Idiots however, are distributed evenly across ideologies and nutrition systems. Once hatched, the larvae wriggle free of the fig to continue the cycle of life. It’s a complicated process but can be boiled down to the following: in order to successfully flower and produce fruit, a fig tree needs a wasp to climb inside its inverted flowers, which will inevitably kill it, leading the body to be digested by the fig. Well kind of. But the mother wasp is enzymatically digested by the fig until it becomes one with the plant that killed it and birthed her young. When a wasp pollinates a fig (firstly, did anyone else know wasps had to pollinate figs? However, the main question is whether eating wasps converted to protein is vegan or whether the process of how the female wasps get trapped and […] The vegan question has all come about due to the way that figs are pollinated. We consider figs just as "vegan" as any other fruit. A fig actually contains insects, which vegans consider a no-no in their diets. The whole routine is gross enough to turn some vegans off of figs completely, though of course this varies from person to person. It depends if you count insects as 'animals.' Others feel that the symbiotic nature of the fig-fig wasp relationship makes figs suitable for a vegan diet. Are Figs Vegan? So I know some figs have wasps in them because that's how figs are pollinated. That’s animal use and it certainly violates vegan principles. Figs are one of those surprisingly non-vegan foods according to some people considering that they grow naturally. ), they often gets trapped inside. Those who aren't vegan, on the other hand, might be tempted by a variation on ossobuco with figs, the legendary Italian dish of braised veal shanks made following these steps:. Like strawberries and stuff also have small bugs in them because fruit is just that way, but I've never heard of a vegan not eating them because of that. Figs are not vegetarian. Genuinely mind blowing, this one. Figs are not vegan in either dried on the regular form. The eggs get to survive in this process. Same with wasps. However, the corpse of the wasp is broken down to protein, within the fig. Before you choose to completely eliminate figs from your diet, please consider two things: First, many figs sold in the U.S. aren’t pollinated by wasps, so there is really no reason to avoid consuming them. Most figs are not vegan. Would you, a vegan, still eat those types of figs because its accidental that the fruit has bug remains in it? Female wasps often crawl into figs to lay eggs, which in return kills the female wasp. Still, vegan consumers should be aware of (and know how to identify) store-bought figs that require fig wasps to be grown. Argument #2: Figs are NOT vegan. Figs are vegan. The farmers can bring in certain wasps purposely meant for the purpose of growing more figs, and commercially appealing figs. Vegans should especially know that the natural fig tree-wasp relationship can be cruelly manipulated to grow certain kinds of commercial figs— especially dried Smyrna figs. With this and the above facts in mind, it makes for a compelling argument to consider figs as vegan food. The wasp entering the fig to pollinate the flower is a natural process and is not due to human intervention. Tons of farms need to bring in colonies of bees to help with pollination. Figs are a very nutritious “fruit” that contains a lot of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, which is reason enough for many to want to still eat it. And for a fig to be edible, they have to … Not every female wasp gets trapped in the fig however, if she does, she is enzymatically digested. Tons and tons of plants aren’t vegan. Non-vegan recipes with figs. Marinate the ossobuco in mustard, salt and pepper; Pan fry both sides; Braise it with wild game sauce for 90 minutes