100% Canadian Honey : The Earth-Friendly Sweetener Choice

Adapted from an article prepared for the Canadian Honey Council publication “Hivelights” by Adony Melathopoulos, Agriculture Agri-Food Canada.

Renewable energy, LED lights, fair trade coffee - consumers are using their buying power to make a statement about the importance of conserving Earth’s resources for future generations.  Now, research shows choosing 100% Canadian honey over other sweeteners is a simple, yet delicious way to reduce energy use, while supporting local farmers.  

Honey researchers traced the energy costs for sweeteners from the field to the consumer.  The results?  The energy required to make a pound of chocolate is equivalent to the energy used to produce an equal weight of gasoline, with sugar and jam not far behind. Locally produced honey, however, used far less energy in its travels from the hive to the home than any other sweetener.     

It is not difficult to understand why other sweeteners take more energy to produce than honey. The cultivated crops used to make sugar, including sugar cane, corn and sugar beets, need fertilizer, pesticides and irrigation to grow.  Honey, on the other hand, is either a byproduct of cultivated crops or comes from wildflowers. While some sugar is needed to maintain the colony over winter, Canadian beekeepers typically produce three to four times the calories of honey compared to calories of sugar needed for winter.

Locally produced honey uses less energy to produce and process than other sweeteners, as honey essentially moves from the hive to the bottle, with little processing required other than filtering and bottling.  Local honey also travels the least distance to get to the consumer. Canada imports 90% of its sugar, primarily from Australia and Cuba.  Imported honey, typically produced in Argentina, Australia and China, needs to be transported long distances, which is the primary reason for the five times higher energy use associated with imported honey.

Not only is honey Canada’s most sustainable sweetener, but also it is arguably the most ethical. The United Nations reports child labour is widely used in cane cultivation in Brazil, Central America, Africa and the Philippines. Cane cultivation in developing countries is largely manual, with workers labouring in direct sunlight and using machetes and other sharp tools to harvest the crop, which results in high rates of injury to their arms, hands and legs.  Buying 100% Canadian honey, by contrast, supports beekeepers who own their own businesses and who abide by numerous health and safety regulations. Buying local honey also helps support and strengthen rural communities.

The case for buying Canadian honey seems obvious.  Canadian honey has less impact on the environment, conforms to ethical labour practices and keeps rural communities vibrant. It is important for consumers to be aware of all the costs involved in getting their favourite sweetener from the field to their table.