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  • From: Richard Stewart <rstewart AT zoomtown.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] CNG and Apiaries (was: clarification of use of"organic")
  • Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2011 12:29:52 -0400

Overseas. Take that however you will. Considering the amount of
transshipped Chinese honey out there I would hold anything that you do not
purchase form a local beekeeper as suspect anyways.

I have often times complained via email and phone about USDA Organic labels
on "rainforest honey" as there is no USDA Organic Honey production in the US.
The response from shippers and the feds is that it was Certified outside the
US prior to shipping and that that company doing the 3rd party certification
has been approved by the feds.

This was the email sent to me my a rep of Meijer's:

"Thank you for writing to us with your inquiry. You are correct that
presently there is not a specific standard that has been created for
apiculture (bee-keeping) however, under the current rules governing the
National Organic Program and the USDA Organic certification, honey bees are
considered livestock. Because of this designation, they have to follow the
same rules as producers of organic milk, eggs or meat. What this means
basically is that the bees cannot forage on non-Organic lands. It is because
of this requirement that Organic honey can only be produced in certain parts
of the world.

If the National Organic Program were to create a specific standard for
apiculture, it might incorporate different standards unique to apiculture
that could actually impose fewer restrictions upon the organic honey
industry. As it stands right now, the Organic standard has a very high bar
set for honey production considering that beekeepers cannot contain their
'livestock' like cow farmers can and as a result must only produce honey in
geographical areas that do not expose the plants upon which bees forage to
any pesticides, fertilizers or other chemicals.

As our organic honey does meet these higher standards by the NOP, it passes
the USDA Organic certification and therefore can have the USDA organic seal
on its packaging. I hope this helps to answer your inquiry. As a
representative of Meijer, I would like to thank you for shopping for more at
Meijer as we continue to strive towards higher standards at lower prices for
our customers."

In a subsequent email they claimed that in Canada there are huge regions of
honey production that is organic...the same regions that also tends to be
heavily planted in GMO Rape (Canola) or have such a short season that you
would not be able to sustainable supply a major national chain with honey.
Canada also imports A LOT of Chinese Honey.

Organic Honey regardless of how its labeled is BS. Bees, no matter how we
claim to domesticate them are wild insects that do what they want to do and
we cannot control. They WILL feed on GM or artificial products and not
choose the native natural one over the less healthy one as we see in both
feeding in commercial operations (feeding HFCS) and in the New York Urban
bees that were hauling in artificial cherry sauce. Its not the end of the
world, its just a fact that we need to understand and admit. Bees will
collect GMO soybean blossom in droves before they go to ironweed or thistle.
Its simply the way it is.

Right now there is a HUGE backlash against pollen and honey that contain
trace amounts of GMO crop pollen. Europe is cutting down shipments from
South America who has a massive GMO food and energy base. The court case was
just completed and filed and it looks like Europe is either A) not going to
be able to receive as much honey as they want or B) they are going to be
getting a whole lot of "Vietnamese" honey. It'll be interesting to see how
that plays out.

Its getting almost as bad as bundled carbon credits over there (Europe).

Richard Stewart
Carriage House Farm
North Bend, Ohio

An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855

(513) 967-1106
http://www.carriagehousefarmllc.com
rstewart AT zoomtown.com

On Sep 11, 2011, at 12:05 PM, sals3 wrote:

> I see organic honey in Vons and a lot of stores. they have a USDA seal on
> them and the words organic honey.. so what's up with that.????
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Richard Stewart
> To: Market Farming
> Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 8:11 AM
> Subject: [Market-farming] CNG and Apiaries (was: clarification of use
> of"organic")
>
> As a treatment free urban and rural beekeeper I have always found it
> amusing there is an Apiary listing and that so long as there is ZERO
> conventional agriculture within 3 miles of you and you meet the
> requirements you can label your honey as CNG. While the normal range of
> bee foraging is 2.5 miles it is well studied that bees forage up to 12
> miles, especially in times of stress, like drought.
>
> Sure, there may be many apiaries that are up in the mountains or like Dee
> Lusby's so remote in the desert that they have nothing BUT wild forage, but
> those are far and few between, relative to the number of beekeepers out
> there. Even then, considering the amount of spraying that national, state,
> local parks, railroads, and departments of transportation do I find it
> highly unlikely that even some of these remote apiaries are likely to be
> foraging on prefect untainted forage.
>
> Keep in mind that the CNG folks have been claiming this as a legit
> alternative to organic when there are NO organic standards for beekeeping
> in the US. CNG beekeeping or honey to me is bordering on a lie.
>
> I DO like CNG for produce and fruit operation certification, I just see it
> at as a VERY poor choice for any type of labeling when it comes to
> beekeeping. I've been considering going CNG for our food production the
> past two years but I simply have not found that anything that certifies me
> X, Y, Z actually increases my sales. Like any business owner I balance
> cost with return and if certification does not earn me more sales to both
> cover the cost certification, paperwork, AND time, then there is little
> need to certify.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Richard Stewart
> Carriage House Farm
> North Bend, Ohio
>
> An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855
>
> (513) 967-1106
> http://www.carriagehousefarmllc.com
> rstewart AT zoomtown.com
>
> On Sep 10, 2011, at 1:28 PM, Mike Brabo wrote:
>
>> Over 800 farms and apiaries now certified here in the U.S.
>> Regards,
>
>
>
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