On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:13:04 -0500, Ron Bogansky <[log in to unmask]> 
wrote:

>don’t try to make your product better by trashing another beekeeper’s 
product.  

It seems Ron isn’t the first person to say something like this in this 
discussion.  I’m wondering what you all mean by “trashing another 
beekeeper’s product.”.  Obviously, it would be “trashing” to say, “Mr. 
Doe’s honey is [expletive]”, but what would you think if I (or another 
beekeeper said to his customers, for instance, “Many beekeepers use a 
couple different antibiotics, various synthetic pesticides including one of 
a particularly toxic class of pesticides called organophosphates, chemical 
fumigants, repellants, as well as flat out illegal substances in connection 
with honey production”?  Or what if I talked about the persistency of 
certain miticides in wax?  Or if I talked to my customers about the 
toxicity of different products?  Or mentioned Llyod’s (I think it was 
Lloyd) post on tylosin residues being found in honey?  Is that “trashing”?

And ultimately, like Herve said, to say that one honey is better is to say 
that another is worse.  Anything we say about our honey being good is 
saying implicitly that it’s better than something else out there which is 
implicitly saying that someone else’s is worse, right???

It seems casting a shadow over conventional practices is where an 
appreciation of organic practices begins.  Or not?  Isn’t it good and 
healthy for the industry if there are some voices of restraint and 
caution?  And shouldn’t those voices be open and honest with their 
customers?

Lest I commit the crime of “trashing," what do you all think I should and 
should not say, and how can I say it?  Is there any answer to this question 
short of telling me to abandon any defense of or outspoken belief in 
organic/pseudo-organic production?

Sincerely seeking answers,
Eric

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