Are figs vegan?

Created on: 06.10.2025
Last edited on: 06.10.2025

Many people ask themselves whether figs are vegan. Although they are a plant-based food, a quick search often leads to the statement that figs are not vegan because they are pollinated by wasps that die inside the fig.
However, this line of thought is incomplete: anyone who examines the question "What is vegan?" will quickly realize that veganism is not a diet, but a lifestyle that rejects animal abuse. Therefore, the primary factor is not whether an animal died during the production chain, but whether it was abused, i.e., whether its interests were violated.

Thus, the issue is somewhat more complex. To clarify, let's first look at the basic types of figs:

• Self-pollinating varieties ripen without fig wasps. They account for a large part of the market and are mainly found in our latitudes.
• Especially fig varieties from southern regions (Turkey, Spain, Greece, ...) as well as caprifigs require pollination by wasps. The wasp wants to lay its eggs in the flower, cannot get out through the small opening, dies in the flower, and its body is completely decomposed there.

For non-self-pollinating fig varieties, the tree and pollinator need each other: the figs require wasps to grow. Most fig wasps, in turn, depend on fig trees to lay their eggs and avoid extinction. Individual animals live for about 48 hours and perform pollination during this lifespan. They enter the fig out of instinct and are not forced, specially bred, or anything similar.
The interaction between fig trees and fig wasps can therefore be considered a symbiosis that, although it includes the death of the wasp, occurs independently of human, abusive interventions:

The question "Are figs vegan?" can therefore be answered with yes. However, if you prefer not to eat figs in which a wasp has died, you should opt for self-fruiting varieties such as "Brown Turkey" or "Ronde de Bordeaux."

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