are vegan. I had never heard before that figs were considered otherwise. I used to enjoy them so much when I was younger, sometimes my lips would go numb from eating too many at once We would pick them straight from the tree, tear them open with our hands, and eat them on the spot.
These days, I do not have them as often. They tend to be expensive, and the flavour is not the same. It is rare to find really good ones here.

 

[passenger]

Yes, they are vegan. I had never heard before that figs were considered otherwise. I used to enjoy them so much when I was younger, sometimes my lips would go numb from eating too many at once We would pick them straight from the tree, tear them open with our hands, and eat them on the spot.
These days, I do not have them as often. They tend to be expensive, and the flavour is not the same. It is rare to find really good ones here.

Aaaah! YES! ..... Grandma's big fig tree just outside the kitchen door. One of those great childhood memories. Didn't know about or give a hoot about the wasp thing.

 

[KO896]

Fig Newtons. Thank you wasps for all your hard work LOL

 

[Kyng]

The Vegan Society defines 'veganism' as follows:

[…] a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.

I think this is where a lot of vegans draw the line of "as far as is possible and practicable", because: a) the figs themselves don't contain animal products, and b) there's no practicable way of producing them in the required volumes without wasp pollination.

 

[DrLeftover]

Figs. Wasps.... Vegans......

 

[passenger]

Yeee Haw!!