Why Buy Local Honey

I'm not really the local food queen, despite my many posts on local food. I just pass along the information I find. Today I found a post on local honey on Eggs on Sunday. I found all the following links there. I like the link on why you should eat local honey (only four paragraphs). The reason I found most compelling is that industrial bees are fed sugar syrup to make honey. Yuk. I want my honey to come from flowers please. Check out this local honey locator to find local honey in your area. I found Spring Time Honey Company in Belfield (only 55 gallon drums), Stewart Apiaries in Bismarck, Stromme Honey in Kloten, ND, Grand River Honey Company in Hettinger, and American Honey Company also in Hettinger who sell chokecherry honey among other things. And attention Brandy, Big Sky Honey inc. is in Fairwiew Montana.

Hey, do you like to sit and stare at a sunflower for a half hour while you drink your morning coffee every couple of weeks, but haven't figured out how that can save the environment? Well the Great Sunflower Project is looking for people to do just that. They want people to see how long (up to a half hour) it takes for 5 bees to reach you particular sunflower. Don't have a sunflower? They'll send you seeds. They are using the data to study bee Colony Collapse Disorder. A recent problem (since October 2006) with the collapse of bee colonies. If you've seen Bee Movie you already know bees are important for the pollination of fruits, vegetables, and flowers in addition to the whole honey thing.

Local Eggs and Duck Eggs

I came across some sources for local eggs in the Bismarck Area.
First of all, of course, there are the eggs from the Berg farm sold at the Wilton Cenex Station. That's where I get mine. You can get free range, grass fed eggs here for three dollars a dozen. Duck eggs anyone? They sell local duck eggs here when they are available. Evidently ducks don't lay eggs reliably in the winter. Duck eggs are (evidently) prised by bakers. The whites in duck eggs have more protein and whip higher, making fluffier cakes. I found this post on cooking with duck eggs. I don't see duck eggs in my future, but if they're in yours, good luck.

Eat Local

For those of you who don't know, eating local ingredients is good for the environment. It takes allot of gas and causes allot of pollution to bring blueberries from South America in February. So, it is always better to eat local ingredients. I always thought that was a great idea, but I live in North Dakota and the local produce is slim when there's no farmers market. (or Gary and Sue's garden, thanks Gary and Sue) I came across this post on Rhubarb and Venison, an awesome local blog with a great name, where the author cooked an all local meal. She also has this post about eating locally in Bismarck. As I was driving home after visiting Julie last weekend I thought I would give it a try some day, maybe in August. I was tired after the drive and made boxed mac and cheese for supper. After cooking, I realized, mission accomplished.

1. Dakota Made Mac and Cheese
2. Land O' Lakes milk
3. Land O' Lakes butter

I think Land O' Lakes is still semi local. After condidering it today, Cass Clay is a better choice. The cost is the same and I don't have a taste preference between Cass Clay and Land O' Lakes. So, I'll buy Cass Clay from now on. (at least that's my plan now). As far as I can tell, Cass Clay comes from Fargo and Land O' Lakes comes from Arden Hills, Minnesota, on the Wisconson Border. I also plan to buy Dakota Made products. (flour, pasta, mac and cheese, etc.) I had mostly been doing that before anyway. But, now I plan to do it even if Dakota Made is 5 cents more when the competing product is on sale. I also get eggs at Cenex, so they're local. Someday I'll make a Local meal that's not mac and cheese.