On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 07:28:47 EDT, Chris Slade <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
>Why is such pale honey so especially valued in the US?
>
>Chris
>

From my perspective as a 300 colony operation that packages and distributes my own varietal 
honey, white honey is a commodity for the packer industry. 

They operate on the notion that honey should be light in color, sweet and of little flavor (sounds 
like I could also be describing HFCS?) . Therefore in that world darker honey or less sweet, or of 
stronger flavor is worthless. Perhaps as most of the world honey production is not "white" or pale 
its a way to further depress the overall price of honey to further assist the pricing structure of the 
commodity business.

Meanwhile in the "foodie" and natural food circles, honeys from unusual plants or strong flavored 
honeys get a premium and are highly sought after. 

I find the market rather bizarre and laugh-able.  Sadly many beekeepers large and small are 
defined by this upside down world of commodity honey and feel they need to mimic that in their 
operation and sell their products for cheap. 

Others have caught on that unblended, raw honey in which the different sources are packaged 
seperately can offer the beekeeper a fair and sustainable way to make a living from their passion 
of keeping bees. 

Americans are proud that they only spend about 6% of their income on food. The goal for many is 
to return from the grocer, not with the most healthy or fresh, real food they could find, but rather 
the largest (make that hugest) servings for the least cost.

Unlike the EU or other places in the world where the percent of income spent on food is much 
higher, we have not figured out yet as a country that the true cost of food is hidden in clever 
processing and marketing schemes controlled by large agri-business. Real unadulterated food 
produced by real people who are paid a decent wage, costs more money then something 
processed and marketed by large corporations.

Cheap imitations or substitutes are the order of the day in the grocery and food serving 
businesses as Americans gladly ingest these food byproducts and use their excess money for their 
resource intensive lifestyle wich has defined America. 

So the aura surrounding "white" honey in the USA is also part of this marketing/money machine 
that strives to offer a  homogenous, inferior product while masquerading it as something 
homegrown American and special.

Its a strange, strange world over here my friend. Perception rules over Reality....just look at Wash 
DC.......

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