I am in East Central IL farm country, chemicals galore. I’m doing my small part by transitioning my farm to regenerative. This means my farm partners will use cover crops, less chemicals, we’ll add wheat in to the rotation and will not till the soil. It’s all about soil health. I’ve also started raising grass fed sheep, turning some crop land into grassland to do it.
If we could support more small farmers we could make a big impact on our health and our environment’s health. However, the small farms around me struggle to compete against industrial farming. The price is higher for healthier raised food and consumers just are not demanding it enough to sustain small regeneratively raised foods.
the way you frame the comparison between food chemicals and drugs makes the insanity of it so clear. we're more risk averse when someone is already on the fast track to death than we are with what we expose the entire healthy population to. it's nuts and infuriating. appreciate you taking the lead in spreading this message
I'm working on microplastics in honey here in Austin - the quality of local honey is a whole thing that keeps me up at night.
Most bee frames, including those made from "food-grade plastic" like polypropylene (PP) or high-density polyethylene (HDPE), are marketed as safe and non-toxic. However, when we consider that many of these frames are made from recycled materials like black RPP, we can’t fully trace what’s in them. Additives like calcium carbonate might enhance heat stability, but the recycled content could carry unknown contaminants.
The fact that these plastics are in direct contact with both bees and honey raises significant questions about potential chemical leaching or contamination. It’s especially concerning in high-heat environments like Texas, where temperatures can easily exceed 100°F. Even with coatings like beeswax, the underlying material remains a massive *variable*.
I’ve been working on ways to bring back plastic-free beekeeping practices (the way we've done it for thousands of years) to eliminate this uncertainty altogether.
I would recommend testing a few of your local honey brands to ensure you're getting a safe product vs. one that's been scraped off black plastic and only God knows what's in it.
Eye-opening. I'm curious if there are models of regulation that exist and are working? (e.g. I always hear from friends that visit Italy or Japan that foods that normally would bother them don't.)
Loved this one! Thanks as always, Justin.
I am in East Central IL farm country, chemicals galore. I’m doing my small part by transitioning my farm to regenerative. This means my farm partners will use cover crops, less chemicals, we’ll add wheat in to the rotation and will not till the soil. It’s all about soil health. I’ve also started raising grass fed sheep, turning some crop land into grassland to do it.
If we could support more small farmers we could make a big impact on our health and our environment’s health. However, the small farms around me struggle to compete against industrial farming. The price is higher for healthier raised food and consumers just are not demanding it enough to sustain small regeneratively raised foods.
the way you frame the comparison between food chemicals and drugs makes the insanity of it so clear. we're more risk averse when someone is already on the fast track to death than we are with what we expose the entire healthy population to. it's nuts and infuriating. appreciate you taking the lead in spreading this message
I'm working on microplastics in honey here in Austin - the quality of local honey is a whole thing that keeps me up at night.
Most bee frames, including those made from "food-grade plastic" like polypropylene (PP) or high-density polyethylene (HDPE), are marketed as safe and non-toxic. However, when we consider that many of these frames are made from recycled materials like black RPP, we can’t fully trace what’s in them. Additives like calcium carbonate might enhance heat stability, but the recycled content could carry unknown contaminants.
The fact that these plastics are in direct contact with both bees and honey raises significant questions about potential chemical leaching or contamination. It’s especially concerning in high-heat environments like Texas, where temperatures can easily exceed 100°F. Even with coatings like beeswax, the underlying material remains a massive *variable*.
I’ve been working on ways to bring back plastic-free beekeeping practices (the way we've done it for thousands of years) to eliminate this uncertainty altogether.
I would recommend testing a few of your local honey brands to ensure you're getting a safe product vs. one that's been scraped off black plastic and only God knows what's in it.
Eye-opening. I'm curious if there are models of regulation that exist and are working? (e.g. I always hear from friends that visit Italy or Japan that foods that normally would bother them don't.)
Eager to follow along...
I've never been more excited about the changes coming than I am heading into 2025. Great read, Justin!