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I just whipped up a bowl of oatmeal for dinner (yes, uninspired I know) but as I flavored my oatmeal with some local honey, it made me think about how important bees and their honey is to us and our environment. Honey is one of the world's olderst sweetners and has been found to have tons and tons of health benefits. They are a great source of antioxidants, and play a role in the prevention of cancer as well as heart diease. Honey is much lower in calories that its sweetner counterpart sugar. Honey is also extremely useful in supporting blood formation, as well as in cleansing the blood and aiding in regulating circulation. So why buy local honey? Local honey is healthier for you because it can help to make you "immune" to local pollens if you suffer from allergies. Make sure your honey is raw as well, because, like many fruits and vegetables, the nutrients and enzymes that honey contains are destroyed by manufacturer's heating. And the only reason manufacturers heat honey is to make it prettier to help sales. And surprisingly (or maybe not so much so) many honey brands carried in the store are from other parts of the globe and not American, though labeled so. Lame! Honey, however, is hurtin'. American bee colonies are mysteriously disappearing, and not only environmentalists, but American manufacturers are worried about what this means for American foods. According to Haagen-Dazs, one-third of the U.S. food supply -
including a variety of fruits, vegetables and even nuts - depends on
pollination from bees, and the disappearing bees could change the American atmosphere as well as the food system! Haagen-Dazs is donating $250,000 to both Pennsylvania State University and the
University of California, Davis to fund research into the bee colony
collapse disorder (CCD), because Haagen-Dazs needs those bees-40% of its 60 flavors are directly linked to bees and their pollination. Don't ever kill a bee, save them! Save the bees! -Jess
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