All A-Buzz

I first heard about the benefits of local honey from friends when Chad & I moved to Austin a couple of years ago. Chad has asthma and a nice collection of allergies, and we had been warned that both would worsen when we moved here. However, that admonition was frequently coupled with the suggestion to eat local honey to build up immunity.

When this nice young man gave me
permission to take pictures for my
blog, neither one of us knew it would
be months before I finally got round
to using them.

As fate would have it, it's a strong part of the Austin ethos to buy local; the Keep Austin Weird thing began in the face of nationwide chains descending on Austin, as a way to encourage people to support local businesses. It took me a while to come round to the idea that yes, some things are worth paying more for, and I eventually went to the farmer's market and came home with some Round Rock Honey.

Now, because I'd read so many things about local/raw honey, like how you should be able to tell the difference, and how it tastes so amazing, that I was bound to be a bit let down. And I was, kinda. I didn't leap with happiness at how much better the very local version (Round Rock is about 18 miles from my house on the freeway, and even closer as the crow flies) of honey was than the stuff I can buy at the store that might come from 200 miles away (I was buying Texas honey already). But, I thought, at least it might protect Chad from allergies.

I don't remember how
much honey this was;
three pounds, maybe?

When I went to do some investigating, I found plenty of sources that talk about the benefits of honey for allergies (see here, here, and here), although the ones that aren't sites for honey companies agree that the available evidence is anecdotal. I have to say that Chad hasn't had any notable problems with allergies since we've been here, which might be attributable to the change of location-- Lubbock has dry air and regular dirt storms that aggravate even the soundest of lungs, whereas Austin has a lot more humidity and no flying dirt. And when Chad does complain about the climate, it's that he's too hot, not that he can't breathe.

However! We liked the Round Rock Honey enough to buy it again, and I do like the idea of buying local. The more small businesses that are operating, the better; every town would be exactly the same if not for the local businesses. And finally, I'm wanting to have a go at replacing the white sugar in our diet with honey, in the hopes that the non-processed sugar will be marginally better for us. So for all those reasons, I'm planning to head to the farmer's market tomorrow for another industrial-sized keg of honey.

Do you eat honey? Do you prefer the local varieties, or is that less important to you?