Just walked through Pike Place Market and noticed all the 'local' honey is from California

Stopped at three different stalls selling Washington wildflower honey. Checked the fine print on every jar. All packed in Seattle but sourced from California orchards. Why can't we just be honest about where food comes from?

3 comments

3 Comments

wilson.joseph3d ago

You checked the fine print on the jars? Good call cause most people don't. Look for the actual "packed by" address not just the fancy label on front. If it says "produced in California" somewhere in the tiny text on the back that's your real answer. Also try asking the stall workers directly where they got the honey from - I've had a few admit it's from bulk suppliers in Oregon or California when pressed. Another trick is to look for raw unfiltered honey with visible pollen bits in it, that stuff is way harder to fake the origin on. For truly local honey hit up a farmers market in the suburbs not the main tourist spots in downtown Seattle.

ray_martinez823d ago

Start looking closer at what you buy and you'll notice this pattern everywhere. I was checking "basmati" rice at a fancy grocery store and the front said "Product of India" in big letters, but on the back it said "packed in Dubai." Same thing with olive oil at the farmer's market, the label says "small batch" and "local press" but the fine print shows it's from a cooperative in Greece. Even coffee roasters do it, they'll have a brand name that sounds like a Seattle neighborhood but the beans are from some massive distributor in Texas. People just don't read the small text and they trust the pretty packaging too much.

jade51717h ago

Wait, so that "small batch local press" olive oil at the farmers market is actually from Greece? That's wild to me. @ray_martinez82 you're totally right that people just trust the packaging way too much, I never even thought to check the back of the jar for the real origin. The honey thing with the pollen bits makes a lot of sense though, that's one of those details that's hard to fake so you know it's legit. I'm gonna start bringing a magnifying glass to the market or something to read all that tiny print.