New Push to ban Chinese honey dumpers

[Livefreeordie]

Thank you Livefreeordie, thought maybe I was one of the last ones in the United States of America.  We should all be free to do what we want to do.  That is why we left where our granddads came from, freedom, not governmental control.  And how do you get that control -fear!  I am not afraid!  I can work, fight, own, think, grow, reason, learn, all by myself without them telling me or helping me.  I own my land, have many children with my wife, go to church on Sundays, work all week and overtime, drive fords, motorcycles, and anything else I want to do.  This is still America!  Everyone else has the right to do what they want to do also, it is freedom.  I do not tell them how to live, they leave me and my family alone.  All my uncles and my two grandfathers(when they were here) served in the marines and fought for this freedom, not just talked.  I broke too much to serve.  I love my country.  I love being able to raise honey bees too! :-D  Thanks :)

We are a lot more alike than you probably thought.
Getting into bees is another step in the quest to be self sufficient. We are 3 years away from retiring to our land in NH, if I want to ditch the truck, I could tell the world to Kiss my butt, we are striving for a homestead life that keeps us out of contact with most of the human race, except family and close friends. The honey production seemed to me to be a lot easier than processing beets for sugar. Goats for milk, sun, wind and geo-thermal for electric, huge garden, and my bees. Simple life and simple pleasures.

[CountryBee]

Yep, true freedom!  Every American citizen has the right to pursue whatever their heart disires, unhindered by governmental control.  Have a wonderful livefree day in America today!  Your friend, Country :)

[Storm]

Thanks for all the input.  As I said, I'm torn.  I'm the first to resist more government intrusion into our lives, especially when those regulations designed to "protect" us will likely end up hurting us, too.

Just last week I noticed that 6 oz honey bears had made it to the $1 shelves at my local market.  They were marked as imported from India, but that likely means that they came originally from China, as India has no native honey export market.  I'll do my best to educate the local market, but I have my doubts about them being willing to take the cheap honey off their shelves.

[CountryBee]

Junk food is always cheaper than good food.  A candy bar is cheaper than an apple.  Consumers must learn to think and buy good food to put into their bodies and not junk! :-X

[winginit]

Thanks a lot. Geek that I am, I've been looking into Chinese food imports again, which based on the most superficial research seem to be rapidly increasing. I became interested in this after the melamine in pet food and baby food events. There's probably more melamine in our food supply than we know, regardless of origin (melamine is in fertilizer, no studies on levels of take-up in plants; melamine likely in worldwide gluten supplies accd to NYT). Maybe we make a stink about honey just to take a stand somewhere.

I try to cook and eat whole food as much as possible, but when the ingredients are corrupted, not much you can do. I do like to buy local, but must confess that I don't work very hard at that as I don't think there's much selection. And we like to be somewhat self sufficient, but it's a figment of my imagination. As a gal in her late forties, I shudder to imagine life without the a/c.  ;)

For those of you NOT worried about processed foods, know that "natural flavors" on the ingredients label does not mean herbs. It means taste chemicals. Much of the flavor in processed foods is no longer from the food itself, it's from the chemicals. I heard one guy from a chemical company brag that McDonalds would have no flavor without those chemicals. While the chemicals may be natural, they have by no means been in the human food supply for generations and have not undergone significant, objective testing.

[slacker361]

how hard did you search for that. I would respect that if it wasnt heavily weighted to one side, this is the problem , put an article out that is equally weighted and not try to shove one point of view down everyone throat.

Politics and religion two things that should not be discussed in public. things are not black and white they are every shade of gray

[bee-nuts]

Wisconsin passed honey legislation.

http://www.eatdrinkandbe.org/article/lawstate.0322_law_wischoney

Im not for government control but I am for protecting consumers and honey producers from counterfeiters and Chinese honey with antibiotics if the packers wont report them to the FDA.

[diggity]

Hats off to Wisconsin... A perfect example of where a little bit of "big government" comes in handy.  The free market brings us corn syrup in a honey bottle because it's more profitable.  The government steps in to put an end to it.

If I lived in Wisconsin, I'd be a little less reluctant to pay my taxes today.

[CountryBee]

Way to go Florida also!

[Kathyp]

The free market brings us corn syrup in a honey bottle because it's more profitable

the free market and government are not mutually exclusive.  the government does have it's uses, they just never seem to know when to quit.   :evil:

[gundalf]

It is amazing how fast they took chinese dog food off the shelves, but they can not stop "sweeteners" from china.

Weirdly enough, the really large dog food mfg. in Red Bay Alabama, makes dog food for most of the major brands there, but, uses meat products and byproducts from China...

[AllenF]

I hate to say this out loud, but what kind of meat does the chinese market not use and throw out for dog food?

[Kathyp]

one of the reasons the Asian markets are so successful is that they can very quickly change what they do.  if you are old enough, you remember when "Made in Japan" meant junk.  now all our best electronics come from japan.  when Korea entered the car market, those cars were pretty junky.  now they are nice and Korea is giving Japan a run for their money.  china will do the same.  in another 10 or so years, "Made in China" will be a label we will look for.  to bad the US markets can't do the same.

[luvin honey]

I love Wisconsin! Many people around here are already deep into the local, fresh foods movement, and we farmers have an awful lot of support!

I see 2 problems:

People have no clue where their food comes from, how it is grown and what happened to grow it, process it, ship it.

People are used to cheap food and would rather have cheap food than understand the impacts of their choices.

Okay, maybe a third:

People have no idea what real food is anymore. But, don't mind me. I've just been reading Wendell Berry :)

[diggity]

Right on, Luvin!  So how do we fix it?  I don't usually plug my own book while posting, but it does discuss this issue at length, and prescribe a remedy:  http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Imperative-plant-vegetable-garden/dp/160481618X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280841973&sr=8-3