The Weblog
This weblog contains LocallyGrown.net news and the weblog entries from all the markets currently using the system.
To visit the authoring market’s website, click on the market name located in the entry’s title.
Athens Locally Grown: ALG Open for January 8
Athens Locally Grown
How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.
Market News
Welcome to 2015, and another year of Athens Locally Grown. This will be our fourteenth(!!) year in operation, and we are looking forward to many more. Many of our growers are have slowed down for the winter, delivering every other week or otherwise reducing their availability. Many others, however, are still going strong thanks to greenhouses and other season-extending methods. Now that the holiday season is behind us, we’ll be going every single week from now until our next week off — Thanksgiving.
Each year, I devote the first few mailings of the year to the behind the scenes operation of ALG. This week, I’m going to talk about the many legal issues surrounding our market. Even though many people call us “the co-op”, ALG is legally a market owned and operated me, so I can have a place to sell items I occasionally offer from my own garden. There’s no board of directors, no shield corporation, no pot of grant money. It’s just me, and while that keeps things very simple, it also exposes my family to a ton of potential liability. It’s never been an issue (except when the whole raw milk thing erupted a few years ago) but there are several things I do specifically to minimize that risk:
- The growers list their own items and set their own prices. When you buy from them, it is from them, not from me, and not from Athens Locally Grown.
- Athens Locally Grown never takes ownership or possession of the food. The growers drop it off, and you pick it up.
- Everything at the market has a customer’s name attached to it when it arrives. ALG does not repackage any items, or buy in bulk for redistribution.
- When you pay, you’re paying into a shared cash box for all of the growers. This lets you write a single check or swipe your card once for convenience, but you are really paying all of the growers directly and individually. Your money goes in, and the software I wrote to keep everything going spits out checks for each of the growers you buy from.
- The growers give a small percentage of their sales, generally 10%, back to the market to cover the many expenses of keeping the market going. I’ll cover the details of finances another week.
- ALG never buys from a grower and resells the items to you. Never.
- When a grower sells items that need licenses from either the state or the federal government, ALG verifies that the proper licenses have been obtained.
The ownership issue is key. It’s one of the reasons why we don’t offer delivery, and why we usually can’t hold items for you if you aren’t able to pick up your orders. Delivery might be a good business for someone (if they could figure out all the legal requirements), but it’s not at all what I personally want to be into. I think it would be a valuable service for you, and I’m hoping someone will be able to partner with me for this. Many food co-ops and even some farmers markets aren’t as careful with keeping ownership straight as I try to be, and that has gotten other groups similar to us into serious legal trouble (deserved or not) over the years. There are so many grey areas in all this, and the written regulations still don’t even consider that something like Athens Locally Grown might exist. We’re so firmly in the grey areas with most everything we do that it’s just too risky for me to bring us into the areas that are clearly black.
So, these are the sorts of things that guide my thinking as Athens Locally Grown has grown over the years. Everything we do has legal ramifications, and the state of Georgia has a reputation for being no nonsense when it comes to enforcement — with the little guy, anyway. That has became extra obvious in recent years, and the FDA is also putting pressure on groups like us too. I’m not a lawyer, but every time we enter those grey areas, I make sure we follow the intent of the laws, don’t flaunt anything, and have a good defense and a paper trail should we need it. And when that doesn’t work, the good folks at the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund are behind us. They have consumer memberships, too, and I do encourage everyone who is able to become a member of the FtCLDF.
The FtCLDF was my legal counsel in the federal lawsuit against the FDA I (and one of our members) was a plaintiff on. The lawsuit was in response to the seizure and destruction of 110 gallons of South Carolina milk purchased by ALG members in October 2009. During the pre-trial phase, the FDA moved to dismiss the suit, and went so far as to claim that the milk dumping, filmed and placed on YouTube, with an FDA agent clearly identified, never happened. The judge refused to dismiss, and gave the FDA six months to give a yes or no answer to whether what we did is really considered illegal. Exactly six months later, they responded that it was illegal, but also claimed that even though an FDA agent was at my house giving direction, they had no hand in the dumping. They also went on record stating that individuals were legally free to cross state lines and buy raw milk to take home with them (something that the FDA agent at my house said, on camera, was completely illegal under all circumstances). After that, the judge dismissed the suit without fully ruling whether ALG was also free to facilitate our members collectively ordering and picking up milk across state lines. In any case, the state of Georgia still says what we were doing was illegal, so raw milk is still very hard to come by.
And there in a nutshell is the legalities behind ALG. In the following weeks, I’ll get more into the nuts and bolts of finances and other aspects of how we work.
Thank you so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, all of our growers, local food, and our rights to eat it. You all are part of what makes Athens such a great area in which to live. We’ll see you on Thursday at Ben’s Bikes at the corner of Pope and Broad Streets from 4:30 to 8pm!
Other Area Farmers Markets
The Athens Farmers Market has closed for the winter. You can watch for news during the offseason on their website. The other area markets are also all closed for the season, I believe. If you know of any winter markets operating, please let me know. And they might all be closed, but we’ll be here all year round!
All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!
StPete.LocallyGrown.Net: Market NOW Open - Jan. 5th, 2015
SPECIAL THANKS to Customer Kim Munshower who shared—on our Market Community Food Blog—her recent adventure making Sapote Banana Pudding with black sapote fruit from our Market a few weeks ago. Way to go, Kim!
To Contact Us
St. Pete Locally Grown
on the web
on facebook
on google
via email
see volunteers on pinterest
see local urban growers on pinterest
Ready To Order?
sign in & shop now
FIRST TIME CUSTOMERS You are invited to watch our Market Tutorial before you begin. If you do not receive an email confirmation immediately after you order, then you did not click the SUBMIT ORDER button and we did not receive an order from you. Call your Market Manager for help.
Market Calendars Now Available!
Here’s your chance to capture the past year in pictures as Growers, Volunteers, and Customers come together to make this wonderful adventure called “St. Pete Locally Grown” a memorable keepsake for just $12. Act now so that someday you can say “you knew us when”.
Message from Your Market Manager
HAPPY NEW YEAR
AMEN! Our online Market is open every other week starting this week until the end-of-year 2015 holidays. This calendar shows all the “green” weeks that our Market will be open in 2015. Suggest that you save the link as a favorite!
PLEASE HELP US SELL OUT
As many of you know, our Market is growing and some of our suppliers require a minimum purchase which makes me have to ask you, our valued customers, to consider doing the majority of your food shopping through our Market! Availability varies from Market to Market so please don’t wait for an item to reappear as we cannot guarantee it will appear each time.
GROWER GREENERY
Kudos to many of St. Petersburg’s finest urban Growers like Pioneer Settlement Garden, Brenon’s Homegrown, Ida’s Garden, and Nathan’s Natural Veggies for their dedication to growing chemical-free vegetables within St. Petersburg’s city limits! We are entering our FIFTH year of this Market and all of these folks—and our other valued producers—have been right there with us, cheering us on. WE THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR LOYALTY TO OUR CUSTOMERS. Please visit all of our Markets’ Grower’s pages and get to know your farmers!
EXOTIC FRUITS AND PLANTS
Have you yet noticed our new Grower Mrs. Chippy’s Plant World and the awesome variety of exotic fruit & vegetable plants she offers exclusively to our Market Customers? Debra Black is an active member of the Tampa Bay Rare Fruit Council and well versed in this area. Check out her Grower page for more evidence of Debra’s passion!
MORE FRESH STRAWBERRIES & THIS WEEK’S FRUIT
Direct from Plant City’s Strawberry Passion Farms in addition to sour oranges (calamondins), ruby pink grapefruit, papayas, galas, Medjool dates, Carambolas (aka star fruit), and bosc pears.
NEW GROWER WITH LAMB ON NEXT MARKET
Check out new Grower Alexandra Lake Farm in Dade City joining us on the Market Jan. 19th! Lamb cuts…
WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST CUSTOMERS
Once you have submitted your order, if in doubt about what you owe, you can always confirm what you have been charged for by checking your account history and viewing your most current invoice. Instructions on how to do that are on our Q&A page under the question entitled Since you don’t provide an invoice with delivery, how do I know what I owe? Also, since your vegetables are picked fresh within 24 hours of delivery, they should be lasting for WEEKS in your refrigerator. When you accept delivery, please take a few minutes to inspect your order to protect your vegetables from unnecessary spoilage. Lastly, it is imperative that you understand our policy on Unclaimed Orders found on our Q&A page. When you make a purchase you are agreeing to abide by this policy.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
Our Market has high standards for what it sells. Despite that—as seasons transition—the challenges of evolving weather and pesky insects can take its toll on the crops. Market Growers are being very selective about what they are willing to present to you. No, it won’t always be picture perfect (which is part of its charm) and sometimes an insect is going to evade capture! But we won’t send you anything that we wouldn’t eat ourselves. If for any reason we have goofed and you are dissatisfied, please report it to me right away so we can rectify the situation. That’s how we get better and we all benefit from that. Your satisfaction is key to our success as a resource for St. Petersburgs’ lovers of chemical-free, organically & locally grown vegetables.
Upcoming Events
All these and more are posted on our Calendar of Events
WORKSHOPS & EVENTS
- “Successful Urban Farming in St. Petersburg” on Jan. 10th, 1-3PM Cost $35/$25. RSVP NOW
- “REAL DIRT: Make Your Own” on Jan. 17th, 1-3PM Cost $35/$25. RSVP NOW
- “Monthly Potluck Social”, Jan 24th, Nathan’s Garden Tour Begins at 5:30PM for active Market customers, growers, and volunteers. BY Whoozin.com e-vite ONLY. Our Speaker is Kathleen Wheeler who is going to share her extensive experience with fermenting foods for the past few years and how that has impacted her health & well-being. Should be a good one!
Volunteer Opportunities
We are currently organizing our volunteer needs by Grower and by Market. So when you are interested in learning how to garden and/or how to run an urban market—including a model for great delivery service for the Market—consider volunteering for the organizations below. Check back for more Growers to be listed and don’t miss the link below to a (Goat) Nanny Program.
Nathan’s Natural Veggies
Pioneer Settlement Garden
St. Pete Locally Grown Market
The Dancing Goat
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!
Conyers Locally Grown: Available for Friday January 9, 2015
I hope this finds you all doing well. Happy New Year! Here we go, kicking off 2015 with a great selection for the market. While my garden is gone to the pigs for the winter Taylorganic has lots of great produce available this week. The cabbage, collards, kale and more will enhance any meal. Order up, you will eat 28 times over the enact week. Hopefully we can be apart of those meals. Carroll farms has some fantastic water buffalo available this week. Our farm has eggs, mushrooms and plenty o pork.
Please order up, we appreciate all your support and don’t forget to share us with a friend.
Thank you,
Brady
Northeast Georgia Locally Grown: Locally Grown - Availability for January 7th, 2015
Hey Local Food Lovers,
Welcome back to Locally Grown after what feels like a very long break! My fridge is nearly empty of local food which is downright painful. Time to stock it back up!
We are bringing in the new year in style with the first of what will be numerous exciting changes and improvements to Locally Grown in 2015. I’m sure all of you have noticed the change in the appearance of the website. While everything functions exactly the same (please let us know if you found something that isn’t working properly), the site should look and feel just a little bit nicer. We also want to point out a very cool new logo designed by Andrew Linker. Very well done! Many of our Gainesville customers have already met Andrew, but you’ll be seeing a lot more of him in 2015 as he’ll be taking my place (Justin) as the full time manager at Gainesville. I’ll definitely be stopping by from time to time, but will be concentrating more energies in some of the logistics of growing the market this year.
I’d like to mention a couple of other things as we bring in the New Year. Locally Grown is supported by a huge fleet of volunteers and way underpaid managers. Since we’ve expanded to 3 locations now I thought I’d slow down long enough to mention all of our crew that makes the market possible.
Here’s how the LOCALLY GROWN CREW breaks down:
Justin and Chuck are co-managers of the whole market
Amy is the Tiger market manager
Teri is the Clarkesville market manager
Andrew is the NEW Gainesville market manager
Bruce King starts as our Shuttle Driver between Gainesville and Clarkesville this week!
Brooks is an occasional shuttle Driver between Tiger and Clarkesville
Lynn is an every other week Clarkesvillle volunteer
Crissy is an every other week Clarkesville volunteer
Annaclair is a substitute Clarkesville volunteer
Ron and Hildreth are our every other week Gainesville volunteers
Anne is an every other week Gainesville volunteer
Sue and Carrie are our substitute Gainesville volunteers
That’s a whole lot of people, and I apologize as I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few. We also have lots of farmers that help coordinate order deliveries between farms to try and cut down the driving time for everyone.
If you get a chance, please thank these individuals for giving so much of their time and energy to make this market possible. Each year that the market has grown we’ve had to expand our base of volunteers to help make sure we could continue, and each year, the right people have been there at the right times and we are very thankful for them. We have a great crew!
Maybe one day soon I’ll describe the history of the market again, and how we are organized by a farmer led non-profit called Georgia Mountains Farmers Network. But tonight I have a few other announcements to make.
Here are some of the things to look out and prepare for in 2015
New Farms are joining and will continue to join Locally Grown this year. We want to welcome The Veggie Patch at Bouchard Farms this week. The farm is certified organic, located in Commerce, GA, and has an incredible mix of greenhouse grown goodies (to keep us stocked up all winter) and a whopping 15 acres of field grown veggies that’ll come on strong for the spring and summer. We’ve posted a photo of Michelle Berzack the Farm Coordinator at The Veggie Patch showing off their greenhouses on a tour we took right before Christmas.
A Gainseville Farmer Drop Off Site will be coordinated sometime in the next 3 months, likely somewhere at the History Center pickup location. We’re in the process of looking at all the logistics now to make it as smooth as possible. What this will mean to you the customer is that we’ll be able to expand the number of farms and food vendors that can sell to the market, by adding a location that is closer for them to deliver to. This should greatly increase the diversity of products offered through the market. We could use your help. If you know of farms or food producers (that also meet our market standards) that would like to sell and are located within a 30 min drive or so from Gainesville, please let us know or let them know or both. Our focus is on food producers so we’re not encouraging other locally crafted goods at this time.
We’re working on our first ever Marketing Strategy with a great group of folks at FORUM COMMUNICATIONS in Gainesville. We’re very excited about this process and reaching new people in 2015. We believe with some creative approaches to engage more people with Locally Grown food, people could eat better, and farms will have a solid and growing customer base every month of the year. We also have found that quite a few of you are more than willing to talk us up. We thank you for that. With a few new cool tools and resources we think we could make it even easier to make Locally Grown look irresistible to people. That’s our aim, to become irresistible! And we look forward to engaging all of you in that process.
Before we wrap up tonights message, I just want to let each of you know that we consider everyone who buys food from the market, or reads these e-mails on a regular basis, or just keeps up with what we are doing to be a very important part of our Locally Grown team. Up until this point the success of our entire little market has been because of word of mouth from folks just like you who like good food, and like learning about sustainable farms, and then supporting those farms. We love the deep conversations we have with customers on market days about everything from how to cook jerusalem artichokes, to the benefits of probiotics, to how to plant, harvest and cure sweet potatoes successfully. It’s fun, it’s educational, it’s about building community around the things we love and above all else it’s about eating well. So THANK YOU for making 2014 our best year yet, and thanks in advance for your help in making 2015 …..well let’s just say it’s gonna be BIG!
So EAT WELL this week and here’s to the beginning of a GREAT NEW YEAR!
Justin, Chuck, Teri and Andrew
in Clarkesville, Tiger and Gainesville
Dawson Local Harvest: Fresh Produce for your January!
DAWSON lOCAL HARVEST for January 9th
Fresh Produce and More for Your January!
HI EVERYBODY!
It may be Winter now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get fresh, all-natural Produce. LEILANI’S has a nice, big greenhouse that’s perfect for winter vegetables like Lettuce, Kale, Spinach, and other crisp favorites. Take a look to see what’s new ar The Market for this week.
THE MARKET IS NOW OPEN!
REMEMBER! You can order until Tuesday night at 8pm. Pick up your order at Leilani’s Gardens Friday afternoons from 4 to 7pm.
You’ll find the DAWSON LOCAL HARVEST at http://dawsonville.locallygrown.net
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible! We guarantee your satisfaction with all products in the DAWSON LOCAL HARVEST.
Have a happy and healthy week!
Alan Vining
Market Manager
Citrus County Locally Grown: Happy New Year
MARKET NEWS
Wishing you a Very Happy, Healthy, Prosperous and Peacefilled 2015
With the New Year we are seeing an increase in locally grown organic winter greens. Check out 3 Rock Farm offerings
3 Rock Farm
Winter Greens are here at 3 Rock Farm! Besides the MicroGreens in 3 varieties, we are harvesting these vegetables this week. As always, everything is grown organically, from organic, NON-GMO seeds, here on our farm in Dunnellon:
Curly Kale
Baby Bok Choy
Arugula
Snow Peas
Lettuce Mix
Bright Lights Swiss Chard
Scallions
This market, Citrus County Locally Grown, will remain open for orders until 6:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 7, 2015
Pickup is Thursday December 8, 2015
Our growers thank you for supporting local growers and businesses. Your orders make a real difference
Thank you for supporting your On-Line Farmers Market. Your purchases have made a difference to many families
Your CCLG Team
THE MARKET IS OPEN
The link below will take you there.
Fresh Harvest, LLC: Fresh Harvest - No delivery this week of January 4th, 2015
To Contact Us
Fresh Harvest, LLC
Link to Fresh Harvest
Email us!
Tallahassee May
tally@wildblue.net
JohnDrury
john.drury@att.net
Recipes
Market News
Hello!
Happy New Year, 2015! We hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and we wish you all a healthy and happy year ahead!
There will be no deliveries this week of January 4th.
It is going to get cold this week! Really cold! It is not possible to harvest the veggies when they are frozen, and plus it makes us farmers pretty grumpy!
So, we will be taking one more week off of deliveries. The temperature does seem to be warming for the week ahead, and we will plan on resuming deliveries next week. Please look out for an email on Sunday, January 11th. We will plan on our next delivery being Wednesday, January 14th.
In the meantime, we hope to catch up on our planning for next year and getting our seed order together.
Thanks so much for your support, and we look forward to seeing you a week from Wednesday!
John and Tallahassee
Coming Events
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!
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Green Fork Farmers Market: Weekly Product List
Dear Green Fork Farmers Market Customers,
Happy New Year to all of you!
Stock up again at this week’s market, as we will not have a market next week due to the SSAWG agriculture conference. The next market will be Wednesday, January 21. We will then resume our regular weekly schedule each Wednesday from 4-7 pm.
Figgieville still has Kalamata olive oil on sale for an unbeatable price. Get this while it lasts.
Also available this week:
Vegetables—arugula, lettuce, kale, and spinach.
Mushrooms—Shiitakes
Herbs—Sage and a mixed herb bunch.
*Meat*—pastured beef, chicken, lamb, pork, organ meats, soup bones, and parts for stock.
Eggs—pastured chicken and duck eggs.
Specialty foods—fermented sauerkraut and jalapenos, salsa made from local and organic ingredients, sugar cookies, sweet pepper/jalapeno jelly, and olives and olive oil directly from the grower in California.
Go ahead and place your order from now until Tuesday at noon. We’ll also have products available for sale at the market on Wednesday.
Thanks for all of your support last year, and we look forward to serving you again in 2015. You are the ones who make all of our hard work worth it!
Green Fork Farmers Market
Wednesdays 4-7 pm
Indoors, Year Round
At Nightbird Books
205 W. Dickson St.
Fayetteville, AR
To place your order, click on the link below to enter the website. Sign in as a customer, then click on the icon next to each product you wish to order. Proceed to checkout, review the list to make sure it’s correct, then scroll to the bottom and click on Place This Order. Make sure you receive a confirmation email—if you don’t, your order was not processed. Payment is at the market pickup with cash, check, debit/credit card, EBT, and Senior FMNP coupons. Ask about our doubling program for EBT and SFMNP!
CLG: Opening Bell: Soap, Cauliflower, Bratwurst, Broccoli, Coffee...
Good afternoon,
Our Growers have been busy producing some wonderful food for 2015! Order now for pick up this Friday, January 9th. Lots of great products available, including some great bulk buys on broccoli. Be sure to share us with your friends on Facebook, especially those who are concerned about where their food comes from. We have several items priced under $3 that make great gifts for any occasion. And… CLG is the only farmers market in Conway open right now!
Available now!: ONLINE PAYMENT OPTION. When you are done shopping, just hit the “proceed to checkout” button in your cart. You will then see the option to “Pay Now” with credit card near the bottom. Just follow the prompts to add your card. Be sure to read the screen until you see “Thank you for your order” on the top. If you need help, please call 339-7958. A 3% online payment convenience fee will be added when your card is charged.
Check out all the Featured Products and use the SEARCH field on the main Market page to quickly find the items you want.
Come early on Friday for the best selection from the EXTRAS table.
The market is now OPEN for orders. Please check your email about 5 minutes after you place your order to make sure you get an order confirmation. Thank you for being a valuable part of CLG!
Have a great week!
Steve
How to contact us:
DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. Instead…
Phone or text: Steve – 501-339-1039
Email: Steve – kirp1968@sbcglobal.net
Our Website: www.conway.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @conwaygrown
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Conway-Locally-Grown/146991555352846
Savannah, GA: Happy New Year.
5 Things You Didn’t Know About Honey
By Dr. Mercola
Honey has been valued as a natural sweetener long before sugar became widely available in the 16th century. Honey production flourished in ancient Greece and Sicily, for instance, while animals other than humans – bears, badgers, and more – have long raided honeybee hives, risking stings for the sweet reward.1
Honey is truly a remarkable substance, made even more extraordinary by the process with which it is made. This blend of sugar, trace enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and amino acids is quite unlike any other sweetener on the planet.
And while honey is high in fructose, it has many health benefits when used in moderation (assuming you’re healthy). Before I delve into those, here’s a brief “lesson” on how honey is made…
How Honey Is Made (Fascinating!)
It takes about 60,000 bees, collectively traveling up to 55,000 miles and visiting more than 2 million flowers, to gather enough nectar to make one pound of honey.2
Once the nectar is gathered, the bee stores it in its extra stomach where it mixes with enzymes, and then passes it (via regurgitation) to another bee’s mouth. This process is repeated until the nectar becomes partially digested and is then deposited into a honeycomb.
Once there, the honeybees fan the liquid nectar with their wings, helping the water to evaporate and create the thick substance you know as “honey.” This honeycomb is then sealed with a liquid secretion from the bee’s abdomen, which hardens into beeswax. As Live Science reported:3
“Away from air and water, honey can be stored indefinitely, providing bees with the perfect food source for cold winter months.”
There are more than 300 kinds of honey in the US, each with a unique color and flavor that is dependent upon the nectar source. Lighter colored honeys, such as those made from orange blossoms, tend to be milder in flavor while darker-colored honeys, like those made from wildflowers, tend to have a more robust flavor.4
5 Honey Facts You Might Not Know
Honey, particularly in its raw form, offers unique health benefits that you might not be aware of. Among them…
1. Honey Makes Excellent Cough “Medicine”
The World Health Organization (WHO) lists honey as a demulcent, which is a substance that relieves irritation in your mouth or throat by forming a protective film.5
Research shows honey works as well as dextromethorphan, a common ingredient in over the counter cough medications, to soothe cough and related sleeping difficulties due to upper respiratory tract infections in children.6
2. Honey Can Treat Wounds
Honey was a conventional therapy in fighting infection up until the early 20th century, at which time its use slowly vanished with the advent of penicillin. Now the use of honey in wound care is regaining popularity, as researchers are determining exactly how honey can help fight serious skin infections.
Honey has antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidants activities that make it ideal for treating wounds. In the US, Derma Sciences uses Manuka honey for their Medihoney wound and burn dressings.
Manuka honey is made with pollen gathered from the flowers of the Manuka bush (a medicinal plant), and clinical trials have found this type of honey can effectively eradicate more than 250 clinical strains of bacteria, including resistant varieties such as:
MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)
MSSA (methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus)
VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci)
Compared to other types of honey, Manuka has an extra ingredient with antimicrobial qualities, called the Unique Manuka Factor (UMF). It is so called because no one has yet been able to discover the unique substance involved that gives it its extraordinary antibacterial activity.
Honey releases hydrogen peroxide through an enzymatic process, which explains its general antiseptic qualities, but active Manuka honey contains “something else” that makes it far superior to other types of honey when it comes to killing off bacteria.7
That being said, research shows that any type of unprocessed honey helped wounds and ulcers heal. In one study, 58 of 59 wounds showed “remarkable improvement following topical application of honey.”8
3. Honey Improves Your Scalp
Honey diluted with a bit of warm water was shown to significantly improve seborrheic dermatitis, which is a scalp condition that causes dandruff and itching. After applying the solution every other day for four weeks, “all of the patients responded markedly.” According to the researchers:9
“Itching was relieved and scaling was disappeared within one week. Skin lesions were healed and disappeared completely within 2 weeks. In addition, patients showed subjective improvement in hair loss.”
4. Help Boost Your Energy
A healthy, whole-food diet and proper sleep is the best recipe for boundless energy, but if you’re looking for a quick energy boost, such as before or after a workout, honey can suffice. This is particularly true for athletes looking for a “time-released fuel” to provide energy over a longer duration.10
5. Reduce Allergy Symptoms
Locally produced honey, which will contain pollen spores picked up by the bees from local plants, introduces a small amount of allergen into your system. Theoretically, this can activate your immune system and over time can build up your natural immunity against it.
The typical recommendation is to take about a teaspoon-full of locally produced honey per day, starting a few months PRIOR to the pollen season, to allow your system to build up immunity. And the key here is local.
This approach only works because it has pollen of local plants you may be allergic to. Honey from other parts of the country simply won’t work. While research on this has yielded conflicting results, one study found that, during birch pollen season, compared to the control group, the patients using birch pollen honey experienced:11
60 percent reduction in symptoms
Twice as many asymptomatic days
70 percent fewer days with severe symptoms
50 percent decrease in usage of antihistamines
Interestingly enough, there were few differences between the two honey groups (those who took regular honey, versus those who took honey that contained birch pollen.) However, the birch pollen honey group used less histamines than those who used regular honey. The authors concluded:
“Patients who pre-seasonally used birch pollen honey had significantly better control of their symptoms than did those on conventional medication only, and they had marginally better control compared to those on regular honey. The results should be regarded as preliminary, but they indicate that birch pollen honey could serve as a complementary therapy for birch pollen allergy.”
Honey for Herpes
Good-quality honey offers several topical wound-care benefits that can explain some of its success as a remedy for herpes sores:
It draws fluid away from your wound
The high sugar content suppresses microorganism growth
Worker bees secrete an enzyme (glucose oxidase) into the nectar, which then releases low levels of hydrogen peroxide when the honey makes contact with your wound
In one study, 16 adult subjects with a history of recurrent labial and genital herpes attacks used honey to treat one attack, and a commonly prescribed antiviral drug, Acyclovir cream, during another. (It’s important to realize that neither the drug nor the honey will actually cure genital herpes. They only treat the symptoms.)
Interestingly, honey provided significantly better treatment results. For labial herpes, the mean healing time was 43 percent better, and for genital herpes, 59 percent better than acyclovir. Pain and crusting was also significantly reduced with the honey, compared to the drug. Two cases of labial herpes and one case of genital herpes remitted completely with the honey treatment, whereas none remitted while using acyclovir.12
3 DIY Honey Home Remedies
Honey is a humectant, which means it attracts and retains moisture, making it an ideal addition to moisturizers, shampoos, and conditioners. Along with its antimicrobial properties, honey makes a wonderful addition to homemade personal care products. The National Honey Board has a few you can try out for yourself:13
Honey Hair Conditioner: Mix ½ cup honey with ¼ cup olive oil. Work a small amount through your hair until coated. Cover your hair with a shower cap and let sit for 30 minutes. Shampoo as normal and rinse.
Honey Body Moisturizer: Mix 5 tablespoons honey, 2 tablespoons rose oil, and 2 cups almond oil in a medium-sized bottle. Apply as needed onto wet skin.
Honey Almond Scrub: Mix 3 teaspoons honey, 1 teaspoon olive oil, and 6 ½ tablespoons of finely crushed almonds. Rub the exfoliating scrub onto your face gently and rinse with warm water.
The Organic Consumers Association has also published this simple honey lemon cough syrup that’s useful to keep on hand during the winter months:14
Honey Lemon Cough Syrup
Lemon helps promote health by quickly alkalinizing your body, and honey will kill most bacteria while soothing your throat. This is a perfect choice for a quick cough remedy.
Put a pint of raw honey in a pan on the stove on VERY low heat (Do not boil honey as this changes its medicinal properties).
Take a whole lemon and boil in some water in a separate pan for 2-3 minutes to both soften the lemon and kill any bacteria that may be on the lemon skin.
Let the lemon cool enough to handle then cut it in slices and add it to the pint of honey on the stove.
Let mixture cook on warm heat for about an hour.
Then strain the lemon from the honey making sure all lemon seeds are removed.
Let cool, then bottle in a jar with a lid and store in the refrigerator.
This syrup will keep for 2 months in the refrigerator. To soothe a cough, take 1/2 teaspoon for a 25 lb. child and 1 teaspoon for a 50 lb. child, about 4 times a day, or as often as needed. Adults can take 1-tablespoon doses.
Is Honey a Healthy Natural Sweetener? How to Avoid Fake Honey
As far as natural sweeteners go, honey does have a place. The main thing to remember when it comes to honey is that not all honey is created equal. The antibacterial activity in some honeys is 100 times more potent than in others, while processed refined honey will lack many of these beneficial properties altogether. Your average domestic “Grade A” type honey found in the grocery store is likely highly processed.
It’s also been found that more than 75 percent of the honey on American supermarket shelves may be ultra-processed—to the point that all inherent medicinal properties are completely gone—and then smuggled into the country by the barrel drum. Nearly all of this “fake” honey is made in China. Some of these brokers will even create bogus country of origin papers. All 60 jars of “honey” tested by Food Safety News (FSN) came back negative for pollen, which is a clear sign of ultra-processing.15 According to FSN:
“The removal of these microscopic particles from deep within a flower would make the nectar flunk the quality standards set by most of the world’s food safety agencies. The food safety divisions of the World Health Organization, the European Commission and dozens of others have also ruled that without pollen, there is no way to determine whether the honey came from legitimate and safe sources.”
In their investigation, FSN discovered the following:
76 percent of honey samples bought at grocery stores (such as TOP Food, Safeway, QFC, Kroger, Harris Teeter, etc.) were absent of pollen
77 percent of the honey from big box stores (like Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, and Target) were absent of pollen
100 percent of the honey sampled from drug stores (like Walgreens, Rite-Aid, and CVS Pharmacy) were absent of pollen
The good news is all of the samples from farmers markets, co-ops, and natural stores like Trader Joe’s had the full, proper compliment of pollen, as did organic brands from common grocery stores. When choosing honey, be sure it is raw, unfiltered, and 100% pure, from a trusted source.
Honey Should Be Consumed Only in Moderation
Honey has many healthy attributes, but it is also high in fructose, averaging around 53 percent. Each teaspoon of honey has nearly four grams of fructose, which means it can exacerbate pre-existing insulin resistance and wreak havoc on your body if consumed in excess. So when consuming honey, carefully add the total grams of fructose (including fruits) that you consume each day, and stay below 25 grams of total fructose per day.
Keep in mind, though, that if you have insulin resistance (i.e. if you are taking drugs for high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, or if you’re overweight) you’d be better off avoiding all sweeteners, including honey, since any sweetener can decrease your insulin sensitivity and worsen your insulin resistance. If you’re healthy, however, eating raw honey in moderation could provide many of the benefits listed above.