Made in China- do we care?

[OakLeaf]

And just while we were talking about this: Adbusters' 3/50 campaign.

Choose three local businesses you can't bear to see go under. Spend $50 a month between the three and help keep their doors open.

As long as at least one of the businesses is selling day-to-day necessities like food or hardware, $50 a month is do-able for most people.

My challenge: choose businesses besides my favorite local restaurants.

[smilingcat]

farmers market for 3/50 challange. Be a localvore!!

[Trek420]

My challenge: choose businesses besides my favorite local restaurants.

And what's wrong with that?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Much of the honey sold in large box stores and supermarket chains is labeled as "Product of Malaysia/Argentina/India/Taiwan", etc etc. In actuality it likely contains honey from China and has been resold /laundered through these other countries to avoid paying U.S. duty taxes on imported Chinese honey. The trouble is that randomly tested honey from China has been found to contain unacceptable amounts of antibiotics, pesticides, and is sometimes adulterated with corn syrup to increase profits. Read the labels in your local supermarket and you'll see such honey being sold. Um,...Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia don't even HAVE commercial honey industries, yet they are exporting millions of pounds of honey yearly to the US, labeled as "product of..." their country.
http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-20...3.archive.html

Buy your honey produced by a local beekeeper/apiary in or near your community. Find out which natural food stores and farm stands/orchards sell honey from your area, make it your business to know where your honey came from, and support your local beekeepers. Help keep them from being put out of business by cheap contaminated Chinese honey laundered internationally by greedy distributors.

[Susan Otcenas]

Buy your honey produce by a local beekeeper/apiary in or near your community.

A couple years ago, Jeff's dad let a local beekeeper set up hives on his farm. That Christmas, we each received a HUGE bucket of honey. Honey lasts for ever. We still have honey from that wonderful gift!

[KnottedYet]

Um,...Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia don't even HAVE commercial honey industries, yet they are exporting millions of pounds of honey yearly to the US, labeled as "product of..." their country.

Now THAT'S scary!

I just checked my bottle of honey. It says "Pacific Northwest Clover Honey" and the ingredient is "US Grade A Honey." From Eugene, Oregon. That's 5 hours away, but local enough for me. www.glorybeehoney.com

My last batch of honey was from a different store, and they were having a special on local Washington honey so I bought a big tub.

My Great-Grandpa swore that if you ate a tablespoon of local honey a day you would stay good and healthy. I'm gonna be careful about my honey from now on.

[NbyNW]

The Seattle PI did an excellent feature on the honey laundering problem a couple of years ago:

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/394053_honey30.asp

[Trek420]

Another reason to buy local honey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder

Bees feed the farms, farms feed you, repeat as needed. Yet another good reason to buy local and organic whenever you can, can afford to.

I keep trying to come up with 3 for the 3/50 challenge and it's always food or 1/50 and make it my favorite new/used/independent local bookstore.