Better Nutrition August 2017

trendWATCH
the Passion
behind the Product
Honey-Do!
Bare Honey wants to
sweeten daily lives and
contribute to environmental
awareness /// By Neil Zevnik
Bare Honey came into being on the
plains of Minnesota, where farming
and husbandry create the core of the
community. On offer are several singlesource
honeys such as lavender and
wildflower, infused versions such as
bee pollen for allergy sufferers and hot
& spicy for the more adventurous, and
spreadable treats such as vanilla bean
and chocolate honeys.
The Persons
Dustin and Grace Vanasse grew up
on family farms in the Midwest, and
their love of food and dedication to the
environment led them into the kitchen
professionally. Dustin traveled the
world as a restaurant chef, while Grace
was making her mark as a much-lauded
baker in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Eventually, two bundles of joy came into
their lives, and they found themselves
wanting to return to their farming and
family roots.
Fortuitously, a friend asked them to
tend his beehives for a period of time,
and then magic happened. As Grace
tells it, “Dustin opened a hive of bees for
the first time, and from that very first
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"My time with the bees is a Zen-like experience,"
says Dustin Vanasse, cofounder of Bare
Honey, shown here (inset) with his daughter.
Above: the happy family on their orchard: Grace,
Dustin, and their two children, Isaac and Sage.
moment, he was mesmerized by the soft
hum of their wings, and the sweet and
waxy scent of the bees themselves.”
The Passion
Grace and Dustin's driving purpose was
to establish and enhance the family
values they grew up with, and to foster
community involvement. They derived
enormous gratification from seeing
their small children enthusiastically
offering honey samples at the local
farmers market, and they began to
participate in fundraisers for schools
and community organizations, enabling
them to pursue their goal of connecting
kids and their families with a sense of
where their food comes from.
As they came to know more about
the perils, as well as the pleasures, of
beekeeping, they found the fight against
Colony Collapse Disorder to be a perfect
entry point to environmental awareness.
As Dustin points out, “Honeybees
are a flagship species, the canary in the
coal mine, if you will. The issues that
have been causing the decline of honeybees
since the 1980s are now spilling
over into the rest of our environment.
All pollinators are being affected by
pesticides, raising the alarm for nearly
a decade.”
In addition to promoting awareness
in their product materials and in their
interactions with the community, the
Vanasses contribute to nonprofits on the
frontline of the battle against pollinator
decline, such as Pollinator Partnership
and Pollinate Minnesota.
And even though their company is
expanding to include new employees as
demand for their scrumptious honeys
grows, the Vanasses are determined to
maintain the integrity of their roots. As
Grace sees it, “our focus going forward
is on simultaneously building an honest,
working company and raising a balanced
and well-rounded family based
on hard work, kindness, and health.” For
Dustin and Grace Vanasse, it’s always
about family.
Neil Zevnik is a private chef in Los Angeles who tends to the culinary needs of the rich and famous; blogs about food,
nutrition, and the environment for The Huffington Post; and volunteers with marine mammal rescue whenever he can.
Learn more at neilzevnik.com.
16 • AUGUST 2017