GOOD

Bad News, Your Store-Bought Honey Isn’t Real

You might as well put high-fructose corn syrup in your tea

 Kate Ryan
10.05.16

Image via Wikipedia

If you, like most people, buy your honey from a standard grocery store, you may be bummed to learn it’s probably not real honey. While there might be some real honey in those bear-shaped bottles as a base, it’s likely been diluted with high-fructose corn syrup along with other not-so-healthy fillers. This is what industry experts call “laundered honey,” and what may surprise you most is that it can legally be labeled and sold as pure, unadulterated honey.

Some companies haven’t even been shy about it. According to NPR, one of the country’s biggest honey producers, Groeb Farms from Onsted, Michigan, admitted to buying massive amounts of laundered honey from Chinese exporters. Bee Local founder Damian Magista explained to Pop Sugar how this happens, saying,

“Large quantities of Chinese-produced honey are being 'dumped' illegally on the U.S. market. To curb the importation of chemical-ridden honey, the United States established high tariffs on honey imported from China. Taxes drive up prices, so big companies are essentially sneaking this honey in to keep their costs low.”

So it sounds like you either have the option of doing some research and paying a premium for real, pure honey or saving a few bucks and settling on honey-flavored sugar water. However, if you’re in the latter camp, you might want to consider the ethical dilemmas of mislabeled honey. For instance, because the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t come up with a standardized legal definition for honey, bottles of the golden liquid can be labeled 100 percent pure even though they might contain unsafe chemicals and additives—not to mention added and unnecessary sugars.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently putting bees on the endangered species list adds another dimension to this counterfeit honey problem. If we’re going to demand clearer labeling on our honey bottles, we’ll need to demand transparency from the beekeeping industry as well. As Magista says, “Bees are essential to our ecosystem and help pollinate produce, plants, and trees.” Losing these pollinator heavyweights could have a serious impact on the world’s food supply, something we probably need to prioritize if we plan to keep eating food, let alone honey.

Food

A Kenyan inventor's niece was born deaf so he made a glove that turns sign language into speech

via Honor Africans / Twitter

The problem with American Sign Language (ASL) is that over 500,000 people in the U.S. use it, but the country has over 330 million people.

So for those with hearing loss, the chances of coming into contact with someone who uses the language are rare. Especially outside of the deaf community.

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Bill Gates explaining the internet to a smug David Letterman in 1995 is hilarious in hindsight

Looking back, the year 1995 seems like such an innocent time. America was in the midst of its longest streak of peace and prosperity. September 11, 2001 was six years away, and the internet didn't seem like much more than a passing fad.

Twenty-four years ago, 18 million U.S. homes had modem-equipped computers, 7 million more than the year before. Most logged in through America Online where they got their email or communicated with random strangers in chat rooms.

According to a Pew Research study that year, only 32% of those who go online say they would miss it "a lot" if no longer available.

Imagine what those poll numbers would look like if the question was asked today.

RELATED: Bill and Melinda Gates had a surprising answer when asked about a 70 percent tax on the wealthiest Americans

"Few see online activities as essential to them, and no single online feature, with the exception of E-Mail, is used with any regularity," the Pew article said. "Consumers have yet to begin purchasing goods and services online, and there is little indication that online news features are changing traditional news consumption patterns."

"Late Night" host David Letterman had Microsoft founder and, at that time the richest man in the world, on his show for an interview in '95 to discuss the "the big new thing."

During the interview Letterman chided Gates about the usefulness of the new technology, comparing it to radio and tape recorders.

Gates seems excited by the internet because it will soon allow people to listen to a baseball game on their computer. To which Letterman smugly replies, "Does radio ring a bell?" to laughter from the crowd.

But Gates presses Letterman saying that the new technology allows you to listen to the game "whenever you want," to which Letterman responds, "Do tape recorders ring a bell?"

Gates then tells Letterman he can keep up with the latest in his favorite hobbies such as cigar smoking or race cars through the internet. Letterman shuts him down saying that he reads about his interests in magazines.

RELATED: Bill Gates has five books he thinks you should read this summer.

The discussion ends with the two laughing over meeting like-minded people in "troubled loner chat room on the internet."

The clip brings to mind a 1994 segment on "The Today Show" where host Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric have a similar discussion.

"What is internet anyway?" an exasperated Gumball asks. "What do you write to it like mail?"

"It's a computer billboard but it's nationwide and it's several universities all joined together and it's getting bigger and bigger all the time," a producer explains from off-stage.





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Culture

We're finally starting to take climate change seriously, survey finds

Photo by Li-An Lim on Unsplash

The future generations will have to live on this Earth for years to come, and, not surprisingly, they're very concerned about the fate of our planet. We've seen a rise in youth activists, such as Greta Thunberg, who are raising awareness for climate change. A recent survey indicates that those efforts are working, as more and more Americans (especially young Americans) feel concerned about climate change.

A new CBS News poll found that 70% of Americans between 18 and 29 feel climate change is a crisis or a serious problem, while 58% of Americans over the age of 65 share those beliefs. Additionally, younger generations are more likely to feel like it's their personal responsibility to address climate change, as well as think that transitioning to 100% renewable energy is viable. Overall, 25% of Americans feel that climate change is a "crisis," and 35% feel it is a "serious problem." 10% of Americans said they think climate change is a minor problem, and 16% of Americans feel it is not a problem that worries them.

The poll found that concern for the environment isn't a partisan issue – or at least when it comes to younger generations. Two-thirds of Republicans under the age of 45 feel that addressing climate change is their duty, sentiments shared by only 38% of Republicans over the age of 45.

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The Planet